Sigh. Not a headline one would hope for.

[beachmom]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/24/kerry-detainee-photos-cou_n_191113.html

Kerry: Detainee Photos Could Be Terrorist Propaganda, But Truth Is Important

Senate foreign relations committee chairman John Kerry said on Friday that he was concerned the release of photos depicting the abusive treatment of detainees in U.S. custody could become "propaganda tool" for terrorist organizations.

In an interview with the Huffington Post, the Massachusetts Democrat was asked to respond to news that the Department of Defense would be releasing 44 photos pertaining to the harsh handling of detainees at prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I think showing the truth is always important," said Kerry. "But I do think it will be used as a propaganda tool and have some damaging impact. But this didn't happen under Obama, it happened under Bush and every one understands that."

Kerry stressed in the interview that this was not a decision made by the Obama administration. "They are not releasing them because they want to, but because there was a FOIA request and a judge is ordering them released," he said.

He also stressed that Obama had put an end to these interrogation tactics, which would, in due course, eliminate a galvanizing tool used by these same terrorist cells. "We are trying to move to a new place," he said, "and we have ended these policies." But he did concede that the pictures "will be used as a tool... as were the other photos (from Abu Ghraib)."

I deleted my commentary, and will let you all interpret what this means.

[ProSense]

1. The Bushies and the Repubs should have thought about that before they committed war crimes.

"I think showing the truth is always important," said Kerry. "But I do think it will be used as a propaganda tool and have some damaging impact. But this didn't happen under Obama, it happened under Bush and every one understands that."

Period.

The consequences of the Bush administration's actions are going to be devastating in light of the moral authority the U.S. claims.

The torture apologists are advancing two arguments

Flashback, Bob Herbert: All Too Human

[cadmium]

2. Headline writers at Huff Post dont seem to

care if their provocative headlines obscure the story. They dont do it just with Kerry stories -- check out screaming Huffington Posts regularly and hardly ever is the headline reflecting the salient point of the story. They did a lot of sensationalist anti Hillary headlines in primary season.

[ProSense]

3. I have no problem with this headline because

Kerry said it. The fact is that the Republicans are trying to use this as an argument, but as Kerry points out, the same can be said about the Abu Ghraib photos. Those photos were horrific (warning graphic).

Posted the Kerry interview here.

[Mass]

4. Nobody would like to read this,as it refers to event that should never have existed.

I had read your commentary your delete it, but did not get it. I could not answer then, as my son called at this point to tell me which classes he was taking next term. So, I will try to answer now.

The Bushies are in arms because these photos have been released, which should come to no surprise at all. As for Kerry, it seems to me he states the obvious, that these photos are damaging, but that it is good that they were released.

[wisteria]

5. Well, he is being honest about the entire situation.

And, we all know how he feels about torture.

[karynnj]

6. These comments seem sensible to me

He again says the truth being shown is important. He also admits that the photos can be used as propaganda tools. I suspect that the latter was in respond to a question as to whether the Republicans are right in saying that. As the Abu Ghraib photos were used that way, it would be ridiculous to think these won't.

The fact is that we still have a large number of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. That Kerry isn't delighted that these photos are being released is likely because he knows it makes them less safe and their job harder. I would think him heartless if he didn't worry about that. The fact is that the main damage done was done by the Bush administration approving these actions and doing them.

He has been clear that he wants the truth out. He has also been the most consistent politician speaking out against torture. More importantly, he stressed that the US have ended those procedures.

If you were Obama, would you want those pictures out if you knew it could increase the risks for soldiers?

[Inuca]

7. I do not see a problem

It is straight forward and correct. Why are you bothered by what he said?

[TayTay]

8. The headline is honest

And unspeakably sad. The United States of America tortured people. Torture was approved by the highest ranks of our civilian and military government. The neoconservative belief that America was special because of "our Constitution, our principles, our values and our ideals" is shattered. We tortured people and it was policy. There were a lot of people in the upper echelons of our government, including the Congress, who knew about this and basically did nothing to prevent it.

Of course this is going to be thrown back in our faces by our enemies. Of course it's going to become a recruitment point for terrorist organizations.

The release of those photographs is nothing to celebrate. (Like with the batch that came out in 2004 from Abu Ghraib, I will make every effort to not see any of them. It is enough to know it happened, I can't bear to see these pictures.) This is a shameful, disgraceful episode in the history of this country. There is nothing to celebrate here.

