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May 14, 2009
Exclusive: Obama Makes Right Decision on Detainee Photos – Will This Commonsense Trend Continue?
After having announced that his administration would comply with a court order to release dozens of photos of alleged abuse of terrorist detainees, President Obama reversed that decision, saying he will fight against their release.
The reversal came after some members of Congress expressed concern that public release of the photos would put American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan in even more danger. The administration plans to seek a court order to block the photos’ release.
Obama explained that the release of the photos
"would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals."
"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. Moreover, I fear the publication of these photos may only have a chilling effect on future investigations of detainee abuse."
Releasing photos of Jihadists being harshly interrogated might put our troops in greater danger? Who could have imagined it?
Of course, considering the administration’s release of classified memos detailing enhanced interrogation techniques, we weren’t surprised that he originally supported releasing the photos too. Yet for whatever reason – perhaps a publicity backlash? – President Obama has changed his mind, and for that he should be commended.
But don’t schedule the ticker tape parade just yet. For weeks, Obama was on record as approving of the photos being released – proof to the world that they existed – which is just about as bad as actually releasing them. Anti-American opinion surely wasn’t helped by that. And the way he has handled the entire Gitmo affair, from his decision to close the facility to the memo release to his veiled threat to investigate and possibly prosecute those who advised the Bush administration in the interrogation techniques has been amateurish and embarrassing.
However, we shouldn’t be surprised, considering we elected a man whose biggest accomplishment to date has been his experience as a community agitator organizer. Not every president has foreign policy experience when he is first elected, but Obama had no executive experience either – meaning he had no experience in delegating, organizing and making hard decisions other than what to order for lunch.
So while we congratulate the president for making a sensible decision, we will continue to watch his progress with a jaundiced eye.
Brought to you by the editors and research staff of FamilySecurityMatters.org.
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