Obama: Stall abuse photos release

I believe the question should be, "What happened to our mission to rid Iraq of the cruel treatment of its people?"

Guess you don't have anyone serving in the military who might be hurt by your need for Transparency.

How is it not transparent to confirm there are photos.. but to deny the release of such photos as that serves no positive purpose?

What new thing do you hope to see?

Lets be frank(not barney), Queen Nancy knew what was happening, and approved what was happening. She is so dense that she forgot to think that she just might be called on to testify before a hearing. Now, behind the scene she wants it dropped like a hot potato! So much for a new administration with new ideas, and transparency.

No, d burger, YOU are a fool. A good leader changes his mind when it serves this country. I'd rather have somone like him, than the previous idiot who stubborness and incompetence made us look like blithering idiots to the entire world!

Um yeah, d burger... When you find the article that says he wants the photos released, share it with us, ok? Until that time, you seem to be nothing more than someone who will look for reasons to dislike Obama and anything he does... You know, the way the terrorist hate everything about America without regard to any GOOD decisions we make.

"Ignorance is the mother of destruction". I agree with the president and all the commanders decision not to release the photos; at least until we get everyone of OUR troops out of Irak and Pakistan. To do so might jeopardize their safety. Obviously, you either have no one in the military service in either Irak or Pakistan, or you must be related to "shamey-Cheney". And how dare you call your president a fool? Who are you, "Rush Limbaugh"?

The American Civil Liberties Union has sought the release of the photos and won a lawsuit against the U.S. government before the federal appeals court in New York.

Leave it to the ACLU to put our troops in more danger than they are already in. How about painting a bullseye on them???!?

If these pictures are to be release, then an equal number of torture pictures from our enemies should be released as well. Don't make this a one-sided matter, as it is not. Nor is it retaliation, this is the reality of war, you can't cry "foul" because the bleeding heart liberals now have more power. The arrogant "assumption" that information will be freely given to us from people want us DEAD is beyond belief.

God Bless our Troops!

No change - he is as transparent as he always has been. What you believed him? Coolaid still taste good?

Open Letter to the President;

Forget for a moment that you used to be a lawyer. Right now....you are the Commander-in-Chief...that means you're the top guy...ORDER the Pentagon to NOT release the Photos. Period.....

The courts are right to force out these pictures under FOIA. Obama is right to resist because this release does endanger Americans abroad. The only people who were not right were those who ordered and perpetrated these acts. That is why they need to be brought to justice. It is the only way for the U.S. to regain our moral authority in the world if it can be done at all.

This is opaque transparency...we the people let this mess happen by electing monsters; we the people must face the consequences of our actions. Obama is just another politician who doesn't care about any of us, just his political allies...which is why I didn't vote to begin with.

schwannomin... if you think this country hasn't tortured over the last ... oh say 50 yrs.... then you are truely niave.

If you don't vote, then you have no right to bitch about the decisions you allow the rest of us to make for you.

Kat:

A good leader thinks everything through and understands ALL possible outcomes BEFORE making a decision or statement. A community organizer leaks a statement and then backs up or rebukes their stance depending on the emotions and realities discovered of the statement or decision.

I agree with not releasing the photos for the safety of our troops, however, his lack of leadership from the beginning of this situation has already done its harm. Hopefully the next time he will think before speaking or have his teleprompter to speak for him.

Home of the brave? Land of the free???????

schwannomin... if you think this country hasn't tortured over the last ... oh say 50 yrs.... then you are truely niave.

That doesn't make it right.

You're speaking rhetorically about Canada, right?

Actually I would like to see pictures of what is done to captives of the taliban...lets see if the treatment is equal.

Don't get me wrong--but our troops went there to free the oppressed and to supposedly correct the wrongs being done against innocent people. If our troops get caught, as we say at home, "preaching morality in their underwear," then they totally deserve backlash.

It's called don't do anything you wouldn't want in pictures (digital or otherwise). We're learning more and more that there is no such thing as a complete deletion of evidence in modern times.

John, dear... as it appears your debate talents are limited to name-calling and chest thumping, I find I am unconcerned with how you rate my intelligence level. :-) However, constitutional law does not allow the president to order that the photos never be released. Personally, I see no reason for them to ever be released... and had you read any of my comments, you would already know that. But, in spite of what the last administration would have you believe, the office of president does not allow one to trample the constitution.

Eagle,

As a matter of fact I had a brother killed in action, I am a former Marine with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star, my Nephew is a Full Bird Col. in Afghanistan and I have two cousins in the Marines getting ready to be deployed. I would suggest you not start that "cowboy" BS on me.

What you need to understand is what the term transparency means. That would be releasing all information. These pictures should never have been taken or released. The people responsible for allowing these pictures should be kicked out and the people involved should be brought up on charges.

Military action is not a damn photo opportunity or a game. When people's lives are at stake it is very serious business.

Let's look at the bright side. For years after the initial allegations were coming out about Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, etc., the Bush administration was telling us they never ordered torture. They never would order torture.

Now that the memos have been released, that debate is dead. We don't even bother with "did we torture; didn't we torture." We did. That lie is over. The truth is there for everyone to see.

I find it hard to imagine these pics won't be leaked at some point, but they'll have minimal effect on the national debate. At the end of the day, it doesn't really change the fact that yes, the Bush administration did order torture. The CIA and others just followed orders.

John and M.C. -- Kiss my foot. I have children over there and I don't want them to suffer for the evil done by the cowards Bush/Cheney.

I could care less what keyboard warriors think.

argh.

I agree with aohguy! We need to have transparency here! Release the photos but release them along side photos of what those animals do to those who oppose them, including our troops when possible, and we will judge who is truly cruel and abusive!!! By comparison we're hitting them with pillows while we're getting smacked by baseball bats and crowbars!!! Stop all the liberal whining and let the military do their jobs!

A good leader thinks everything through and understands ALL possible outcomes BEFORE making a decision or statement.

Thanks for showing why Bush and Cheney are total idiots. Had they not initiated the policy of torture in the first place this would NOT be happening.

As I recall, Obama didn't want to pursue this-

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0425/1224245378354.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/4/19/165714/556

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyXH9YTEn4k

Roger-356271

I believe the question should be,

"What happened to our mission to rid Iraq of the cruel treatment of its people?"

Really? because I thought we were there to find WMDs , that's what we were told until they couldn't find any. Then our mission suddenly became to over throw Sadaam.

I still can't get over Sadaam forgetting to actually USE their WMDs against the U.S. ..I wonder why that'd be?

So, okay, I looked at the photos which accompanied this (some already released, some allegedly surreptitiously obtained) and - what's the big deal? I saw an Iraqi with what were obviously shrapnel wounds in his butt (probably inflicted by the roadside bomb he'd just detonated), another showing what look like some minor "battle scars" on his arm (or it could have just been "road rash" from a fall), another, apparently dead or dying Iraqi with what appears to have been a head wound (identified as being at Abu Ghraib, but it could have been anywhere and he sure wasn't in prison garb), and an American soldier mugging over a dead Iraqi on ice. The rest showed guys in prison and/or a few of them being subjected to mistreatment which, frankly, wasn't as bad as my frat hazing. None of them match the horror of the videos which Al Qaeda et al. like to release of people being beheaded and nothing was as bad as what "peaceful Iraqis" did to those Blackwater guys whom they murdered and burned alive in Fallujah (before hanging their corpses on the local bridge for the amusement of the locals). SO, what's the lesson here? That war is ugly? Been there. Sure is. Seen a whole lot worse than this.

