Pentagon bars release of photos allegedly showing detainee abuse

[spanone]

the 44 pictures must be so horrific they would invite the shitstorm of all times.....why else would Obama change his mind?

Washington (CNN) -- The Pentagon is blocking public release of photos apparently depicting abuse of suspected terrorists and foreign troops in U.S. custody, and urging the Supreme Court to dismiss a lower court ruling ordering the photos to be publicly disclosed, according to court documents.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates notified the high court late Friday that he was issuing an order to block the release.

The photos have been at the center of a years-long lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. Congress last month gave the Obama administration specific authority to prevent any release of the 44 photos. Afterward, Gates signed a certificate of authorization, or order, to prevent the photos' release, saying their disclosure would endanger U.S. troops serving abroad.

The order covers all photographs taken of people captured or detained in overseas military operations between September 11, 2001, the day of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and January 22, 2009, shortly after President Obama took office.

The Pentagon initially was set to release the images of Iraqi and Afghan prisoners in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the ACLU.

But Obama and the Justice Department objected to the court-ordered release, reversing an earlier executive decision. Obama had initially agreed to the release, but changed his mind after military leaders privately and intensely urged him to block it.


http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/15/scotus.detainee.photos/index.html:shrug: :shrug:

[Amonester]

1. Caving in we can't believe in.

The BFEE made him do it.

Pathetic.

[spanone]

2. they know where his kids live.

[Amonester]

3. No doubt, they sure do. n/t

[cliffordu]

4. cynical, much???

fuck me, I cannot believe it.

[bluestateguy]

5. We'll see the pictures eventually

In about 60 years, when I'm in a rest home watching old reruns of the Simpsons

[spanone]

6. they are probably worse than a person can imagine...that doesn't excuse not releasing imho

[JDPriestly]

7. This is, in my opinion, virtually an admission of torture and inhumane treatment

of prisoners. If the pictures did not prove torture and inhumanity, then Gates would release them. The refusal to release the photos is a confession. And it suggests criminal behavior and a criminal cover-up that should be prosecuted.

There is a higher law even than our civil law. It is the law upon which our Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are based -- the law that makes all of us equal and that gives no person the right to deprive another person of the fundamental human rights such as the rights to be silent and to be represented by counsel when accused of a crime. These are natural, fundamental rights. Our law simply recognizes that fact.

President Obama should not be going along with this. He is making himself complicit in the crimes of the Bush administration. That is a downright foolish thing to do.

[lamp_shade]

8. Good.