Senior Pentagon officials have opposed the release of photographs and videotapes of the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, arguing that they would incite public opinion in the Muslim world and put the lives of American soldiers and officials at risk, according to documents unsealed in federal court in New York.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement put forth to support the Pentagon's case that he believed that "riots, violence and attacks by insurgents will result" if the images were released.
The papers were filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan in an ongoing lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union to obtain under the Freedom of Information Act the release of 87 photos and four videotapes taken at Abu Ghraib. The photos were among those turned over to Army investigators last year by Specialist Joseph M. Darby, a reservist who was posted at Abu Ghraib.
The documents reveal both the high level and the determination of the Pentagon officials engaged in the effort to block disclosure of the images, and their alarm at the prospect that the photos might become public.
Talk about hypocrisy and a double standard. The Pentagon will not release photos or videos of the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison because it will incite public opposition to the U.S. in the Muslim world. Did it ever occur to anyone at the Pentagon that any abuse of Iraqi prisoners would incite opposition to the U.S. in the Muslim world? Of course, it gets better. In the Times Story:
In his statement, dated July 21, General Myers said he became aware on June 17 that a release might be imminent. He said he consulted with Gen. John P. Abizaid, head of the United States Central Command, and Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the commander of the American forces in Iraq. Both officers also opposed the release, General Myers said.
His statement makes it clear that he has examined the images and finds them disturbing.
"I condemn in the strongest terms the misconduct and abuse depicted in these images," General Myers said in the statement. "It was illegal, immoral and contrary to American values and character."
So General Myers has seen the photos and he finds them so disturbing that they certainly can't be released to the American public. He cannot release the photos because they are "immoral and contrary to the American values and character." The American public cannot make the decision as to the morality of those photos--we have to take Myers' word for it. And of course, Myers' boss is sitting in the White House. This means that any release of such disturbing photos would certainly cause an increasing outburst of anger from the American public against the Bush war in Iraq--especially now since the public opinion polls on American support for the Iraq war have been dropping. Can't have that taking place close to the 2006 midterm elections.
Myers doesn't get it. The reason the Muslim world is angry at these photos is because of the double standard we present ourselves to the world. President Bush talks about freedom and democracy on the march in the world--with the United States leading the way--and yet at the same time we are found torturing Iraqi prisoners (A torture scandal that while the Pentagon says was initiated by a few lone American guards, has the smell of a deeper system of intelligence gathering). Myers talks about the strength of American moral character, and yet the American government imprisons Muslims at Gitmo without charges, or any legal recourse. Our government acts like a Third World banana-republic dictatorship and those in the Muslim world know it--they live in countries where the governments are Third World banana-republic dictatorships. This is not the way to win over the minds of the Muslim population, nor is it to win the war on terrorism.
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