The Obama administration has reversed itself and now will resist the court-ordered release of photographs that depict the abuse of detainees. They will appeal the order to the Supreme Court and argue that the release of the pictures would endanger our soldiers in the field.
It’s a tricky decision. I can certainly understand the desire not to inflame world opinion against American troops, and we have plenty of testimony that the Abu Ghraib photos provided a recruiting bonanza for insurgents in Iraq and al-Qaeda in general. In a certain sense, a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is more true than ever in our digital age where photos can be used and disseminated by anyone. I agree that the fact that there has been abuse is already well-established, and that we don’t add to that basic knowledge with the release of more pictures.
If this decision were isolated, I probably would agree with it. My concern is with the precedent it might set if the administration wins their case. We simply can’t set up a system where national security can be invoked anytime our nation engages in shameful and/or illegal behavior. Any ruling that allows for the suppression of evidence in this case could conceivably be used in the future to suppress evidence like the Abu Ghraib photos. I do not want to see any Supreme Court ruling that has that effect.
As a strictly political matter, I could see this as a shrewd move. The Obama administration will have more cover for releasing these photos if it is the Supreme Court forcing their hand. But that assumes that the administration loses their case. And, given the makeup of the Supreme Court, that is not a safe assumption.
Therefore, despite having a lot of sympathy for the tough choice involved here, I think this is a mistake by the Obama administration. I do not want to put any troops in unnecessary danger, but I also don’t want to do damage to our legal system and see the government gain more power to conceal its crimes.
Our worldwide rep is tarnished already. More pics won’t do any more damage.
Of course, if the President really wanted to reduce the danger to our troops, he’d pull them out of the war zones posthaste. But that’s not happening.
Of course if Obama would just get the soldiers out of the countries where they would be ‘in harms way’ because of the pictures (which, btw, depict soldiers actual actions … it’s not like the military is actually innocent here) then perhaps America could ‘fess up to her actions.
It strikes me as a circular argument.
New boss, same as the old boss.
nalbar
I have no sympathy for him. And I agree with the other commenters that if he wants to protect troops, he should pull them out like he said he would.
There is a chance he’ll lose at the Supreme Court level – people forget that Bush regularly lost. But I wouldn’t count on it. And it’s not the point anyway. Him caving in on this is the point.
Very disappointing. Like many of the positions his administration has taken with respect to ongoing court cases.
Or homosexuality.
That makes it unanimous. He promised to end the war and get us out of there, regardless of what the Pentagon and the contractors want us to do. How can it possibly be anything other than a MISTAKE for us to stay in either Iraq or Afghanistan?
The pictures are the perfect exit permit.
yes, what happened to that promise to end the war in iraq anyway?
not buying this one. it’s another unacceptable flip flop from a man who is soon going to rivaling olympic gymnasts for the number of flips he can do.
not cool. not cool at all.
A more persuasive argument can be made that coming clean, demonstrating that we are an open and responsible society ready to expose and renounce our wrongdoing, would undercut the demonization of America worldwide, and thereby make the soldiers safer.
Obama’s reverting to the slinking coverup mentality of the unitary executive will do much to erode the new slack the world has been willing to give Obama’s America. It will thereby make Americans less safe, including the military.
The generals told Obama releasing the photos would endanger the troops. Of course they did. What else are they going to say about further evidence of their own malfeasance? By listening to their spurious arguments Obama is merely endorsing the Bush/Cheney attitude that caused all the trouble in the first place. How he imagines that flouting the rule of law ala Bush makes America safer is beyond all reason. This is not a security decision, it is a political one. I think it will mark the real end of the honeymoon, here and around the world.
I recently returned from an extended trip to the Middle East. Obama has clearly inspired hope where there was none and a new opportunity for the USA to improve relations with Middle Eastern governments and peoples. To engage in the same shabby coverups employed by Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney and to use the same transparent excuses for them will set us back in the Middle and Far East, not make us safer or more respected.
