How could that happen, if the images are innocuous?
Such an occasion deserves a healthy sampler platter of rationalizations, DU style:
...because IMO if this comes out, Obama will have NO place to go except to find Bush, Cheney and the rest of the cabal and see that the motherfuckers are charged.
because the Cheneys are controlling the message
It would endanger US troops
Probably because they're disgusting beyond belief, and will serve to undo all the work he's done to date.
Seriously. I think he wants justice but it would destroy any chance of our nation returning to any dignity and integrity in the eyes of the world.
They would be in a lot more danger if enemy troops see what we did to their troops. They would be more incensed to kill our troops if the pictures come out now while we are in country. When the troops come home from Iraq and Afganland it would be more appropriate to release them for publication.
Obama doesn't want to release them because he doesn't want to prosecute the Bush torturers.
Why increase the danger if it is not necessary?
Apperently the President believes that there is still work to do in Iraq and Afganistan
Doing this will fan the flames of outrage against the past administration hugely. HUGELY. When pictures come out of children being sodomized in front of women, as is rumored, all hell is going to break loose.
So instead of concentrating on the running of our government and pulling our economy out of the crapper, our government is going to get wrapped up in a huge, huge, huge investigation.
He doesn't want to deal with scandal right now. He doesn't want to be the president that concentrated on criminal prosecution of things already done when there are things that need taking care of right now.
Everyone who wants to see the photos is just being voyeuristic.
Releasing photos would harm soldiers, not Cheney.
I don't care if the photos are released to the public. In fact, I hope they are not. What I care about if whether the crimes are prosecuted, and whether justice is served. Tell me how justice is served any further if the photos are made public?Yes, I'm sure that Barack Obama will prosecute Bush administration crimes. Any day now.
God bless Barack Obama. I trust him when he says that he can't let us see anything because there's nothing to see.
10 comments:
Excellent post, but I especially like your last sentence.
djmm
They would be in a lot more danger if enemy troops see what we did to their troops.Does this moron think the Iraqis don't already know what's in those pictures? Thousands of Iraqis have passed through every prison and detainment camp we've run - does he think that none of them went back to their communities and told what they saw? It's not the Iraqis Obama wants to keep in ignorance, it's the Americans.
The Secret War In Laos wasn't a secret to the North Vietnamese, the Red Chinese, the USSR or the Laotians. They all knew we were there.
It was only a secret to the American people.
The more things change, the more they remain insane.
Who knew progressives were such screw-ups?
The Obama administration did not plan on war crime trials and it threatens to sap the energy out of it. Releasing the photos will fan the flames and possibly implicate criminal generals that they need at this time. Part of the problem and reason that this is careening out of political control is Dick's big crazy mouth. The courts are compelling the release of information drip by drip in part because the Bush adm held courts in utter contempt and used the stupidest, amoral ambulance chasers to subvert centuries of legal precedent. Karma is a bitch.
I applaud the president on this move.
What good would release of the photos do to anybody? The troops would be punished and our reputation would take a serious hit. These photos would be degrading to the people of the Middle East where most of these prisoners hailed from. It would have been a lose-lose situation.
This is one of the first moves where I support the president 100%.
Ryan
Sooo predicatble. PM Carpenter over at BF chimes in with the obligatory 11-dimensional chess argument, i.e. he knows the photos will come out eventually, but he's playing smart politics by appearing to oppose their release.
Hopium withdrawal is a bitch.
He's only staying the release of the photos because of his big Muslim speech in Egypt. He would never do anything to jeopardize his chance to appear in front of a large Muslim audience, because surely Obama believes that being the savior to heal Muslim vs. US relations is his destiny. But, I am troubled because I believe that ultimately Obama will be playing the "it wasn't me" card, and again the US as a whole will fall short. If his speech is successful, how will this affect relations with the Muslim world? I feel this is a dangerous move because it will put Obama as the only POTUS (or those who follow him) who can keep the peace with Muslims. How would the Dems be able to run another Dem in 2012 if Obama screws up the economy so badly then and loses mass support?
FembotsForObama
How many US administration has been prosecuted by the next elected administration in the past ?
Obama is only doing like Clinton with the Contra. The only diff is that when Obama does it, it's evil.
Ryan -
What good would release of the photos do to anybody? It would show we abide by the decisions of our own courts, for one thing. All of Obama's arguments are the same ones Bush made, and the courts have already rejected those.
The troops would be punished and our reputation would take a serious hit. If there's 'nothing sensational' there - as Obama says - then how is this even possible? Unless Obama is lying, is that what you're saying, that he is lying? In that case Obama is lying to you, and you "applaud" that.
And in any case, as Nadia pointed out - the Iraqis already know what our troops did there, because they lived it... and, I would add, are still living it.
Anon -
Obama is only doing like Clinton with the Contra. The only diff is that when Obama does it, it's evil. Hmm, I guess you missed the fact that there were investigations into Iran-Contra in the 80s (by the Dems). Reagan couldn't be prosecuted because it was determined he was not mentally competent to stand trial, and as for the rest, they got off, and double jeopardy prevented Clinton from going after them once he got into office.
Sergei Rostov
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