rssAbu Ghraib Rape and Abuse Photos Were Not the Ones Obama Wants to Suppress After All
Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 2:11 pm
- 4 Comments
Turns out the story from the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph that the photos the Obama administration is refusing to release, despite a court order to do so, are not the same ones that Maj. Gen. Antonia Taguba said depict brutal rapes of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
At least, so says Mark Benjamin at Salon and now White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
Here’s the e-mail from Gibbs:
A number of you have asked about or reported on a recent article in the Telegraph that inaccurately described photos which are the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. Both the Department of Defense and the White House have said the article was wrong, and now the individual who was purported to be the source of the article has said it’s inaccurate. Given that this false report has been repeated around the world, and given the impact these negative reports have on our troops, I felt it was important for you to see this correction.
Turns out the 44 photos that are the subject of the ACLU’s lawsuit against the government, which President Obama first said he would release and then, after conferring with the CIA and Defense Department, said he wouldn’t, are not the same photos that Taguba actually saw and described in his 2004 report.
Of course, now that we don’t have descriptions of the particular photos doesn’t really change the question of whether the White House should release them. As I’ve argued before, I think a federal judge — not the president unilaterally — ought to decide whether the information of criminal wrongdoing they allegedly reveal outweighs the potential danger to U.S. troops.
4 Comments
Pingback posted May 31, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
[...] the same ones that Maj. Gen. Antonia Taguba said depict brutal rapes of prisoners at Abu … Read Full Post: Abu Ghraib Rape and Abuse Photos Were Not the Ones Obama Wants to … – The Wash… Adding Related Info:Censored Photos Reportedly Show Rape, Sexual Abuse of Prisoners – The [...]
Comment posted May 31, 2009 @ 7:33 pm
Transparency is easy to say when you want to be elected…
Does the President have the unilateral power to stop anyone in OUR government from complying with a court order from a Federal Judge? If so what are the grounds?
1. National Security? Probably so.
2. Embarrassing Secrets, that would embarrass the US in the eyes of the world? No.
3. It would anger our enemies and they would fight harder? Maaaaaaybe.
4. It would be hard on military moral? No.
So what SHOULD Obama and HIS government do? I would suggest his lawyers petition the Judge for an in camera review of the pictures that they want to withhold contrary to the judges' order.
First, I can't believe EVERY single picture is so terrible. If it is, we have a bunch of sadists on our hands somewhere. If that is the case, and as days go by and information is withheld it seems a possibility, we have a group that is doing more to help recruit Al Qaeda members that a bunch of photos will.
Second, this idea of a court review was used before Bush II when the government wanted to intrude on our privacy. The government had to go before the FISA court and justify its proposed actions.
Certainly this or some similar requirement would be better than having the President of the United States defying a Federal Court based on his unilateral fiat.
Assuming transparency is still a goal??? Translucency??? Transmurky? Transmud!!!
Comment posted June 1, 2009 @ 6:54 pm
I have no respect for the US or for Obama anymore. It's such a waste.
I voted for Obama because I wanted a new America. A change, not a cover up.
Imagine if Obama said, Look, these pictures are the old American. We'll find who did this and prosecute them to the fullest. I apologize to the world for this. Never again!
Then I'd have respect for him and America. What a waste.
Comment posted June 2, 2009 @ 1:54 am
I have no respect for the US or for Obama anymore. It's such a waste.
I voted for Obama because I wanted a new America. A change, not a cover up.
Imagine if Obama said, Look, these pictures are the old American. We'll find who did this and prosecute them to the fullest. I apologize to the world for this. Never again!
Then I'd have respect for him and America. What a waste.
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