SO, I can only conclude that the ONLY reason for releasing these types of photos is to try to embarass the USA and to further inflame our enemies - and remember, these folks in Iraq are the same types of folk who, like those Somali pirates (also Muslims), can hijack a ship, beat and threaten its captain with guns, and then act outraged when the US Navy SEALs plug 3 of them (crying about how wrong it was that "the strong killed the weak"). They know neither irony nor proportion, so the ACLU would serve merely to feed their anger, even tho' it's a good bet that they do far worse to each other and certainly revel in doing far worse to our people who fall into their hands.

Had I seen anything truly shocking, maybe I could see a point to this whole photo flap, but all I see are a few tasteless photos which, for all they lack in substance, they make up for in their ability to get our own men and women killed. Unless Pres. Obama is more committed to "transparency" than to the welfare of the soldiers who serve him and the country, refusing release of these types of photos is a no-brainer. Don't do it while we have people under the gun. Period.

'regain our moral authority?' Schwannomin, who are you kidding?? Here in the moral US we kill unborn babies because they are inconvenient, we let senior citizens starve or freeze to death, we buy and sell porn that degrades women and children, our people are homeless and we spend gazillions on spaceships, parents right here do worse to their own children everyday than what's being done to the terrorist in those pictures. Please explain how you think we were ever a moral authority, and if we allow the atrocities I just mentioned right in our own back yard- how we could ever hope to be again. Sorry if my heart doesn't bleed for this, it's war. It's not supposed to be pretty.

We must treat some information, including pictures, as a threat to our National Security. President Obama is totally correct in supressing these photos. His decision shows his maturity and ability to lead and govern the greatest Nation this world has ever seen. If you are a United States Citizen, would you want to put our service people in harms way just for transparency sake? Of course not.

Who yanked the ACLU's chain anyway? They should take the A out of their name. There is nothing American or patriotic about a bunch of ultra liberals that would send thousands of their countrymen to their death for the sole purpose of being able to stand up and say look what I have done, I am so smart. To think that we torture our prisoners sickens me but to release pictures and details is not only irresponsible but does everything but wield the sword for our enemy. Grow up America. If we are going to scream for the release of information lets ask for the past records of our elected officials including every shady deal they have been part of. Let's the ACLU members records while we are at it. Don't scream for total disclosure from the government because we are next.

And to add to what oldfart said, the rest of those photos were OLD photos whom the poeple in them have already been tried and found guilty and sentenced....

So please...If there is nothing new to report let's just report the old stuff and pass it off as new....

I think our president was a bit naive, hoping to make everything transparent and aboveboard so we, the people of the USA, could see and understand just what was going on, perhaps he thought even the whole world could then see. Then he found out there are bad guys out there who don't play by any rules, who can and will use anything and everything against you. I am refering to both war and economics in this comment. I hope this means our president realizes that being 'nice' and 'open' won't actually solve that many problems in the international arena. But I also hope he continues to make our own government more transparent and responsible to USA voters, if he can.

The photographs will be released...its a win/ win for Obama...

He can get the photos released ..while at the same time opposing their release so...if there are any violent repercushions he is in the clear.

just a delay. I guess we should ask why the prison abuse was an afterthought last year too. Bush knew about it and all he did was fire Rummy and investigate some low level grunts. Really, I am glad a few foolish grunts took the jail time while the executive staff who covered it up shrugged their shoulders. Another Bush coverup that was ignored.

It is the right call to protect our troups and civilians overseas. It is also right to go after the individuals that abuse for sport. Good call Obama Bin Bafoon, if you can keep parents from knowing their underage child is having an abortion you can keep these pictures and seek justice.

Chuck1968.....you are the idiot!!!.....reason Sodamn didn't use them......we gave him months to get rid of them......

schawnomin....it must feel good to freely, safely, type your BS.....btw, our troops provide that security....and frankly, I don't think you should question HOW they provide. And Pres Obama should not have released the memos, should block the photos, and he too should stop apologizing for the US's actions. I do not care what crap you spew, a weak US will NOT be respected. The US provides more dollars, food aid, medical aid, research assistance to the world, than any other country, and most likely cummulatively. Saddam was killing is own people, funding and promoting terrorism around the world, and yet you choose to ignore this, because we beat up a few of his and the afghan thugs. And btw, now Pres Obama continues to fly the drones into Paki....now that he is C in C.... If you cannot stand the thought that we beat the sh*t out of the thugs, then go knit a scarf and stay out of the real world.

And Please, do not discuss showing lack of respect for the Pres, "...calling him a fool". Former Pres Clinton destroyed the "respect" for the office of president when he was getting "blown away" by his girl...that is when all the talk shows took the "respect" gloves off for the Presidential office. And, now the media has thrown ALL ethically standards of journalism, reporting out of the window. And now, President Obama...the first President to continously slam the previous President..(seriously, he like a little kid..."wasn't me...i didn't do it...it was HIM"....)....this my friend, is LACK of RESPECT and so now he has all the media saying it, his supporters saying it, you guys are like puppets!!!

Hum...there was sarcasm in that message folks. During the last Administration, transparency was forced on us by all the major news outlets. Now they get suppressed?

Point being, they should have been suppressed the first time.

This is great. Now the media can get a taste of what they support. Our president, "Flip Flop Obama has done it again. the media was quick to jump behind him on this issue and now it blows up in their face. Watch them. They will try to sugarcoat what he is doing. Too late now. Just think. We have 4 years of this ahead of us. Obama and the media duking it out. How funny can that be? Hilarious.

Ready......Fire.....Aim

I guess since these "new" photos won't be released MSNBC took it apon themselves to dig up and rehash Abu Ghraib pictures to keep this discussion going. Pathetic. This "news' organization is a bunch of self serving hacks that will do anything to point attention away from the failing economy and back to old news. One post above is probably correct, the pics will eventually come out and MSNBC's guy Obama will say "I tried to stop them"

Do these photos show every man and woman in America's armed service acting irresponsibly or treating another human being wrong? I don't think so. It shows the poor judgement and actions of a very small percentage of service men and women.

to all the world, releasing these pictures would be putting the blame on ALL of our service personnel not just the few that actually did or did not do what is depicted in the photos.

Like everything else people pass judgement on the whole ,not on the few. Catholic priests for example,or professional baseball players,politicians...wait that one is acceptable. If they want them released ,release them when the individuals IN the photos are tried for crimes,if any were actually committed. That way,only those responsible are connected to the photos.

Obama made the right call on this one, whatever his reasons. It was the Abu Ghraib prison photos that helped launch the insurgency in Iraq. Who wants to go through a renewed phase of fighting?

Barrett Man: do you really believe that President Obama is trying to create some "National Civilian Security Force" modeled after Nazi's? If you would use your brain, not rely totally on Fox News, Rush and his girlfriend Hannity or Beck...you might realize he was talking about expanding the Peace Corps.

I bet you were terrified with the last administration, knowing they were spying on U.S. Citizens, ripping apart civil liberties, etc.

It must be hard being you and all those people like you....living in a paranoid, delusional place where everyone is out to get you.

I hope that someday you can find a quite place in your mind and find peace.

