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TechnoratiObama Seeks to Block Release of Abuse Photos
The government is appealing a 2008 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which ruled that the government must release the photos to comply with an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.
The Obama Administration initially agreed to release the photos - and decided not to appeal the courts decision - but they reversed their position on May 28 when the government asked the appeals court to recall its order for the photos release since an appeal was to be filed in the Supreme Court.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and recalled its order that the photos be released.
"These photos are a crucial part of the historical record, and the appeals court was right to find that they should be released," said Director of the ACLU National Security Project Jameel Jaffer. "It's disappointing that the Obama Administration which has rightly acknowledged the connection between transparency and accountability is continuing to argue that these photographs should be suppressed."
Human rights groups were enthusiastic about Obama's commitment in his first week in office to create "an unprecedented level of openness in government" and "establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration."
But the administration has blocked lawsuits related to its usage of "extraordinary renditions" and warrantless wiretapping on the basis that "state secrets" could be put in danger were the lawsuits to move forward.
While previous lawsuits have been successfully blocked, ACLU attorneys are hopeful that the Supreme Court will agree with the appeals court decision to release the photos.
"The appeals court soundly rejected all of the government's arguments for withholding the photos, and it's unfortunate that the government has chosen to contest that decision," said ACLU staff attorney Amrit Singh. "These photos would provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Gharib," Singh said. "As disturbing as the photos may be, it is critical that the American people know the full truth about the abuse that occurred in their name."
In a Jul. 29 letter to Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC) Obama outlined that he would work with Congress to pass legislation that would classify photographic or video evidence of U.S. soldiers committing acts of prisoner abuse against detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The administration has suggested that the release of such photos could put in danger the lives of individuals working on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the ACLU and other proponents of releasing the photos have agreed with the courts earlier decision that the identity of all individuals pictured in the photos should be obscured.
Congress will look at the proposed legislation when they return from their summer break in September, but Obama may find opposition from within his own party the most difficult obstacle.
"The U.S. should not restrict access to intelligence solely to prevent information that might prove politically embarrassing from becoming public, when it poses no legitimate national security threat. This is especially the case when the information in question bears on an allegation as deeply troubling as torture," Representative Bill Delahunt (D-MA) wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder. "I suggest that the U.S. itself should make that information public, or at least remove our objection to its release. Justice and democratic accountability overwhelmingly support the release of this information."
Even as the Obama Administration works to classify or prevent the release of the torture photos, the Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that Attorney General Eric Holder will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that the CIA participated in torturing detainees and - in some cases - the torture resulted in death.
The investigation will likely focus on whether lower-level CIA officials overstepped their authority in using interrogation techniques which went beyond the approved set of procedures set forth in Bush Administration memos.
37 Comments so far
Show AllSpeaking of hiding things, why is CommonDreams not publishing the truth Sibel Edmonds just testified about in regard to the corruption in congress? This goes high and it goes deep. Is it because an active member of congress who is a lesbian has been blackmailed into corruption? Gays can be corrupt too, you now. Hastert is gay too and he now works as a lobbyist for Turkey. He has committed crimes. Why don't you publish this?
Constructive criticism is one thing, but the sheer amount of destructive criticism here makes one wonder how many Republicans in liberal clothing wanting Obama to fail are posting on CD.
These people are motivated fanatics, organized and well funded. The Brown Shirts of the fascist blitzkrieg.
I'll be called an Obamabot or worse for posting this, but it has to be said. If not Obama, then what? Nader? Kucinich? McKinney? Good luck with that.
Meanwhile, if real progressives would get off your duff and do something about it instead of sitting here complaining, you might be able to push Democrats to change things the way the fascists are doing. What happened to sixty's creativity?
Non-fraudulent voter initiatives and referendums have worked very well in Europe and SA. Instead of telling me why they won't work here, tell me how we can make them work.
george sebouhian
The photos are facts because Bush says, ugh, sorry, P. Obama says they are real; that's why he's trying to keep them invisible. But his "reason" won't guarantee Geneva Accord treatment of US war prisoners, unless of course our "enemies" suddenly embrace a moral principle higher than ours. Yessss....
Obama: Bush in Blackface.
