Al Jazeera English, May 13, 2009
Barack Obama, the US president, is to appeal a legal ruling ordering the release of dozens of images depicting abuse of detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Obama, who had previously supported the release of the photographs, acted on advice from military commanders that publishing them could endanger US troops overseas, the White House said on Wednesday.
"The most direct consequence of releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger," Obama told journalists on Wednesday...
The US department of defence was to release the images by May 28 in response to legal action filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The photographs come from more than 60 criminal investigations between 2001-2006 and are of military personnel suspected of abusing detainees, officials said in April...
The ACLU was quick to condemn Obama's decision.
"The decision to not release the photographs makes a mockery of President Obama's promise of transparency and accountability,'' said Amrit Singh, an ACLU lawyer...
1 comment:
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
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