Maha responds to my post the other day about the torture pics thing.
I’m about to butt heads, and not with righties. I understand there’s a lot of anger at President Obama because he changed his mind about releasing more prisoner abuse photos. I respect a difference of opinion on this matter.
But I also think the reason given for the reversal is understandable — commanders warned that the images could set off a deadly backlash against American troops. Even if it’s only a small chance this would happen, I might have made the same decision President Obama made. If something could stir up more violence against U.S. troops in the Middle East, and doing that something isn’t absolutely imperative for the survival of the nation, I would think twice about it, too.
A difference of opinion on this issue is of course reasonable. David Ignatius thinks this is all some fun insider game, and Jules Crittenden picks his nose and sniggers at the idea that torture is anything to take seriously. Those people deserve contempt. But Maha is not them, and makes a fair point.
My response is that I think the pictures are going to come out anyhow while US troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a very good chance that the ACLU will win its suit; and anyhow it is in the nature of stuff like this to emerge. Obama and the country I think would be better served by releasing the photos and vigorously prosecuting any crimes they depict, all the way up the chain of command. There has to be accountability.
As for the troops, delay I think will only make the reaction worse, especially if the Obama administration looks like they tried to hide them. That will make them seem complicit, and convey the signal that Obama is not to be trusted any more than Bush. A bigger propaganda coup for the extremists, I couldn't imagine.