To Show or Not to Show Pictures of Abu Ghraib
This was a change from his previous feelings and those of the Pentagon and the American Civil Liberties Union that the pictures showing what went on at Abu Ghraib and other prisons i.e. torture should be released.
The President along with his legal people decided that he wasn't comfortable with the release of the pictures and was afraid our troops would be hurt by them.
In spite of the President's original decision to release the pictures some military people had disagreed with that decision.
The missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan are changing. Troops are leaving urban areas in Iraq and elsewhere and new troops have entered Afghanistan. Surely this is not the time to incite anyone!
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary and also David Petraeus among others were all leery about publicizing the pictures.
You may remember the pictures at Abu Ghraib. I sure do. They showed naked prisoner; degrading positions of them or worse if possible. The American Civil Liberties Union believes that the pictures must be shown so we could understand the extent of the abuse of prisoners. Personally as an educated person I know what the abuse is and I trust our President.
I do not believe that the Obama administration is covering them up or in any way covering up the outrageous acts of the Bush administration. I do agree that we learn from our mistakes and that if we don't acknowledge what was done we are burying our heads in the sand; however, I don't believe that is true in this case.
At some point I think the photos should be released. I think we as Americans must know what the Bush administration allowed to have happen. I think we have a right to be faced with the crimes so they never happen again. I just don't think right now is the right time.
Source of the specific information: NYTimes
Published by jobythebay
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2 Comments
Post a CommentHmmmm.....I haven't heard of this yet. It's probably a good idea to keep them from being released. I remember the Abu Ghraib photos too. We don't need to see it again. Great post, Joy.
I agree - whatever happened there (and I have no doubt it was horrible) let's be knowledgeable about it and deal with it.