What is the point? Get over it! Our enemies are smarter than we are...they don't take pictures of what they do to their prisoners of war. They make tapes of cutting off their heads. This serves absolutely no purpose but to help the enemy in Afghanistan. We should stop taking photos...and as far as I am concerned, stop taking prisoners. Both are a pain in the you know what. All of this is to keep the Bush bashing ongoing. The Bush administration made mistakes, but when the enemy hits the Trade Towers with commercial jets, decisions were made in the heat of anger and the American people were yelling "justice".... so you do the best you can with what you have. It is always easier to judge on hind sight...but at the time, what would the new administration do? Probably scratch their behinds and wonder...did we really get bombed, or was it just my imagination...those photos of the towers look like they were doctored...we're not sure that this really happened.....decisions would not have been made, and we would have been attacked again. One thing is for sure and history will make this noted, Bush did keep the US from another attack, unlike Spain and some of the other countries in Europe who had terrorists attacks. So, whatever it took to keep an attack from happening in our country is damn okay with me.

The administration said last month it would not fight a court order that the photos be released by May 28.

Change, change, change, his mind. It's time to put fire under the feel of the political leader in Washington as to why Obama NOW has changed his mind, what's really going on.

The fact that the President is fighting to block release of these photos is just one more indication that our treatment of prisoners in Iraq was indeed brutal. The Bush Administration has left this country with a dark stain which will never be erased.

My Thoughts:

I much prefer Carlin's take on voting--if you DO vote, you have no right to complain. You are the dolts keeping the facade of a two party democracy alive. Republicans and democrats are different sides of the same coin and they don't care what you think. The only people who DO have the right to complain are those who don't participate because we never authorized any of this to be done in our names.

Jolie:

You truly are an idiot. Abu Ghraib WASN'T right after 9/11...It was in Iraq several years later and IRAQ HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11 ANYWAY....EVER...PERIOD. Just because Bush and Cheney went around painting it that way doesn't make it any more true than their statements that America does not torture.

While I read--and take many posts seriously--I have to respond to what Brett said about soldiers being trained to kill. Soldiers are trained to 'kill or be killed when in combat.' If you ever SERVED IN DEFENSE of your country, you would know that. (If you are a soldier with a weapon in your hand--and you encounter an enemy combatant with a gun in his hand--would you stick out your free hand to shake his in friendship? Who would you rather be: the one captured by an American soldier, or the American captured by [in this case] an insurgent? [I'll bet you are asking: why these questions? I'm not in combat; I'm not--or have never been--a soldier; I'm at home].) PRECISELY!

Prophet,

You are quick to assume I vote for anyone in either of those parties... but you go right ahead and believe whatever you like. It is folks like you who do nothing BUT complain who are part of the problem. You can tell yourself it is a political statement but it is really nothing more than apathy. Personally, I have very little respect for people who do not exercise the right to vote.

s

Wanda Murline: your blog

"The Bush administration made mistakes, but when the enemy hits the Trade Towers with commercial jets, decisions were made in the heat of anger and the American people were yelling "justice".... so you do the best you can with what you have."

- That is correct..you do the best with what you have, you do not make those kinds of decisions in the "heat of anger" and unfortunately that is NOT what Bush did. He could have gone after the people responsible for 9/11..and didn't.

"It is always easier to judge on hind sight...but at the time, what would the new administration do?"

-I imagine any other administration would have gone after Bin Laden.

"what would the new administration do? Probably scratch their behinds and wonder"

- maybe continue to sit there and read children's books with a dazed and confused look on their faces? Oh wait...that was Bush.

"we would have been attacked again"

- do you have some information that no one else has? Please....do share.

"One thing is for sure and history will make this noted, Bush did keep the US from another attack"

- I think history will show that Bush was President of the United States of America on the day that we were attacked and that 3,000 innocent people died, and instead of going after the people who planned and perpetrated that act of terrroism, he and his administration chose to go to another country and start a war knowing full well it had nothing to do with 9/11, and now thousands of innocent U.S. Soldiers and 100's of thousands of Iraq men, women and children are dead.

That's what I believe history will show. And that's why Cheney is so scared right now...because he was part of that history.

Prophet,

You are quick to assume I vote for anyone in either of those parties... but you go right ahead and believe whatever you like. It is folks like you who do nothing BUT complain who are part of the problem. You can tell yourself it is a political statement but it is really nothing more than apathy. Personally, I have very little respect for people who do not exercise the right to vote.

My Thougts:

In what way is it apathetic to not participant in the sham of asystem we belong to. You are quick to assume that this is a democracy and that what you say matters. This is not a democracy. This isn't even a representative democracy. We live in a corporate oligarchy where the only voices that matter are the voices of multimillion dollar corporations. You can waste all of the time you want to, but it doesn't mean that you have any say. Do you want puppet 'a' or puppet 'b'? Doesn't really matter because the puppet has already been decided for you. It's really just those in power creating the illusion of free will and keeping the nation divided between the "right" and "left". For all of the real meaning of those two terms they could just as well make it 'shirts' and 'skins', 'talls' and 'shorts', 'x's and 'y's or any other division that would effectively keep citizens seperated into two groups which seem irreconcilable. Grow up, get a brain and if you voted, shut up and take your medicine.

I got as far as Jolie's comment about how the torture is justified because it occured IMMEDIATELY after 9-11. My view on that is, BS. It's BS to think it is "okay" to torture anyone at any time. There has to be a clear and concise choice in torture. Torture everyone, torture no one. There can't be a "They were tortured right after (insert tragedy)" for justification.

I vote because I am under the delusion it could, not will, it COULD make a difference. I Until I am 100% proved otherwise I will continue to vote, even for the enemy, hopefully the lesser of any evil.

hey give those muslims the black jack pershing treatment it worked in the early 1920's

I assure you, good citizen, I am fully grown. And if the best you can offer is "get a brain" when challenged, then anything else you write is inconsequential and not really worth my time and effort. I bid you good day.. or bad day.. or whatever it is today's conspiracy theorist hopes for. :-)

MSNBC post abuse pics anyways?

My God does anyone at the news agency have ANY class or code? MSNBC does not even care if somebody dies over this?

MSNBC is so ethically, morally bankrupt that this is considered okay?

To hell with this media outlet

Releasing the pics only tell us what we already know, accomplishing nothing but reopening old wounds. It is time to move on folks.

The Shadow Government reminded Obama what happened to RFK and JFK when they became too "transparent."

Besides, all this dirty laundry isn't good for the nation's mental health. People can't handle the truth.

Ah the you tube generation. Take pictures of your crimes and post them. LoL

I think I would have to agree with not realsing them. Nothing including transparency is gained by releasing them. Furthermore, I agree with the statement that a president is enlightened if he is capable of changing his mind or opinion to best serve the nation.

This story is a little stupid.

I think the stage is being set for another apology tour. Back by popular demand.

Yes, nothing makes the country look worse, more weak, and unintelligent than applogizing for mistakes!

"And so in my state in....state...state of the union, or my state, my speach to the...nation...or whatever you want to call it."

"I know that human being and fish can coexist peacefully"

"too many OBGYNs can't practice their love to women around america"

Good god...you are right....Nothing...is worse than saying sorry for having a tard as a previous president.

Opppps, we've got Nancy into trouble here...she's caught in a lie..now the Democrats are in a catch 22, if they release the pictures and they find out Nancy knew what was going on....uhmmmm, the leader of the House caught lying. If Obama releases the pictures and the American public realise that these are the same people who killed 3000 Americans on 911, and it isn't really torture...oh my...what will we ever do.

i really don't see the issue here, ok so he blocks the photographs we all know it was all torture, we all know all of this was disgusting. the important part here is putting these images in court and prosecuting the people who done them and who authorized all of this.

so if we see the photos what will happen? nothing really.