But the man do have problems. These pictures alone probably are sufficient evidence for the indictment of Bush, et al for war crimes. Honestly think you're ever going to see that?
Kucinich is still my man.
Your blackface comment is inappropriate, completely untrue in any sense, and it's an analogy that reminds us how stupid white people were in the past. I'm surprised the moderators here allow it.
And I'm 100 percent certain that Kucinich would not be particularly flattered to know that he's your man.
Obama is betraying all of us. Time to turn the heat up!
But we CAN"T show the photos! If we released them they would no longer hate us for our freedom. They would hate us for our war crimes.
Silly liberals.
Obama is our misfortune! We neeeded a man of character, vision, commitment and courage who would lead this country out of the grasp of the vested interests, the money changers and the economic pimps of every persuasion that infest us and suck our life's blood. Instead we got a first class third-rate politician who has already sold us out to our enemies. We should have recognized when the media and the pundits were braying his outstanding qualities that there was something afoot. We did not get the President we need and as a consequence this country will continue its downward death spiral. There are not many advantages to being an older citizen but one of the few that is of importance to me, is that I will not have to experience the demise of a nation that could have been great save for its craven politicians.
Shame on Obama. He's trying to rewrite the past rather than move forward.
We shouldn't start celebrating Holder's actions yet. His brief is very narrow to be in compliance with international and domestic law.
1. Obama's first and foremost duty is to protect, perpetuate and expand imperial/executive prerogatives, so "State Secrets" protection must be extended over as much government/elite activity as possible. That is the first purpose in withholding the photos.
3. The second is that the photos would, at least partly, force the Obama regime to account for the torture, by investigating and punishing the perpetrators. This they cannot allow because of item 1, above.
4. When it comes to "accountability" and "transparency", these will take the form of punitive and wasteful audits vs. low level government and contractor personnel. Teachers, unions, construction companies, haulers, low level military officers, etc will suffer these indignities on occasion. The machine needs to "make an example" out of the rare unlucky dog. The big boys, however, will be so lost in a blizzard of taxpayer money, through no-bid contracts, bailouts and giveaways, that we will simply be unable to see what they are doing - Or their armed enforcers around the outposts of empire.
Perhaps this is a good place to bring up something that I have not seen anywhere else: What are the prospects of our hapless travellers into Iran being "harshly, aggressively interrogated". I believe that waterboarding has been declared legitimate so why not these guys and gals. They are obviously spies or what might be called military operatives sent to probe the border security and defenses of Iran in preparation for the invasion. Would the Iran interrogators be more gentle than their American counterpart?
As peculiar as it is in the first place that something as chaotic, destructive, and uncontrollable as modern warfare is "governed" by statutory law and treaty, and consensus amounting to a mega-"gentleman's agreement", such is the case.
Since the US has plainly broken from such quaint standards as the Geneva Convention, it has forfeited any right to protest formerly illegal or illicit behavior by other nations, and especially claims of torture or abuse.
While I doubt that the US detainees held by Iran WILL be subjected to torture equivalent to those practiced by or on behalf of the US government, you're correct to imply that the US has abandoned any moral authority or high ground it had before it became a rogue state after 9/11.
All THAT said, you can bet the Goldman-Sachs slush funds that if there is any report that an Amerikan citizen HAS been harshly treated by their captors, Obama and Hillary will rush to the podium in righteous high dudgeon to call out the evildoers for coming even CLOSE to what the US government has been doing-- with impunity-- for decades.
Here is another malevolent continuity from the previous maladministration preserved, and even amplified by the Obama team. Whether it's due to a pathological lack of occupational self-awareness, or a blighted and withered cynicism-- I suspect the latter-- our heads of state are utterly shameless in blowing off their big bazoos about flaws in other governments or foreign politicians regardless of their own amorality and misdeeds.
I could Google up a slew of recent examples, including Clinton's scolding of Zelaya as "reckless".
Indeed, the US is ripe for "turnabout is fair play" reprisals. But our occluded political elite will never acknowledge the US' own responsibility for this sorry state of affairs.
