Is Afghanistan the reason the Obama admin changed course with releasing torture photos?

[sabra]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6422309.html

<snip>

Obama's decision came after top military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan expressed fears that publicizing the pictures could put their troops in danger, a White House official said Wednesday. When the Abu Ghraib photos emerged in 2004 of grinning U.S. soldiers posing with detainees, some naked, some being held on leashes, they caused a huge anti-American backlash around the globe, particularly in the Muslim world.

Obama decided he did not feel comfortable with the photos release, and was concerned it would inflame tensions in Iraq and Afghanistan, put U.S. soldiers at higher risk and make the U.S. missions in those two wars more difficult, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president's decision had not yet been made public.

...

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said military "commanders are concerned about the impact the release of these photos would have for the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," and that Defense Secretary Robert Gates shares their concerns. Gates wanted the photos blocked from release or at the very least delayed, Morrell said.

Military commanders' concerns are most intense with respect to Afghanistan.

There the release would coincide with the spring thaw that usually heralds the year's toughest fighting. Morrell also noted the release as scheduled would come as thousands of new U.S. troops head into Afghanistan's volatile south.

[Mari333]

1. sure. gotta keep that pipeline safe.

http://www.alternet.org/audits/139983/pipeline-istan%3A_everything_you_need_to_know_about_oil%2C_gas%2C_russia%2C_china%2C_iran%2C_afghanistan_and_obama/

[Echo In Light]

2. +1

[leftstreet]

3. What exactly is the "US missions in those two wars" ??

I can't remember

[flyarm]

4. Gotta get those poppies to Turkey factories, to turn them into Heroin...pronto!

the bank boys need the money infusion!!