Chuck1968.....you are the idiot!!!.....reason Sodamn didn't use them......we gave him months to get rid of them......

This is your "logic" ? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!

Why would he get rid of them when his country was about to be bombed by the most powerful country in the world? Isn't that when you would defend yourself using said WMDs before they knock you out of power and kill you?

While we are "bringing out the photo album," bring these out too. Photos of our Soldiers who have been wounded and maimed and killed by IED's, or just as important, how about those civilians who have been wounded maimed and killed by these extremists. What did the civilians do to deserve this treatment? Nothing.

Sorry to be blunt, but those of you screaming for the pictures need to think about the big picture, but not just wanting a reason to dis Bush and his administration. This is not "transparency" it is a witch hunt.

Wow, I think this is a brilliant political move by the Whitehouse. With a single line answer, they made the public fully aware of the degradation of the phots, the pleased the past Whitehouse executives, they sided with the right leaning military commanders/soldiers. The Whitehouse now pushed the ball into the Justice's court to force them to render a decision. Ultimately, releasing or not releasing the pictures are not the Whitehouse's decision anyways.... It was the court's decision.

Now, the Justice say NO SHOW, then they are being political or right leaning. If they say SHOW, then no one can blame the Whitehouse from either side, because it was to to be judicial decision anyways.

GREAT MOVE.... Analysts should have seen it coming miles away. People should be arguing which way the Justice will lean. Is there a John Marshall in the house???

It took him this long to figure that out?????????????????

hadenough: Thanks for the video of the azzhole guard at Abu Garib, whose buddy pimped out the 15 year old virgin Iraqi girl until she hung herself in shame, AFTER he made money from the other soldiers all day on her. It makes me sick to think they court-martialed Lt. Calley during VietNam, when there are 'soldiers' in Iraq like this...and apparently with their CO's blessings. Kinda makes you sick that they're coming home to aid and comfort.

You know, as "libtard" as some of you want to label me, and regardless of my personal feelings over the war and those who got us there, I have ALWAYS supported the ones that actually put their lives on the line to do their Commander's bidding. I am the child of a WWII vet, both my husband and my ex served in VietNam, and my son served in the Gulf; I have always respected the service and the bravery it takes. But these kind are NOT brave...they are scummy cowards whose more appropriate names I am not allowed to say on this board.

If this is what kind of people have served us in Iraq, if these kind of heinous acts are a matter of course over there, then it is best for our country to deal with these creeps at Abu Garib and elsewhere, ALL OF THEM, from the CIA and the commanders on down, before withdrawing from Iraq. Who is stupid enough to believe the Iraqis haven't already seen many of the pictures (and boasts on youTube)? We MUST let the Iraqis know we WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS KIND OF CRAP, and that this is NOT how we are, as a nation. If it takes showing the photo-evidence to the world, so be it. Then let the Iraqis take care of the punishments, as the crimes were perpetrated against their people. Otherwise, we are REALLY going to be in a world of hurt....9-11 (no matter who did it) will look like a picnic in comparison.

O Shut up OWEbama!

You called for the photos, now your pretending to fight for what's right... yeah right.

You can break a glass and brag about cleaning the mess up.

I wonder what is being hidden from view whilst they distract us with this story.

I am of the serious belief that this sudden turn around smells of a quid pro quo pertaining to the upcoming supreme court nominee. The administration will never admit it, but it is the only thing on the adgenda, not even health care that could cause this turn aroound. That's how Washinton works. I'll bet a Republican said show us some "empathy" here and we'll show you some there.

Not releasing the photos increases mistrust in the world, and this feeds extremism. No doubt that some groups would try to use the photos for their own agenda, but it is much worst to hide the photographs. It shows that the US is not ready to comfront its past, and most likely will continue with the same abuses. In other words not showing the pictures puts americans in much greater danger than showing them. Humans have the capability to forgive ones they know for sure that the other person is sorry and willing to phase the concequences.

Let's see, how many "flips" is that for Obama? I think he's already ahead of Bill Clinton!

1. Said he would filibuster bill that gave telecom companies immunity for participating in domestic spying (which is illegal): Broken, and is not in favor of investigating or prosecuting telecom cooperation with domestic spying program.

2. Would re-negotiate NAFTA: Broken, now says he will not revisit it.

3. Would make it possible for bankruptcy judges to modify loans (cram-down): Broken. Could have gotten congress to approve legislation but did nothing and it failed to pass.

4. Would withdraw troops from Iraq in first year. Later changed to 16 months, now up to 24 months. Nancy Pelosi recently visited Iraq and said we "will have a continuing presence in Iraq".

5. Transparency, said he would release torture photos: Broken, now says he won't.

6. Said he would obey the constitution if elected: Broken, will not prosecute officials who tortured, will still use extraordinary rendition (Kidnaping) just like Bush regime.

7. Said he would not use "signing statements": Broken, now says he will.

8. Said he would support Card Check for union authorization. Taking no action to support card check legislation and is letting it die.

9. Said he supported Single Payer healthcare: Broken, now says Single Payer is "off the table".

I'm sure there's a "10" out there somewhere...

Thanks for thinking of our soldiers on the ground. I agree 100% with our President.

Here is an interesting source article. Apparently these photos were "covered up" during the Bush Administration.

Sydney Morning Herald article, Feb. 15th, 2006: http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/photos-us-doesnt-want-seen/2006/02/14/1139890737099.html

By Matthew Moore
February 15, 2006

"MORE photographs have been leaked of Iraqi citizens tortured by US soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Tonight the SBS Dateline program plans to broadcast about 60 previously unpublished photographs that the US Government has been fighting to keep secret in a court case with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Although a US judge last year granted the union access to the photographs following a freedom-of-information request, the US Administration has appealed against the decision on the grounds their release would fuel anti-American sentiment.

Some of the photos are similar to those published in 2004, others are different. They include photographs of six corpses, although the circumstances of their deaths are not clear. There are also pictures of what appear to be burns and wounds from shotgun pellets".

Where are the pictures of their people killing and torturing our people? You know they torture our people and it could have been worse. I really didn't think our country did this kind of thing, but I guess I thought wrong. My Ex husband used to brag about killing them after I married him and that is then when I started to realize how screwed up war could make people. It is all bad and no one is any better then the next. Some of these pictures look oh so fake any way and I am not saying that because I am taking up for anyone!!!!!

Man, the hypocrites are out in force on this one! People who have spent the last few months decrying everything Obama has done are now saying he is a good guy for not releasing these photos. They go to "tea parties" one week, then applaud Obama the next.

How about a compromise? Keep the pictures under wraps, but allow prosecution of one person for arranging the whole torture issue, if not the entire Iraq war. How do you think Dick Cheney would look in an orange jump suit?

I don't care that they aren't going to release the photos. It seems gratuitous and unnecessary in the context of the propaganda tool it would provide to our enemies- it would also invite fresh violence against our troops. It's pretty clear at this point on the basis of the statements of military commanders, interviews and physical examinations of prisoners in GTMO, Iraq and Afghanistan, and released documents that this wasn't a "few bad apples" at Abu Ghraib, but an organized and deliberate policy of torture under the prior administraiton. However, the issue over releasing the pictures is exactly why this garbage should never have been done in the first place.

What I do care about is that the people who ordered this over the objections of the military brass of each branch of the armed forces, the FBI and many legal advisors on the grounds that such measures are ineffective, illegal, would endanger our troops, and provide a recruiting tool for our enemies- that these people are tried and punished. This is not a political witch hunt against Republicans- it is a criminal matter against politicians who willingly broke international laws, U.S. Law and established U.S. legal precedent. If Pelosi or other Democrats authorized this, they should also be punished.