Agree with your comment–a much stronger argument could be made for releasing them rather than hiding them.
While I agree that the photos should be released, it would surprise me if ANY administration of any political ideology would actually want pictures like these out there. The Abu Grhaib photos were leaked to CBS and The New Yorker – and that’s the only way we would ever have been able to see them. If I remember correctly, there are still many more photos and video from Abu Grhaib that were never released.
Although I wonder if the Obama Administration is hoping they’ll lose this case. Lately the right wing talking point on the photos is that Obama personally chose to release them, not that it was court-ordered and it’s become the conventional wisdom already. By putting on a show of trying to withhold them, he minimizes the worldwide PR damage that their release might do.
I have to disagree Boo. It is not a tricky decision. The pictures must been released. This decision is a total capitulation on the Presidents part. We have comitted acts in the past that were gorrendous and have eventually admitted their horrors. Granted, it has taken a hell of a long time to make the admissions. But, it this case, the world knows to horrific nature of these acts and they have been waiting for the US to stand up and admit to them. This act will be rightly percieved as a complete failure on the part of an administration that has been staking its reputation on being open and honest.
It will also have an additional impact- the millions of those that comitted themselves to the hope of Obama! That may well be even worse than anything else. At a time when this administration will be in need of as much support as it can generate so that it might achieve at least some of its goals, this action will not be greey=ted with the necessary enthusium that he will be hoping for.
I for one, find myself starting to seriously doubt whether I have been once again decieved. Is it the military that is runnig the country or is it the people that are running the country.
I hope that the Senate and or the house or both push forward with their investigation so that the world sees that the USA stands for the truth and that in the US, No One Is Above The Law!
Well, this may be the one that brings me out of “cut him some slack” mode. He hasn’t moved with great speed on things that I might consider important, but I’ve been willing to be patient. What pisses me off here is the outright reversal of morally (and otherwise) correct position.
.
(Al-Jazeera) – A former US official has accused the administration of George Bush, the former president, of authorising “unprecedented” acts of abuse during the interrogation of terror suspects.
Phillip Zelikow told a US senate hearing on torture practices that the Bush administration was guilty of a “collective failure” over the interrogation of “war on terror” detainees.
“The US government over the past seven years adopted an unprecedented programme in American history of cruelly calculated dehumanising abuse and physical torment to extract information,” Zelikow said.
“This was a mistake, perhaps disastrous one. It was a collective failure in which a number of officials and members of congress and staffers of both parties played a part, endorsing a CIA programme of physical coercion.”
We’re not liked anyhow …
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I’m not sure that the release of these photos would change things very much. Could opion of the US and its troops be much lower? It’s not like this hasn’t happened before.
BTW, a visit to virtually any major news site will show that with the breaking of this story, the prior collection of photos are being prominently refeatured. (MSNBC etc)
What happened to Obama’s campaign promise of transparency? Protecting the torturers, the murderers, the child rapists? This will not wash.
My taxdollars paid for that God-awful War. I have every right to know what was done in my name-and the White House has no right of any kind keeping those pictures from being published.
Has the White House-in its infinite wisdom-ever considered the fact that someone may leak these pictures?
the promise of transparency will go to the same place as the promise of health care reform and credit card reform.
it’s called the round file, aka “the wastebasket”.
i think change referred to the occupant of the oval office.
the bigger tax refund i got this year still doesn’t wash the blood off our collective hands.
Why does that old song by the WHO keep runnin’ through my head?
I’m sure you mean this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Won%27t_Get_Fooled_Again
When it comes to the Supreme Court, are each of these kinds of situations viewed individually, or is there a precedent?
Didn’t Nixon use the “national security” defense to try to avoid release of the audio tapes from his office?
So I guess I’m wondering both about how precedent might impact on this case AND how a decision on this would create precedent for the future.
that depends.
The Court can try to quarantine a ruling. They did that with Bush v. Gore, essentially saying that the ruling shouldn’t serve as a precedent for other cases. I’m not sure how effective that is.
