May 13 2009
No more abuse photos
President Obama reversed himself this morning concerning the release of several dozen more photographs depicting abuse of prisoners at the hands of some in the United States military. Many on the left are decrying his reversal, saying it makes a mockery of his promise of transparency in his administration and claiming that the American people have a right to see what was done in their name and under the direction of the previous administration. Let me make this perfectly clear: I am not among them.
I agree with the President on this issue. Have we not seen enough photographs of the “alleged” abuse and torture already? We have seen the pictures and we have read the memos. What possible purpose could the release of more of these photographs serve? Is it worth the harm it could potentially cause our troops in the field? For me, it is enough to know that the photographs exist. I’ll continue to hope that those who ordered these atrocities will eventually be brought to justice. The place for these photos is in the courtroom during the trials of those criminals, not in the tabloids and on the hard drives of those who get their thrills from looking at such things.
Obama opposes detainee abuse photo release
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a reversal, President Barack Obama objected on Wednesday to the release of dozens of photographs showing the abuse of terrorism suspects, fearing the pictures could trigger a backlash against U.S. troops.
The Obama administration had said last month it would comply with a court order to release the pictures by May 28, amid concerns that they could fan the flames of a political firestorm over the treatment of terrorism suspects and other detainees during George W. Bush’s presidency.
A U.S. official said Obama told his legal team last week that he did not feel comfortable with the release of the photos although in no way did he excuse the behavior of those responsible for tough interrogation tactics.
He directed the lawyers “to object to the immediate release of the photos” on grounds that “their release would endanger our troops, and because he believes that the national security implications of such a release have not been fully presented to the court.”
“The president strongly believes that the release of these photos, particularly at this time, would only serve the purpose of inflaming the theaters of war, jeopardizing U.S. forces, and making our job more difficult in places like Iraq and Afghanistan,” the official, who declined to be identified, said.
8 Responses to “No more abuse photos”
The purpose of releasing these photos? Maybe it would allow those who still believe that torture is immoral,ineffective and counter-productive to have additional visual representations that will likely provide a more accurate depiction of the “alleged abuses”.
Without such, it is likely we will never discover whether they were “alleged abuses” or a departure from American ideals and a Constitutional approach.
It may be possible that covering up the abuses will lead to a greater risk to our troops and national security than facing up to what has happened and deliniating ourselves from previous “alleged” activities.
well said – I agree with your sentiment. {:-D
I too am glad Obama decided against immediate release of the photos. No new information is gained from the release. No further evidence visual or otherwise is needed to know that something terrible happened during the Bush years. If you don’t believe that America has turned a corner with Obama, a thousand new photos won’t matter.
Windroot: Really?
I will agree with you that any thinking person recognizes what happened (“something terrible”). I disagree in that I believe most thinking people believe that honor supercedes hierarchy.
If we were to follow your line of thought, the Senators who sexually abused their aides should be completely forgiven because the senators that followed them are more honorable.
Photos or not, we haven’t turned a corner until we acknowledge what has happened and correct it.
Again, without such photos, we may never have the trials Len spoke of because most of the American public doesn’t read…it just looks at pictures.
yes I am agree with , this is not a good way to express feelings
I applaud the president on this move.
What good would release of the photos do to anybody? The troops would be punished and our reputation would take a serious hit. These photos would be degrading to the people of the Middle East where most of these prisoners hailed from. It would have been a lose-lose situation.
This is one of the first moves where I support the president 100%.
Ryan
very well said, Len. I completely agree with you. And as always, our President is wise and acts based on facts and reasoning and not ideology. So refreshing!
I am all for full disclosure, but only for those that need to know, so that they can prosecute those guilty. I do not think those pictures should be made public. I don’t think it’s in our Nations best interest that they be made public, and think they could cause a lot of harm. I agree with the President on this one. We have seen enough photo’s and we know what happened.