Although the pictures will ultimately get out anyway. Stuff like that always does.

Obama has given a valid reason for not releasing the pictures, however I have not read one valid reson for releasing them. I ask what more would anyone learn by seeing the photos? What valid purpose would that accomplish than to like Obama said," inflame what we already know." I suggest its quite easy to sit back with a tone of arrogance and make the claim you know all that Obama knows and can as such make a sound judgement.

People who have seen the pictures are saying that some (though not all) are as bad as Abu Gharib. The President is carefully putting himself in a position of allowing himself to be forced by the courts to release them. That allows him to keep promises without seeming too eager to do so.

If Obama is serious about not releasing the photos, why not just sign an executive order like he has done for so many other things? You are exactly right, Chris, this way he can CLAIM he wasn't for it, but still allow the libs their satisfaction of it going to court, and the photos being released, if they are. Yeah, he's so much dor protecting our soldiers, isn't he? More like CYA to me.

It wouldn't just be his butt he was covering. These photos came about as a result of the military investigating the abuses at Gitmo. These help the military IG folks (who almost certainly promised confidentiality) to stay in good graces with the troops. This is one of those situations where Obama is in a no-win situation because on one hand he is the Chief of the mlitary and doesn't want to do anything to hurt them or the way they operate internally. On the other hand, he is also the Chief law enforcement officer of the country and if the law was broken, it is his job to see to it. The best way is to flip it to the courts and let them wrestle with the overall issue of justice.

If he signs an executive order and that order breaks the law, the courts will nullify the order and the Supreme Court will uphold the nullification. What he is doing just letting the courts make the ultimate decision to let them out or find a way not to.

R. Ford: You're absolutely right on the money... If his preferred nomination goes through, there is still Nancy P beating the drum for truth squad. Therefore it would not be the Whitehouse for not holding up their end of the bargain. Like I said, this is politics at its finest.

GOP and Democrats are fully aware. It's us on the outside who are not yet made aware of what is going on. We only see the puppets being moved about. The voices are coming from different directions. I think we will see something from this by Sept or Nov... The recent GOP defector to Democratic party was not a good thing. The Democrats need 1 confirmation from GOP, this is what the Whitehouse has to give up for him/her. Nancy is simply the insurance policy (bull dog) that GOP follows through. Remember, Nancy really doesn't give a crap about sharing with GOP. She already proved that. The fact that she has no presidental aspiraton, makes her that more difficult to deal with for the GOP... Like I said, she is a perfect bull dog.

As a Califorinian, I don't agree with Nancy on some of her votes, but I am glad that she represents my state that some of the other boneheads out there.

It came, lots of things have changed and a couple were even for the good!

Eddie Clarkrock

Where do you get your somewhat dubious statistics?

Can you say "Bill Clinton? he did far more for the Chinese than Nixon and Hillary is still at it.

This does not have a thing to do with China it is about us. How in the hell are we going to sell "Human Rights" to the world when we have crap like this in the press. This is not the fault of the press it is the fault of the person in charge of these "showboats".

Roger, whose human rights do you value more? The prisoners with the information or the potentially thousands of people whose lives will be saved by the information? Do you have other suggestions for securing the information from these prisoners? I'm not attacking, just wondering....

Uh, Swedey, as one who has interrogated prisoners and has heard from those involved in the torture at issue, WE DON'T GET VALID INFORMATION WHEN WE DO THIS. Get it?! We get whatever they can think of to make the torture stop. That's the practical answer. The human answer is IT'S WRONG, IMMORAL, ANTI-HUMAN, AND UN-AMERICAN, not matter what the chickenhawks who never wiped their buddy's brains off their boots tell you.

Swedey,

You are trying to add something to my post that is not there. My point is that these pictures should not have been taken. These pictures are not a part of any official interrogation by qualified or authorized personnel. These pictures were taken by showboats to send to their friends. Don't twist simply read. This in no way represents the Military or our actions as a country to obtain information. The individuals in the pictures or those involved in taking them are neither a part of our interrogation teams or capable of gathering information. They are simply morons showing off for some twisted group of friends that have put our Country in a very awkward position.

Clinton's been out of office over 8 years - it's all Bush's fault now. Right?

Edward Clark.....typical liberal jibber-jabber....blame Bush but you forget over the past X number of years the House and Senate have been ruled by which party???....DEMOCRAPS you stupid liberal!

Swedey

Did we get good information when we tortured Mohammed about the 2002 los angeles attack?

They won't release the memos that show what info was gained, yet. We can only hope that transparency goes both ways, when it helps the Admin and when it doesn't.

Whether releasing these photos helps or hinders the administration is not the point. Releasing these photos will just give the enemy a new recruitment tool to inflame them to strike us harder with more people, it just puts our troops in more danger than they are already in now. Do you want MORE body bags coming home, or more troops on their feet coming home?

why's everyone knocking China. Heck..if it weren't for them giving us money everytime we turn around...our country would have been in the crapper along time ago.

We no longer do anything productive. We don't make anything. We've been living off China for years..and yes..they pretty much already own the U.S....unfortunately.

But...for eveyone complaining about China. Don't bite the hand that feeds.

The hand that feeds us will eventually raise their fist at us and we will be unable to defend ourselves

Oh, it's coming...in what will be left of our paychecks after they take all these new taxes out. Nothing but change.

RE: China. It IS the new United States. Guaranteed, in ten or twenty years they will be the world's economic powerhouse. No way to avoid it. Most manufacturing, huge rising middle class, very few anti-manufacturing laws, etc.

The house and senate have only been "controlled" by democrats for 2 years...

Are you saying our problems started between November 2006 and now, WMB63? I think your perception of history would be incorrect, if so.

uha uha, name the good willie...but oh, if Obama told you to play in teh street, you'd do it, I understand.

Edward Clark.....typical liberal jibber-jabber....blame Bush but you forget over the past X number of years the House and Senate have been ruled by which party???....DEMOCRAPS you stupid liberal!

I'm so tired of this lame accusation...the Democrats have controlled Congress -- with a Republican President -- since the 2006 elections. That's less than two and a half years. Before that, the Republicans controlled Congress for twelve years, with a Republican in the White House for the last six of those years...which, coincidentally, was when everything started going to hell. But the Republican blockheads blame the Democratically controlled Congress for everything that's gone wrong. But yeah...Bush was the greatest President this country has ever had, the Democrats are trying to tear the fabric of America down, and we've only got the heroic Republicans to protect us from becoming a Stalinist nation.

Yep...and I'm the King of Belgium...

I suggest that change is in the eye of the beholder. As a plumber, when you have gotten a tolit working, the people felt you to be their hero. When Obama signed the childrens health bill, those parent's of sick children felt Obama was a hero. When something is implemented that helps you, perhaps then you may pause to be gratiful....

And when he visited them, he didnt even take the time to visit. I have a buddy in Bahgdad who was there during his so-called visit. He described the visit as being rushed into headquarter after headquarter and spoke only with the Generals. He didnt even take the time to meet the actual troops who were doing the grunt work as it were.

Act2 -

Why would photos of torture done on detainees by a previous administration endanger Obama's chance for re-election?

They probably wouldn't let the teleprompter in so he didn't have anything to say except er, er uh, uh, did any of you hear about the pig and lipstick?