Also, it depends on the arguments made and how the court interprets those arguments.
In general, any ruling allowing the suppression of these photos would probably set a precedent for other cases in the future.
Release the pictures and get everything out in the open. We cannot move forward unless the errors of the past are resolved.
One thing that bothers me about this turn of events, (trying to prevent the release of photos) & saying it might harm the troops, reeks of the Bush mantra of “Support the Troops”.
How do we know this.
How many of the troops & their families & friends want these photos released to show the world that they were used to further results of lies perpetrated upon innocent civilians.
How many of these troops want these photos released to further the prosecution of these liars, in command positions, who have stained the honor of good soldiers by making it legal to mistreat other humans, & that orders to do so must be followed.
How many of the troops want these photos released so that those who orchestrated this policy should be held accountable, to show the world that this is a nation of laws, that must be followed if they are to fight around the world in furtherance of that democracy so important to some, that innocent civilians must be killed.
Where does this “harm the troops” meme come from.
It is a false theme, if we only see one side of the fence.
…How many of these troops want these photos released to further the prosecution of these liars, in command positions, who have stained the honor of good soldiers by making it legal to mistreat other humans, & that orders to do so must be followed…
ah knucklehead, there’s the rub, obama’s now trumpeting the BushCo™ mantra of “a few bad soldiers”. from today’s statement:
this goes beyond a false meme, it’s cya for all the higher ups. it’s my firm belief that no one is ever going to be prosecuted, in the u.s. courts, for any of this. the coverup continues, wrapped in the flag and concern for the troops…the hypocrisy is stunning.
dada,
I fear you are correct about no accountability, so let`s go the other route & show that sending troops into the 100 degree desert with not enough water, substandard armor, electric showers etc. does harm to the troops also, especially after having a stressed out soldier shoot & kill five other soldiers.
Bring the troops home if you do not want them harmed, but don`t hide behind pictures to achieve that end.
As far as the investigations of the people depicted in the photos having been charged investigated & punished, already.
Where`s the documentation. Who was the highest ranking official.
This is sweeping under the rug, a policy that demands a bigger rug than can be fabricated, especially with most manufacturers having been shipped overseas.
I received an email after responding to a conservative in my local paper. He went on for a few paragraphs about how evil and terrible al Qaeda was:
He then went on about how torture “worked” and broke up a bunch of (discredited) plots. Not sure whether he was exaggerating for effect or not, but I think it’s very important that what was done to helpless captives should be acknowledged.
Actual photos of abuse will cause great harm to the troops but public conspiracies to hide photos of abuse (while of course not prosecuting the abusers) will of course keep our troops safe as babes in arms.
I’m sorry to me this one is a clear FUCK YOU Obama. Do the right thing.
We should also take steps to block the dissemination of Holocaust photos, lest we inflame opinion against octogenarian German death camp guards.
Seriously, I don’t believe we have any moral right to do anything but complete a full and complete accounting of our war crimes. Fear of reprisals is not a legitimate excuse in defense of a rogue criminal state and that is exactly what the United States is unless and until a full confession is made and the guilty are punished.
A shrewd political move? That’s one way to put it. I prefer another, more direct statement: it’s evil.
Whatever the consequences of publication, the consequences of not publishing are far worse: it will bring about the normalization of unspeakable evils and quite likely permanently corrupt the republic.
And I’ll say it if no one else will: If the Obama administration continues to aid and abet the horrendous crimes of the Bush administration, it is grounds for impeachment. It also sets the stage for intervention by international courts whose jurisdiction is invoked by the failure of the legal system of the offending state. Covering up the operation of what were in effect death camps, and absolving the perpetrators thereof certainly counts in my book as the total failure of our legal system.
If the United States were a just and moral state, we would be arranging the details of trials and the inevitable hangings of much of the Bush administration, not quibbling over whether or not to hide the evidence.
Best comment on the board!