By Ken Theisen
On May 13th the Obama administration announced a reversal of its pledge to make public photos depicting “detainee abuse” by
The Department of Defense (DOD) had previously told a federal judge that it would release a "substantial number" of photos in response to a court ruling in an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. With this latest decision the Obama administration is continuing its minimization of the crimes of torture committed by the
Obama told reporters "that the publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals. In fact, the most direct consequence of releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger."
Here’s one key truth Obama is fully aware of, and is lying about: torture was official
And now Obama pretends as if torture was the act of a “small number of individuals.” That is BS. What you are trying to cover up is systematic abuse ordered from the top of the Bush regime. But that is not surprising.
Obama and his Attorney General have already announced that they will not go after the men who conducted the torture. It is also likely they will not try to prosecute those listed above who ordered the torture. Obama in his latest announcement stated the photo release could result in "a chilling effect on future investigations of detainee abuse." One thing he wants is that anyone who from this day forward falls into the clutches of the armed forces or spy organizations of the U.S. fears that he too will face waterboarding, being torn apart by snarling dogs, electrodes attached to his genitals, and other forms of “interrogation” mastered
But what he is really afraid of is releasing mass outrage at what the
Obama stated that "Any abuse of detainees is unacceptable. It is against our values. It endangers our security. It will not be tolerated." But by covering up abuse he will allow it to continue. Remember the old saying a picture is worth a thousand words. Obama can say all he wants about American values, but the pictures depict the real values of American imperialism and that is why Obama wishes to suppress them.
This is also not an off the cuff decision by the Obama administration. Last week Obama met with his attorneys. Like in past cases where the national security state feared revealing its secrets, the Obama legal team has repeatedly gone to court to protect the dirty secrets of the
On May 13th the Department of Justice sent a letter to the Judge informing the court of the Obama reversal. (See http://www.aclu.org/ for a copy of the letter.)
In response to the reversal Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU stated, "The Obama administration’s adoption of the stonewalling tactics and opaque policies of the Bush administration flies in the face of the president’s stated desire to restore the rule of law, to revive our moral standing in the world and to lead a transparent government. This decision is particularly disturbing given the Justice Department’s failure to initiate a criminal investigation of torture crimes under the Bush administration.”
"It is true that these photos would be disturbing; the day we are no longer disturbed by such repugnant acts would be a sad one. In
A point worth thinking about: a core argument of Obama’s Department of Justice against releasing the photos was that doing so would violate the prisoners’ “Geneva Convention protections”. Apparantly a new found government interest in the rights of the countless people tormented and persecuted by the U.S. government and its armed forces over the past 7 years doesn’t recognize that the torture itself was and is, among many other things, a contemptible violation of “Geneva Convention protections”.
Obama’s opposition to releasing these photos is a declaration that his administration is commited to continuing the wars of terror and torture initiated in the Bush years. He is fighting to cover up the monstrous crimes of the Bush years. He is doing this so that the same basic path of unjust, murderous war – and its inevitable accompaniment, torture – systematic, cold-blooded, carefully calibrated torture, will continue in the interest of expanding and fortifying the blood soaked
The question remains – what are we going to do about this. Get with World Can’t Wait on May 28th, organize protests in your own city or town or country hamlet on May 28th, let the world know we won’t stop until the war criminals face justice, and until the unjust wars and the torture stop.