You people are effing idiots and care nothing for the safety of our sons. You would rather spend your time bashing the President rather than backing him when he makes a decision that will possibly protect our kids. We have the previous administration to thank for these actions and these shameful photos. The motives of people like you are clear. That is why you lost the election and that is why you will continue to lose. We are fed up with idiots like you. Our children are at risk and you're complaining about how many times he visited. Typical.

Because the majority of the people see it as treason. Only the radical fringe on the left want them released.

Act2 - How is it treason? With all due respect, your arguments make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Jolie, you are confused. The Iraqi war had nothing to do with 9-11. Also, there are mixed reports about whether any useful information was ever gained from this tactics. Dick Chaney says "yes".. but everyone else says "no."

Act2,

There is no second act to life. You are missing the entire point of Obamas decision and these photos. They should never have been taken. The people involved should be brought up on charges.

The majority do not see this as treason they see it as it is. Idiots acting like a fool in front of a camera. Just ask yourself why would they have taken these pictures? I see the people involved in these pictures as absolute fools that have put our efforts and perhaps lives of others in danger. The only people you can blame for this are the people involved.

Those of you trying to blame either Presidents Bush or Obama for this as just as stupid as the morons in the pictures.

Act2 and all you right wing phony supporters of our Country. You are the torturers. You have sold your souls to a false god - GW Bush and his demi-god wealthy friends.

Did you listen to the vile crap coming out of the mouth of Ms. Cheney? She should be tried for treason. The Cheneys are trying to stir up a dying reactionary minority of selfish bigots so they won't be prosecuted and jailed. "The more you stir, the more it stinks.'

You'd better hope that the person you call 'dictator', our President, holds back the legal system and goes full speed ahead to bring the real criminals to justice...the GOP liars who are trying everything they can invent to undermine our Country and our way of life.

Pure Capitalism: You are full of crap. When Obama went there he shook hands with the soldiers and even sat down and ate with them. You are trying to bring up an old email story from a supposed soldier that was a lie. There are pictures of his event if you would like to google them.

Act 2 you are the same person that says he flies around to much. You have to pick one story or one side, you can't have it both ways.

Hey Kat.....I'm sick of of people like you.....beotch when we speak out against this president and yet for the last 8 years what did idiots like you do????....run your efing mouth......

It is treason when you purposely do an act that puts your soldiers in harms way. Odumbo wanted to release these pictures and then backed away when someone more wise than osham-wow advised him that it will hurt him politically. If you guys want to prosecute Bush/Cheney, then you should really want to prosecute Sandy hamburger and cliton for stealing top secrete documents from the national archives.

WM - Again, you effing coward... Kiss my foot! I wouldn't even need my sons to take care of a tranny like you!

kat....coward??.....I'm not afraid of a POS like you....BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right.... cause nothing says lovin' like a well staged photo op from a politician....

My Thoughts....LMAO!

It is treason when you purposely do an act that puts your soldiers in harms way

Like starting a war on false pretences. Lying to the American people and Congress to start a war. Then sending our troops into battle without the right body armor. Making our troops have to buy their own body armor. Next standing on an aircraft carrier and declaring "Mission Accomplished" years too early (while still in the middle of a war). Oh and being so for the troops but not giving them any support when they got back home. Why is it that only half the V.A. hospitals in this country have PTSD clinics? Troops are coming back with head trauma from roadside bombs and are self medicating because they are afraid of the stigma of being on medication. The suicide numbers for returning troops are staggering (so staggering that Congress has a committee investigating it). What did Bush do for them? What did he do about the Walter Reed scandal?

And the best example of all...... wait for it.

Sending our troops into battle without even having an exit strategy. Who should be prosecuted for treason again under your definition of the word?

Odumbo wanted to release these pictures and then backed away when someone more wise than osham-wow advised him that it will hurt him politically

Did you even read the article or just come on here to spew your partisan crap. He was advised by military leaders that releasing these photos may bring harm to troops in battle. Oh wait he actually listened to his military advisors. Too bad the last administration did not do this. Half the "treasonous" things I listed above probably could have been avoided. So it did not have to do with politics but keeping our troops on the battle field safe. If he was worried about politics he would not have released the torture memos (annoyed the right). If he was worried about politics he would have brought the CIA agents that tortured up on charges (that one annoyed the left). Maybe he is just doing what a president should do which is try to do what is the best thing for our country and our troops (I mean he is only the commander in chief).

When you keyboard badassess out there really want to fight, you need to give an address. Offer a one way ticket to your house. Do more than mouth off.

I believe you should remember Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

Thank you Roger.... it's amazing that after 8 years, there are still people that don't understand.

FYI TO ALL - The guy that was responsible for 9/11 is still running around playing hide-n-seek in caves while his family was protected by OUR government (ie: Bush)

Can no one see the difference between the names Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein??? Is it just one person in your alternate universe???

Now everybody gets to use their imagination on how terrible the so called torture was. I don't know about you but my imagination can come up with much worse than reality. The photos should never have been brought up if this was going to be the outcome. It's a case of look before you leap. That's what happens when you fly by the seat of your pants. I'm sure this is being used to Obama's advantage. And Ms. Nancy is such a liar it's unbelievable.

stronghorse, when you rerun the footage of the planes hitting the towers, make sure you explain somewere in the narrative that none of the pilots or their assistants were Iraqis. This way when you get to the part of how "justified" it all was, it doesn't make you look like your only credible source of information, or response was somewhere within the story of "My Pet Goat."

Steven - I never mentioned Iraq or Saddam or "justified" that was your group-hug buddies above who couldn't follow the topic either.

I did have family over there. I am proud of the work they did and so are they. I think what people are ticked about is the "feigned" interest in the troops like what they are talking about last summer.

BTW, does anyone know if he has been to the Bethesda Naval Hospital or Walter Reed since he's been in office? Just curious...

Well, Jolie.. with that little comment, you have proven yourself someone not worth debating with. If you ever come up with facts, let me know... meanwhile, there really doesnt seem to be a point to anything you say. I do think you are out of your depth here. :-)

Jolie, go crawl back in your hole, you cockroach and little wannabe thug.

Right on! When will the present administration think about America and Americans first and the perception of America by others second before he speaks and acts? Don't release the photos, stop being apologetic for protecting this country, and stand up for the US. If they have to show something, show the "other" photos and gruesome videos----expose the harm done to Americans (check the internet--the beheading is there for the viewing or reveiw the 9/11 video) and other citizens and then America--think!!! Your child, your mother, your friend, YOU right here in American are at high risk too. The threat is not just to our troops! Think 9/11 and wonder what other plans there are for nice, getting soft, accepting, apologetic America.

Get a new argument, bishop, that old lie is dead and shows your ignorance!

It's not the right wingers who want them relased. What universe are you in Bishop?

Act2....so treason should just be forgot, ok you're an idiot and have drunk the koolaid if you think war crimes on any level are acceptable. Freakin Bush lovers. All 23 percent of you geniuses.

computerdoc, are you not reading these comments on newsvine?

Steve, quite the comment, did you need to edit it 3 or 4 times before you got that comment just right?

Ah, newsvine, where the the Bush babies go to cry and whine about Obama. Ha ha ha

Bishop, you are right treason should be punished. I think cliton and sandy should be tried for stealing top secrete documents from the national archives! A real crime, not a trumped up one like you mentioned!

What a bunch of morons we Americans for regressing so far as to be having such a lame conversation about if it is OK to be torturing people! These are things we have pondered and decided upon SO many years ago as a country. Obama says he has seen the photos and are persuing action against those involved but you can bet they are more LOW LEVEL people that were following orders. Everybody is reluctant to climb the trail to the top.