· Yr Obd't Servant
People have to be aware of how the media manipulates words - specifically the word "centrist". If centrism means corruption and decay then so be it. I seriously doubt anybody would call Bush's foreign policy "centrist." "Absurd", "totalitarian", "extreme", right-wing", - those are the words most commonly used. But here it is 6 months into Obama and Obama foreign policy is practically a mirror image of Bush foreign policy yet the media want to label it as centrist. All anyone has to do is look at the State department headed by Hillary Clinton and realize it's the status quo - same old same old. Contracts for Blackwater are still being issued. Possible military coups in the making(besides the coup in Honduras) I'm sure are being dicussed etc. The Dems. seem to think with Obama and Hillary they can pull the wool over the people's eyes once again and push what is essentially the Bush agenda without any consequences. That is not going to happen without serious blowback.
"The investigation will likely focus on lower-level CIA officials overstepping their authority." Yeah, we had that before an a couple of low level grunts were put in jail.
We need to go UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND. And now Obama is at the top, and he is for a cover up. I don't yet see the change I can believe in. I have given up hope that we ever will. It is more of the same, with a Democratic ownership tag on it.
Democrats in charge and the wars goes on and expand, we bail out domestic and now international banksters, Single Payer is dead in the water, Employeee Free Choice Act is even deader, and the military budget goes up and we fund the state of Israel with their ethnic cleansing and now support a coup in Honduras. Way to go Demos!! Not one of actions of the Democratic party are supported by the people of this nation. What kind of a 'democracy' is this?
If he releases the photos, cons will allege they can't get impartial juries when torturers are tried in courts.
when torturers are tried in courts? Our country is ruled by those ancient Israeli values of cruelty and greed and the gangsters-in-charge have put themselves above the law. Only a counter coup is going to fix our atrocity.
"when torturers are tried in courts"
If and when.
Imagine these pictures/videos would be quite alarming to
the public -- especially if they include abuse of
children which is indicated. That could begin to wake
people up ... even those who can always find an excuse
for torture.
Meanwhile, I think the lessons the fascists learned from
the Third Reich was that you couldn't leave any nation
able to defend against you, anywhere. I think American
empire with military bases in just about every country
has pretty much reached that point -- ????
"According to all myth, the female - not the male -- gives life"
Clifton sez: "The administration has suggested that the release of such photos could put in danger the lives of individuals working on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan ..."
***
See, because they're completely free from danger as things stand now.
Holder only prosecuting grunts who went beyond the Torture Memos gives validity and precedent to the Torture Memos thus protects the Torture Barons.
Exactly...!
Obama Seeks to Block Release of Abuse Photos
_______________________________________
More of the same from the Unitary Executive.
They might as well just leave this headline on the top of the page until something changes.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Obedient Servant sez: "More of the same from the Unitary Executive."
***
A snippet of snark which actually speaks volumes, sir.
This business of blacking out the windows into government activity is part and parcel of a broader effort to shore up the administrative reforms instituted by Cheney and Addington after the coup.
Obama signaled his approval of the Unitary Executive last summer with his support and promotion of the Rockefeller version of the FISA bill. That was the one which, despite the Assimilated Press's fixation on "Telecom immunity", was designed for no other purpose than to abort any potential examination of Cheneybush Fourth Amendment crimes.
This appeal is the same thing.
In other news Barack Obama indicated he would begin the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
This would be followed by the shutting down of Military bases the world over along with lifting sanctions against the States of Cuba, North Korea and Iran.
Trade policies would be revamped to prevent the dumping of product into third world countries to the detriment of their local producers.
Mr Obama stated "These policies have longed caused resentment towards the United States of America and puts the lives of our troops and Citizens at risk"
The man is a phony.
Obama: a great betrayal.
Maybe there's a glimmer of hope to be found here. If we all were the knuckle-dragging homunculi imagined by some of CD's more pessimistic posters, or if the gov't were as all-powerfullly fascist, there would be no need for it to hide evidence of such abuses. Either we wouldn't care, or could do nothing about it.
But apparently we're not all goose-stepping goons yet, or the gov't has some shreds of shame left, or some combination of the two. I'd like to think the fear of exposure and prosecution motivates this modesty.
"I'd like to think the fear of exposure and prosecution motivates this modesty.'
