Last week a federal judge ordered (
again) the government to release another series of pictures and videos (can you imagine they even made videos!?) from Abu Ghraib. This is his reasoning for turning down the government's case:
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ordered the release of certain pictures in a 50-page decision that said terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven they "do not need pretexts for their barbarism."
Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, said Thursday that releasing the photos would hinder his work against terrorism. "When we continue to pick at the wound and show the pictures over and over again it just creates the image--a false image--like this is the sort of stuff that is happening anew, and it's not," Abizaid said.
The judge said, however, that "the freedoms that we champion are as important to our success in Iraq and Afghanistan as the guns and missiles with which our troops are armed."
Judge Hellerstein said today that publication of the photographs will help to answer questions not only about the unlawful conduct of American soldiers, but about “the command structure that failed to exercise discipline over the troops, and the persons in that command structure whose failures in exercising supervision may make them culpable along with the soldiers who were court-martialed for perpetrating the wrongs.”
And to get an idea of why it is so important to release these pictures, no matter the risks to the American military image in the world (especially the Muslim world,) here's the ACLU's take on the matter:
Today's historic ruling is a step toward ensuring that our government's leaders are held accountable for the abuse and torture that happened on their watch, said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. The American public has a right to know what happened in American detention centers, and how our leaders let it occur."
That must get Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld's panties in a bunch so tight it hurts!
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