I agree with Obama for not releasing the photos because I cannot believe any good would come of it. We already know the policy allowed pretty much anything so the guys in the photos were doing nothing but following orders. GET THE HIGHER UPS! DO NOT SHOOT THE MESSANGERS.

act2: You keep on using the same lame argument about Clinton and Burger. They stole documents. Congress should have brought him up on impeachment charges. Oh that's right they did (for lying about getting nookie in the oval office). That bad, bad man. Doesn't he know that the Christian right frowns upon all things that have to do with sex (Unless it is their priests then they look the other way). I wonder why Clinton's hands were tied behind his back when it came to dealing with Bin Laden. I don't know maybe it was trying to fight that pesky impeachment charge.

Lets compare:

Clinton lied about oral sex (impeachment charges) vs. Bush lying about a war and bringing this country to war on false pretenses (nothing done) score one for the right wing

Burger stole documents from the national archives vs. Bush just happened to lose all his emails about the firing of federal judges for political reasons (I'll call that one a draw)

Cheney's most important advisor (right hand man) outs a CIA agent. The Justice department outs a CIA agent. Karl Rove (Bush's right hand man) is the first one to out a CIA agent. Bush lied and said he would fire whoever is responsible. Then he pardons Libby (the fall guy). vs. Obama decides not to prosecute CIA agents involved in torture. (I'm not even going to score this one)

Bush goes against everything this country stands for and starts to torture people. He locks people accused of terrorism away for eight years with no trial and does not even bring charges against therm. He then releases dozens of Innocent people locked away at Gitmo (oops our bad don't hold it against the U.S.A. o.k.) In the process making more terrorist. We lose respect in most of the world and even our allies lose respect for us. Vs. Obama is in the process of starting to put these people on trial (only 8 years later). This way we can decide who is really guilty and punish them. He decides to eventually close Gitmo. He bans torture (Even McCain said torture does not work and believe me I think he would know a thing or two about the subject). He is trying to gain our respect back in the world. Score: Of course Bush I mean come on what is that crazy commie/Muslim/Socialist/Martian thinking

So your right Lets go after Burger and Clinton who have been out of office for how long? Oh yeah I forgot once a new president comes into office the last 8 years is wiped away from human memory. I guess will give those no good sex manics a pass.

You are a moron. Read the article. He is taking the advice of our generals. According to them, releasing these photos puts our troops in even worse positions. You would try to bash Obama no matter what decision he made... try, just for once, to be impartial. If he released them you would be bitching about he is jeopardizing the troops and ignoring the generals.

Grow up repubs!

Oi vey! How exactly is it that blocking the release of the photos protects the prisoners and hurts our troops? You didnt read the article, did you?

jeez

Just to clarify, my post was directed to toni... apparently you and I posted simultaneouly. lol

GOD is NOT GOP................Do you think he should have asked advice of generals before recommending they be released?I think this president gives new meaning to being a flip flop or just spoke before he had all necessary info or input from his advisers.

Should read: "God is Not" Thanks, Ed.

Hey Moron. It was Obama who want the pictures released in the first place . Did your small brain not pick up on this tiny detail. Do you not see any conflict here.

Good post blackbox. I think we should torture the ACLU. They have done more harm to this country than Bush or Cheney. Who does fund the ACLU anyway?

ACLU - Atheists, Liberals and Criminals Union.

John - after you Kiss my Foot, maybe you can tell the truth. It was NOT Obama who wanted the pics released. Show me some proof ... any proof. Coward.

The original pictures were leaked out under the Bush administration.

Actually the ACLU should go check out the situation them-selves! All of them!!! Then do America a favor and request Queen Polosi and the entire gang come see what you find. All of you could buy property over there and run their Gov as piss poor as you have run ours!! I think the USA would benefit very much with all of you gone!!! GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I too am glad the photos will not be currently released due to the fact we have troops in the field who will come in harm's way. But I disagree that they should not EVER be released. One day, these wars will end and hopefully, sooner rather than later. At that point, we have EVERY RIGHT to know exactly what was going on and make a determination as to wheter someone should be held accountable or not. As far back as 1820, James Madison rightfully pointed out that a country which keeps secrets from its own people makes a tragedy and a farce of its own democracy. James Madison WROTE the Constitution folks. He didn't conceive it all, but his hand wrote it. He had some idea of how the people we elect are expected to behave. I believe that's what the folks above who served in the military were supposed to be fighting for. That's what I was told. When you are ready to torture as a matter of policy, then also be willing to strap a bomb to the waists of your children and grandchildren and send THEM into the ranks of your perceived enemies. Better yet, let ME send YOUR children for you. That's how our brave and enlightened enemy does it. It's a damned effective weapon, so why not use it? The enemy does! We don't and we don't because we are plainly better. Otherwise, why not just join them?

I want to know where everyone’s outrage was when a AQ beheads US soldier or a Western men for driving a truck to give aid to the Iraqis.

Where was the outrage when we took Muhammad Farah Hadid's inner circle prisoner and questioned them in a secret camp near Somalia? Clinton was president then.

Most of the wounds you see on the MSNBC photos are not explained in the caption. As a soldier, who has seen many types of wounds in Iraq and AFG. Some of the pictures show fragmentation wounds.

Please don’t be dooped by pictures that display injuries that are not noted on how they were caused. Also on one of the pictures it shows a dead Fighter with a gun shot wound to the eye and blood coming from the back of his head and the caption read that "US forces left him to die on the battlefield”.

I can tell you that if you are shot in the in the eye and the back of your head has a hole your not alive. We are here for a purpose, to fight the enemy and people die. Sometimes fast sometimes slow and i can also tell you that our medics treat the casualties in priority. If a combatant is wounded worse than I am he will be treated first.

the 2005 Abu Ghraib photos were wrong and the soldiers paid for it, but the detainees are not model citizens, and have done worse things than we could even imagine. What allot of people don’t understand, if we don’t have a holding facility, or can't get information from these strong minded people what's the point in taking prisoners?

I would hate to see more insurgents killed when an opportunity to take prisoners is there. I have been on several missions were we out flanked the enemy and were able to take prisoners. But we also had them in the cross hairs because they were armed and did not know we had maneuvered on them.

In 2006 the Red Cross has an investigation that US soldier were executing insurgents, because an increasing number had head wounds. They later found out the insurgents use walls as cover and only expose their heads and the matter was cleared up. So please don’t read something into what you see. Most of the times you have know idea what we are doing and how we do it. Then make assumptions based on a picture or an improper report by an anchor who is staying off the battlefield or streets and reporting from a hotel. Even Obama said today that he wants to keep them detained within the US and has re-thinked their release, so that has to tell you just how bad these people are.

By the way the picture of the dog scaring the detainee is nothing more than what you would see in the world, when cops use their K-9's to get the attention/ intimidate a suspect to surrender. It's only intimidation.

I want to know where everyone’s outrage was when a AQ beheads US soldier or a Western men for driving a truck to give aid to the Iraqis.

???

I do believe there was TONS of outrage.

The photos should be released not so much because we care about the enemy, but because we care about ourselves. The US (and its allies) made a big deal after WW II, holding a trial in Nuremburg because Nazi high-ups were thought to have planned and authorized the commission of war crimes and saw to it that those crimes against humanity were carried out. [Remember the gas chambers, the concentration camps?]. The accused were found guilty and punished (though a few died or committed suicide).