Right. And I keep thinking Obama might actually do something he actually said he'd do.
He's useless ...except to his masters.
Faulty logic. The existence of PR concerns indicates neither the absence of fascism nor any real shame on the part of the weilders of fascist power. Just examine the obvious precedents and their intense focus on image projection. Or read Geff Gates article entitled Facts vs. Beliefs at
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23233.htm
As for the absence of "goose-stepping goons", one could argue that assertion, but, more importantly, the arrival of fascism doesn't necessarily require them where the target is relatively complacent -- or perhaps even supportive.
Re RV August 11th, 2009 10:06 am, who accuses me of "Faulty logic."
Recall the phrase "consent of the governed." Do you disagree that, at least for now, at least concerning this issue, the PTB seem to feel it necessary to work for our consent, or at least not have it turn overnight into revulsion?
No doubt there are many of our fellow citizens who, besotted by the fictional heroics of Jack Bauer, are a heel-click away from Kristalnacht 2.0.
But we're not there yet, since the gov't still feels it has to prosecute low-level perps like Lynndie England, and to conceal evidence about other such excesses. That's all I said.
They work for consent of the governed? I wasn't aware that the governed had been asked for or had given their consent to carry out the atrocities that are depicted in the photos that are at issue; nor about releasing those photos for that matter.
If you're looking for Kristalnacht 2.0 with Muslims playing the role of the Jews, keep in mind that the U.S. empire already encompasses much more territory than the Third Reich did at the time of the original. Nazi slaughters abroad were delayed until a bit later.
Okay, let's simplify this discussion.
Why do you think O'Bummer's DoJ is trying to keep these photos hidden, instead of enlarging them, making posters of them and draping them from tall buildings, captioned "This is what you do with cockroaches?" (Sorry if that seems harsh, but Mrs. T & I just watched "Hotel Rwanda," and we have no doubt it COULD happen here).
Why didn't previous facist regimes publicize their crimes against humanity? Same answer. As I said above, the mere existence of PR concerns proves nothing either way about the presence or absence of fascism.
I do understand your reluctance to accept the possiblity that your own country has become a fascist state. You seem to think that the label itself necessarily implies some activities and/or symbolism that is specific to particular prior implementations of fascism. If it really makes you feel any better, substitute corporatism. That's how Benito Mussolini defined fascism.
Re RV August 11th, 2009 5:16 pm, who persists in misunderstanding,
If it really makes you feel better, please indulge your fashionable pessimism. I, on the other hand, meant to suggest that there MIGHT be a window of opportunity to restore the rule of law IF, as seemed possible to me, something was yet able to embarass our Commander in Chief.
I harbor no illusions about the nature of our government, nor about the nature of those who climb to power within it, nor about the ends to which that power is put.
"an unprecedented level of openness in government"
Anyone who has been directly involved knows that openness in government, especially in corporate-controlled government, is an oxymoron. In no way is the Obama administration unique.
Both the government itself and the "businesslike" corporate practices that it looks to as its "ethical" exemplar thrive on secrecy and deception. That applies both internally (where the upper echelons not only withhold operational information from staff but actively lie about their plans and intentions) and externally (where public deception is an essential and integral part of all marketing and promotional activities).
And that barely touches the most superficial and obvious aspects of a deeply ingrained behavioral pattern. Anyone who actually relies upon the veracity of government-provided information (i.e., propaganda), even to the extent that it's possible to extract any from the carefully restricted flow, most likely also believes in corporate promotions such as the insurance industry's claims of motivation by concerns about the health and wellbeing of its customers.
There is, on the other hand, a very definite concern in both cases with "consumer education" and both strive mightily to equate that concern with "openness" and "transparency." So far, their success has been quite extraordinary across the entire spectrum. End user gullibility is global, but seems especially well established in consumer-oriented societies such as the U.S.
As for any real "openness", forget it. It's contrary to the very essence of their hold on power. You'll get only what you can pry loose from their cold dead hands -- not a bad idea in itself.
Say is isn't so "O"!
ah, his "first week in office." hey, america, remember when?
lieberman, graham, and obama. talk about a trio of social misfits. it's getting scarier each day.
...you got THAT right.