I think Sen. Kerry's statement is positively joyful and positive compared to my feelings on this issue. The only good thing I can derive from this whole episode is that I am, for the first time in my life, glad that certain relatives, who served in this nation's military, never lived to see this day. Shame on us for this and shame on President Obama for waffling about getting a commission or something together to have a reckoning on this.

This is a test of our democracy. We shall see if we pass this test or if we retreat to a place of hollow inaction and platitudes. There will be consequences for what we did. We gave aid and comfort to our enemies and they will use this against us. Yet, we still have to face what we have done. There is no joy, no political glee in this, just horror.

[YvonneCa]

10. "This is a test of our democracy." Your words are right on...

...target, IMHO. "We shall see if we pass this test or if we retreat to a place of hollow inaction and platitudes..." That, to me, is what is frightening, because we don't know yet the exact consequences of exposing the truth. I think we DO, however, know the consequences of inaction...continued degradation of our values as a people. That is intolerable to me.

Back in 2006, I posted this in response to a DU member who was afraid the actions of the Bush Administration were causing us to lose our precious country. My post to her:

Stay strong...

...I too worry for our country, but it needs ALL of us "now, more than ever"...Kerry's words. I thought it was horrible when they stopped the recount in 2000; worse still on 9/11; and I've been so sad since November 3, 2004. That was the first election in which I tried to do more than just vote...I had to (I drove to Las Vegas as a volunteer in a 'swing state'). If Kerry had lost and I hadn't done ANYTHING to make a difference, I couldn't live with myself.

This country is not dying...too many of us won't let it. I think it IS being tested. Ultimately, that will make us stronger. It sure is painful, though, right now. The most difficult thing for me is the lack of awareness of people closest to me...my family and my friends. In the beginning, they thought I was just in denial about the election. But I've 'become' the news for them...I forward news articles (from sources THEY trust) that they otherwise would never see. I've been buying books (Jimmy Carter's, Joe Wilson's, Gary Hart's) and sharing them when I'm done. Then I talk to them about why I'm upset with this administration. They don't always agree, yet. But it's a start. I'm convinced that education is the key to saving our country.

I am most hopeful because our leaders are now speaking out...not enough, yet...and not as 'brazenly' as I wish...but better every day! They are educating the public. That tells me they understand what is needed and are now acting to turn the country in a better direction. But it's like turning an aircraft carrier...REALLY SLOW. :7 When I need a lift, I listen to John Kerry's Georgetown Speech (C-SPAN), and his Council on Foreign Relations speech, and now Al Gore's most recent speech on the wiretaps. (If you've missed ANY of those, you need to listen...they are INSPIRATIONAL ! !

_____, I've enjoyed your posts since I joined DU. Your information helped me when I was seeking answers. Don't give up. We'll get there...this is a GREAT country (most of the time)...and we're not finished yet.

It was around this time when I added my sig line. Try as I do, I haven't been able to change it yet:

[TayTay]

9. Do we understand what these pictures are of? (Not for the squeamish)

Those with weak stomachs or strong consciences warned about reading this. I am discussing what is on some of those pictures being released.

In Seymour Hersh's 2004 book about the abuses at Abu Ghraib, he talks about the pictures that were withheld from the media because of the fear that they would inflame even more passion against the US.

Donald Rumsfeld finally went to see these pictures in 2004, after the press had released some of the more TV-ready prints. Hersh writes that Rumsfeld found the pictures, "hard to believe. There are other photos that depict ... acts that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel, and inhuman." (OMG, Rumsfeld the stoic actually might have had a conscience, who knew?)

Read this horrific and terribly, terribly graphic account and then tell me Sen. Kerry's press release isn't remarkably even-handed:

Seymour M. Hersh, Chain of Command, page 44 (hardcover)

"In my initial reporting, I saw more than fifty photographs depicting the abuses at Abu Ghraib. In the weeks that followed, other new organizations, notably the Washington Post, obtained and published more. An attorney involved in the case told me in July 2004 that one of the witness statements he had read described the rape of a boy by a foreign contract employee who served as an interpreter at Abu Ghraib. In his statement, which had not been made public, the lawyer told me, a prisoner stated that he was a witness to the rape, and that a woman was taking pictures. The witness further stated, according to the lawyer, that "the kid was making a lot of noise." In his report, General Taguba noted that the evidence he had assembled included videotapes as well as photographs. He also commented that certain members of the Iraqi work force "demonstrate questionable work ethics and loyalties, and are a potentially dangerous contingent within the Hard Site."

There is a more about the rape and abuse of women and other equally ugly things. This is what is on these pictures that the ACLU sued to get released. How this can not end up being used against the US is beyond me. That we have to get at the truth about what happened should also be a given.