Barack Obama is a liar.
Reneging on his earlier agreement to release some 2000+ photos of detainees being abused by American service personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq, he releases a stream of bullshit that doesn’t stand up to the most casual contemplation:
“The publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals,” Mr. Obama told reporters on the South Lawn. “In fact, 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.”
To the contrary, additional information always provides additional understanding. If it’s more of the same, that tells us that the incidents at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere were more widespread than was previously known. If it’s less, then it tells us that maybe it wasn’t. As for inflaming anti-Americanism, well, Obama’s decision not to release the photos tells me one thing: they must be fucking insanely disgusting.
As, indeed, they are. An ACLU rep appeared on MSNBC yesterday to say that he had it on good (military) authority that the photos are, in fact, much worse than what we’ve seen from Abu Ghraib. Seymour Hersh and other reporters with first- or secondhand knowledge of the photos say they are essentially pornography—orgies between soldiers and with detainees. Whether the detainees are being forced to participate or not is unknowable.
Obama says the photos aren’t as ugly as those from Abu Ghraib. If that’s true, why not release them? The imagination runs wild, and only imagines the worst. Reality can’t possibly be as bad.
The real reason Obama is covering up for the military is that they’re scared shitless of facing prosecution for their crimes—and responsibility for them goes way up the chain of command.
Obama ought to resign in shame for being such a pussy.
13 Comments.
When the "Abu Grahib" photo scandal broke, there were supposed to me more severe photos from that place not released. I remember you did a cartoon "Saddam Huisein Rape Room #23, now under new management" with Generalismo Busho yelling "No Photos!"
Supposedly one of them would count as "Child Pornography". It had a young boy (12-15) being raped in front of his chained, caged father. Don't know if it was a US serviceman doing the Sodomy, (don't ask, don't tell) but there was a CIA spook watching it.
That's what I heard. What makes me believe it is this;
There was a closed door hearing that did show the 'unreleased' photos and the senators and congressmen that came out of it looked like they'd browsed Rotten.com and Goatse.cx for the first time…
Please give us fair warning before the piper comes a callin'.
Ted,
Do you think this ia a case where hacking would be justified?
Especially if its military rape porn….Just give the word to Anonymous.
Regards
Rall's International Fan for Nine Years
(RIFNY)
This is just sickening. A photograph can't be manipulated or spun. It is what it is. I guess everyone who ardently supported Obama is experiencing some serious cognitive dissonance right now.
yep, looks like mr. Second Coming has turned out to be nothing but a grade-A piece of shit. and you're right about him being a pussy– i mean, at least bush and cheney had the stones to actually come out and be scumbag neocons. obama, on the other hand, seems content just being their fluffer.
no no. He is just doing this to catch flack from the left on purpose to send a message to the conservatives that…
I can't do this anymore. It's not funny.
if he tries a little less, he might be able to give this issue to the republicans so that they can win elections with it…
Actually, it's less to protect the military than to protect the political establishment. After all, even if you assume the CIA misled Congress, a lot of the information you mentioned was public knowledge. (Much like Iraq's lack of WMD.) To be consistent, Obama would have to prosecute a number of current and former members of Congress, including his VP and Secretary of State.
Don't blame me- I voted third party. And I DON'T REGRET IT!
Amen.
I am not surprised he reneged on this one too. Since he took office,
all of what Obama did was make-believe, smoke and mirrors measures
that had no REAL substance to it.
About these pictures, there were no
make-believe measures available, either release or not release,
so of course he did not release.
But of course he prepared a long
list of excuses that he was just
made aware of!!
Yeah, Ted, I totally agree, this is criminal. I was waiting for your comment on this. I'm not going to burn too much about it personally though because it's completely expected, but Obama has lost any support and respect from me. Most of the others lost it years ago.
As far as I'm concerned we're in a hopeless situation. I'm going back to work….
I'd like to add that I also wholeheartedly agree: Obama should resign for this decision. That doesn't leave us with much though. There are maybe four or five national politicians who aren't overtly criminals at this point.
hmm. It should probably be more of a disappointment that he has reneged on not letting the insurance industry "buy the whole table" (not that it was a particularly ambitious statement in the first place).
After all, the only president to have any luck trying to turn this into a real country also found himself sending people to concentration camps.
There is much more a precedent for sound economic policy than cessation of brutality.
b(f)tw, aren't our medical and transportation systems not every bit as brutal as torture?