Decius wrote:
ibenez wrote:
NEW YORK — A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of dozens more pictures of prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib (search), rejecting government arguments that the images would provoke terrorists and incite violence against U.S. troops in Iraq.
If this is going to provoke terrorists, which anyone with a brain realizes it will since anything Abu Ghraib seems to do - then what the HELL IS WRONG WITH THE ACLU and this judge?
Why release these pictures now - can't it wait a few years till we're leaving Iraq? I don't understand where this anti-Americanism comes from - we are at war why doesn't this judge realize that? Doing this UNDERMINES the war - so if they do realize that we are at war - they are KNOWINGLY abiding the enemy.
I agree that releasing these pictures will hurt the war effort. I don't think irreparibly so, but there are costs. I think I can explain "what the hell is wrong with the ACLU and this judge." I'm not sure they are right, but I think understand what they are thinking, for what thats worth.
We don't yet know exactly what these pictures document, but it is clear that they document a significant war crime. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina said "The American public needs to understand we’re talking about rape and murder here. We’re not just talking about giving people a humiliating experience."
The ACLU, and this judge, aren't thinking about this specific incident. They are thinking about the long term. They would likely offer that the people who hurt our war effort aren't the people trying to publicize these pictures but the people who were responsible for the abuses in the first place. These kinds of problems are certainly not unique to America. But they shouldn't happen and the question is how can we prevent them from happening in the future.
This matter was not receiving the high level (Congressional) attention it deserves until after the pictures were originally released. The proceedures needed to prevent this sort of problem were not in place (otherwise it wouldn't have occured). The Red Cross has argued that this sort of problem is systemic and this is not an isolated incident.
If we live in the sort of society which would cover things like this up (ie if the law allows the Pentagon to prevent the disclosure of the pictures), then there is no direct incentive for the Pentagon to establish the right processes to keep this from happening other then their general benevolence, and there will be limited means for third party organizations to investigate this kind of problem when it occurs again. If this sort of thing can damage war efforts, then those tasked with making war will be careful to avoid it. That is the sort of incentive this judge and the ACLU seek to create, for the long term, and they are prepared to accept some cost in order to do that.
The question becomes, will the damage that the release of these pictures will do to our present effort be more significant long term then the benefit of ensuring that the military is strongly incented to prevent these things from going on in the future. That is a question that I feel completely unqualified to answer.
Release the pictures, just wait until the timing is right. I'm all for civil liberties - but timing is important as it impacts American lives.