Since then it's been imperative to make everyone aware of such acts so that the people who plan, authorize and order subordinates to commit war crimes or crimes against humanity can be brought to justice. And in the case of the torture approved, ordered, and condoned by high-ranking members of the Bush administration -- whether in Iraq, Cuba, or one of the secret places where detainees were brought through "extraordinary rendition" -- Americans need to recognize what was done in our name. Whether by the military, BlackWater, or anyone else.

This is supposed to be a country of laws. Those who violate those laws should be brought to justice and not dismissed with a wave of the hand because many Americans are tired of hearing about or seeing pictures of torture.

Yes, war is hell, but that doesn't mean that we Americans shouldn't play by the rules. And it's ultimately the American civilian population through its elected representatives that tells the military, et al., what those rules are and whether they're being observed or not.

The outrage so many Americans felt because of the so-called "bonuses" handed out to various people on Wall Street should pale in comparison to the outrage we should feel that our leaders planned and authorized torture and then saw to it that torture was committed.... and have thus far gotten away with it.... and unless there is actually a change in the way Washington works.... will get away with it.

Actually by Bush giving the order to use torture he put our troops lives on the line. If there was no order there would be no torture. No torture no pictures. You see where I'm going with this.

Once Bush gave that order he put our troops on a slippery slope. I always found it funny that the people who were involved in Abu Ghraib incident were sent to jail. Yet no one at the top levels that gave that order where prosecuted. I mean you are sending the men and women that are brave enough to hold a rifle in their hands and fight for this country away. These are the same men and women that are on the battlefield seeing their friends killed and blown apart by roadside bombs. Does the politicians that sanctioned torture think maybe after witnessing these things in war they might go too far with the torture. No why would politicians that sit in their offices 1000s of miles away ( that don't hold rifles in their manicured hands) think about the soldiers frame of mind when they sanction torture? Why would our society dare go after the guys at the top? We can just go after the real heroes. The ones that are out their fighting for our right to B. and moan on these sights.

BTW one thing Obama did not flip flop on is not charging the CIA agents that tortured. Can the Bush administration say that they did that for the soldiers that are now in jail for following orders? Did they stand up for these soldiers while the ink was still wet on the documents that they signed allowing the very acts these soldiers are in jail for?

BINGO! vol fan, Its the queen bee herself Nancy P that knew all about the so called torture tactics going on and APPROVED! But now that a good dummycrat is involved, its time to drop it (and fast.)

I don't give a sh*t if it was the Queen of England who wanted them released. I will say it again... I DO NOT want my kids to suffer for something Bush/Cheney did. These photos should NOT be released. You morons sound like a broken record. Get your asses behind the troops or get OUT!

Kat, I am behind the troops - ALL THE WAY. My family is 4th generation military and I have had family who has been there, I don't want their sacrifice to be in vain.

Well said...maybe re-post after you learn the English language...

Tk..... dying aka blowing yourself up isn't quite the same as torture. You don't have to be trained too much to blow yourself up.

TkWis, speak up, just ignore smitty63 and the other nitpickers who probably ONLY speaks english and have problems with "straining the gnat and swollowing the camel". how can something be "well said" and yet get a compulsive, undeserved jab about the english? duh. we may not all agree, but you have a voice!

The groups, we the United States of America, are associated with have killed many innocent victims in the name of "Big Oil" and "Revenge".... how are we any better than them?

If people insist on comparing apples to apples... let's do just that.

First... this is not the first time that there has been mass deaths involved in religion. Look at the Christian Crusades... over 1 million dead. Since the beginning of religion, there has been religious wars worldwide.

Also, for those of you out there that insist on mentioning what Saddam did to his own people... genocide has been around almost as long as religious wars. Look at Rwanda... Nazi Germany... Cambodia... Syria... Sudan.... Australia... Guatemala... even out of those 7 I just mentioned... we're still falling about 3 million deaths short to come close to the largest genocide ever in the history of the world.... the genocide of over 15 million aboriginal Americans by our own countrymen.

Please post the source for your figures.

ohhnho - how about you reading a history book. What he's talking about was taught in high school history, for those of us that went to high school, that is.

Obama has done very well in foreign affairs according to most knowledgable people. Warmwithoutend, what is your messurement? What makes you qualified? In any case, he is by far more respected than the previous president, which is also some kind of measurement.

Figgin idiot, it was the previous adminstration that sanctioned the abuse in the first place actually jeopardizing the reputation, secutity and safety of our military, and now BO is left with another mess to try and clean up.

Get real at least!

April; get your head examined

The President should be impeached? I wonder what the founding fathers would think of that Ms. April? Let's ask Jim:

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both.

-- James Madison

The administration that encouraged the torture should have been impeached.

It's to bad that same administration isn't still in charge. I'd feel better about our national security than I do with the clowns that are in office now.

Warwithoutend,

Problem with your desire is that about 80% of America disagree with you.

Warwithoutend

I would have to agree with you that I would feel much more secure with a President that will defend the US rather than one that spends his time telling the rest of the world how bad his country is and apologizing to everyone he can find. At least with President Bush if another country attacked us they knew he would attack them right back instead of packing up and running away.

Right, usmcvet... cause Osama bin Laden attacked us and we sure showed him! (We did, didnt we?)

Now, Iraq... they didnt attack us but we attacked them because... er... um.. well, I am at a loss here, fellas.. Tell me again how GW proved that if someone attacked us, he would attack them right back...

I could never understand why Bush's people didn't attack Iceland. They had as much to do with 9/11 as Iraq. We could have nailed'em so damned easily. Another missed opportunity by the Bush junta. Now, we'll just have to deal with them.

Perhaps you are beginning to see that he's not what he told you he was. In fact I think that he's going to do more harm than good.

K.W. - of course you don't care. I've said all along the phoney neocons only proclaim their patriotism by wearing pins and waving flags. It's not your butt over there dodging bullets. You are so effing typical.

Gus -- "sort of" protecing the troops is better than not protecting them at all. My one son is 50% disabled from the Iraq war and this administration has helped him more in the 5 months they've been in office than the previous administration did in 4 years!

Curious, how has the Obama admin helped your son? Please expand...

Please, I would also like to know.

Yes I would like to know also

As a fellow disabled vet who is still waiting for a VA physical, I'd also like to know.

Kat I am sorry for what happened to your son and I would like to say thank you to him for his bravery and service

American Liberty: I would also like to say thank you for your service and bravery.

Without being disrespectful to either of you i would just like to say that Bush had eight years to fix the V.A. hospitals. Obama has had a little more than 100 days. I really hope he gets on the ball and does fix the system. If our country is willing to send brave men and women like yourself into war they should take care of them when they come back. Thanks again for your service and bravery.

Cat,

These pictures were released in 2004 and the morons that were in them and took them should be punished. Look at what they did for the image of our Country. Why would they have taken them?

Yeah, cause they really thought a lot of us prior to these pictures or memos getting out. What do you think if we're nice to them they'll leave us alone or be nice back? These people are worse than animals and deserve no mercy. If given the chance they'll kill you, your family and anybody who gets in their way. Their sole mission in life is to kill you!!

And you think our "sole mission" should be to be no better than they are?

PAUL-you can't reason with these people, they just don't get it and never will. This is PR for Obama, already a court order. So when the body bags start comming in, he can try to save face.

Roger, the image of our country spiraled downward after we condoned and executed torture methods. That is truly what hurt us internationally and domestically. But this doesn't help either. They should be ashamed.

How about we drop you off at an Army base with a couple of ACLU reps? That way you can discuss their security with them and resolve any differences you might have.