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Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos?

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Fri Apr 01, 2005 at 07:15:05 PM EST
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Matt Welch, writing at Reason Magazine, says we will never see the remainder of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse photos. The ones that were going to make us all sick to our stomachs:

The images, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress, depict "acts that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel, and inhuman." After Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) viewed some of them in a classified briefing, he testified that his "stomach gave out." NBC News reported that they show "American soldiers beating one prisoner almost to death, apparently raping a female prisoner, acting inappropriately with a dead body, and taping Iraqi guards raping young boys." Everyone who saw the photographs and videos seemed to shudder openly when contemplating what the reaction would be when they eventually were made public.

What's the excuse? Officials have provided two reasons:

[the] "unwarranted invasion of privacy" and the potential impact on law enforcement.

The ACLU is planning a court challenge to the Administration's non-compliance with its FOIA request for the photos:

We've seen virtually no criminal investigations or criminal prosecutions," says ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer, who plans to challenge the nondisclosure in court. "The vast majority of those photographs and videotapes don't relate to ongoing criminal investigations; on the contrary they depict things that the government approved of at the time and maybe approves of now."

The ACLU is still hot on the torture trail. Yesterday it released an Army memo that suggests that Lt. Gen. Sanchez perjured himelf in the torture probe.

The ACLU said that a memo sent by Lt. Gen Sanchez flatly contradicts sworn testimony given by him before the Senate Armed Services Committee, in which he denied authorizing highly coercive interrogation methods.

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    Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? | 16 comments (16 topical)
    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#1)
    by wishful on Fri Apr 01, 2005 at 07:46:19 PM EST
    They won't release them because then only monied Republicans would be left to clean up the mess from all of our exploded heads. And we all know that they don't do menial labor.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#2)
    by John Mann on Fri Apr 01, 2005 at 07:55:06 PM EST
    Rummy's got them in his nightstand. He doesn't look at 'em much any more though; the photos have become so sticky it's too much trouble to try to pull them apart. Oh, Maddie Dog? I took a quick peek at the mainly incoherent ravings on your blog. Don't quit your day job. You're welcome.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 01, 2005 at 08:02:01 PM EST
    Maddie Dog is gone, his comments deleted.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 01, 2005 at 09:00:41 PM EST
    Just turn them over to the World Court or internation court of justice. They will be of no interest here in this country. War crimes.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#5)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 03:49:03 AM EST
    We care about privacy now? I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Ashcroft.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 07:00:38 AM EST
    Ashcroft was no pragmatist. He is/was a true believer. So on occasion his principles did not jive with the pragmatic fascism of Dubya et al. I knew I would miss him when Alberto stepped up.. what a smiling, jovial torturer that guy is. Jim, you want to make any predictions about the photos that have not been released? Are you ready to say in black and white that we have mistreated muslim detainees on a systematic basis or do you want to stay with the "they never had it so good" position?

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 07:22:32 AM EST
    this is all in keeping with the neocon theory that middle eastern societies are sexually repressed, in bringing sexual freedom sometimes you have to break a few eggs. long live the Republican Party, champion of sexual freedom!

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 08:40:55 AM EST
    The previous photos were sickening, I can only imagine how the ones we haven't seen are really like. Will it make a difference with the Americna public? The previous ones didn't, heck Oxy Rush said it was nothing more then a fraternity prank. Sadly, I fear that even if these photos are released, most people will either ignore it or laugh at it by saying "they had it coming."

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 08:41:18 AM EST
    Oops, "American", sorry.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 09:02:39 AM EST
    Sadists always seem to find a legal, government-sanctioned niche in society in which they can freely practice their perversions. Mostly it is in prisons.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 11:42:48 AM EST
    Many of the pic's are in the care of the whitehouse and you will never know who ordered this bull. But Rumsfeld and Bush and many others cannot allow the Real Facts to come into the light of day, because if the real facts were known to millions of people it would start people asking real questions and that would not be good for the big boys in our government.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 01:03:05 PM EST
    I wish they'd at least let (or make) Rush Limbaugh view the photos; then he should be required to either name the college fraternities that encourage behavior similar to that depicted in the photos, or admit that he was wrong (or better, depraved) to compare the guards' acts to fraternity pranks (yeah, like that'll ever happen). Also, I wish someone would ask James Inhofe and Zell Miller if they're outraged at Saxby Chambliss for having the nerve to be sickened by the photos.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Apr 02, 2005 at 09:48:07 PM EST
    I believe the fraternity is the USAF academy in Colorado Springs. I heard a caller to Randi Rhodes describe how in a class he had to take to learn how to survive the POW experience, he and classmates were tortured by upper classmen--among whom was Alberto Gonzales. A lot of the ideas for torture came directly from Colorado Springs, I'll bet. Then you have a few sadists adding their own creative touches, and probably learning new methods of torture from prison records. Abu Ghraib is a shame to humanity. It should be razed to the ground.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 03, 2005 at 07:32:49 AM EST
    If we are going to raze something, it ought to be something closer to home than Abu Ghraib.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Apr 03, 2005 at 11:05:25 AM EST
    Michelle - It is called "Escape and Evasion" and is not specific to the AFA. The part I do not believe in your comment is how members of the upper class were allowed to make up the "torture," and one of them was Gonzales. If nothing else military training is very long on following lesson guides.

    Re: Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? (none / 0) (#16)
    by john horse on Sun Apr 03, 2005 at 11:17:42 AM EST
    What happened in Abu Ghraib is no secret to the Iraqis, given that they had direct experience with it. There can only be one reason that I can think of for not releasing these photos and this is because the Bush administration wants to continue keeping the American people ignorant about what we are doing in Iraq. Ultimately, these photos provide a picture of what our country has become under Bush.

    Where are the Rest of the Abu Ghraib Photos? | 16 comments (16 topical)