Thursday, September 29, 2005
Judge says all Abu Ghraib photos must be released
The Pentagon's choke-hold on the foulest of the Abu Ghraib torture photos may soon come to an end. A judge has ordered them to be released.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has argued that the photos will give our enemies further reason to hate us and blow us up, so the imagery needs to be tightly guarded from public view.
But U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said terrorists have proven they "do not need pretexts for their barbarism."
He's right, to a point, though I think these images do help fuel the other side's hatred of us. But it's not just the photos that enrage our enemies -- it's the actual acts taking place. Let's not make the mistake of getting caught up in the photos; it's what's in the photos that is so horrific and terrible.
Our government needs to be held accountable for whatever measures it has not taken to ensure that the United States maintains a clear moral foothold during this war by not abusing and humiliating prisoners while we claim to be the benevolent liberators of that particular region. This means the people need to see what Donald Rumsfeld and his ilk have been ignoring, hiding, and scoffing at for years now.
As more and more credible sources step forward and tell of these systemic abuses, the Pentagon will no longer be able to marginalize the issue and blame these abuses on certain "bad apples." It looks like the bunch is spoiled -- it's time to clean up from the top down.
This is an issue that all Americans should unite over -- Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, atheist, agnostic, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, everyone. Torture is wrong and our country should not be in the business of it.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has argued that the photos will give our enemies further reason to hate us and blow us up, so the imagery needs to be tightly guarded from public view.
But U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said terrorists have proven they "do not need pretexts for their barbarism."
He's right, to a point, though I think these images do help fuel the other side's hatred of us. But it's not just the photos that enrage our enemies -- it's the actual acts taking place. Let's not make the mistake of getting caught up in the photos; it's what's in the photos that is so horrific and terrible.
Our government needs to be held accountable for whatever measures it has not taken to ensure that the United States maintains a clear moral foothold during this war by not abusing and humiliating prisoners while we claim to be the benevolent liberators of that particular region. This means the people need to see what Donald Rumsfeld and his ilk have been ignoring, hiding, and scoffing at for years now.
As more and more credible sources step forward and tell of these systemic abuses, the Pentagon will no longer be able to marginalize the issue and blame these abuses on certain "bad apples." It looks like the bunch is spoiled -- it's time to clean up from the top down.
This is an issue that all Americans should unite over -- Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green, atheist, agnostic, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, everyone. Torture is wrong and our country should not be in the business of it.
# posted by Sanders @ 10:12 PM 
