Obama signs law to not disclose photos of torture

[thegodfather]

This is not a news article. It is a release from the American Civil Liberties Union. Since many people on the board supported Obama and his policy of "transparency" and "Change," thought you would like to know the steps and great lengths your new messiah Obama is going to in order to ensure Bush and his cronies are never brought to justice for the war crimes they committed. You voted for change, and you got more of the same.




NEW YORK ACLU - The government today handed over to the American Civil Liberties Union numerous documents in response to two ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits for information related to the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. Thousands of pages of documents detailing the interrogation of prisoners by the FBI, Department of Defense (DOD) and CIA have previously been made public as a result of the lawsuits.

“The documents released today add to our knowledge about the origins, scope and consequences of the Bush administration’s torture program,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. “The documents are also a reminder, however, of gross human rights abuses that have yet to be investigated seriously by Congress or the Justice Department (DOJ). The last administration's decision to endorse torture undermined the United States' moral authority and compromised its security, but the failure of the country's current leadership to fully confront the abuses of the last administration is only compounding these harms.”

Among the documents released today are a report from the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General relating to the involvement of FBI agents in the interrogations in Guantánamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq; documents gathered by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General in preparing its report and CIA documents relating to interrogations at black sites overseas.

“The Bush administration authorized interrogators to use methods that the United States had previously prosecuted as war crimes, and the documents released today shed further light on the results of that decision,” said Alex Abdo, a legal fellow with the ACLU's National Security Project. “Though these documents add to the public record, many crucial documents – including CIA documents, in particular – are still being withheld. We urge the Obama administration to end the CIA’s use of the classification authority to suppress evidence of criminal conduct.”

In related litigation, the ACLU is seeking the release of photos depicting the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody overseas. The government has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision requiring the release of the photos. This week, President Obama signed a law that would allow the DOD to exempt photos in government custody from FOIA requests. The ACLU has formally asked the Secretary of Defense not to invoke the authority that the new law provides.

"The Obama administration pledged to be transparent and accountable to the American people. These photos are critical to understanding the abuses of the Bush interrogation program and ensuring that they never happen again,” said Abdo. “Americans have a right to know about the crimes that were committed in their name.”

For copies of the newly released documents, please contact the number above. The documents are available at:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture...s20091030.html

More information about the ACLU's FOIA litigation is at:
www.aclu.org/accountability

[Flagg]

Obama needs to change his soundbite from

"Yes we can" to

"YES HE CAN!"

[Immortal Soldier]

It is obviously delusional to think Bush and Cheney will ever be charged with war crimes, even if the photos came out. The Abu Grahib photos did nothing but help the enemy use propaganda.

At a time where the US is actually starting to get a better image in the middle east, releasing the photos gives the extremists propaganda leverage to say "Look this what they still do to our people and you let them". It will cause a spike in activity and lead to more attacks against our troops among other factors.

So Obama took the logical road (I am sure John McCain, a former POW, would also) and block it from being released. Obama or anyone in his shoes would know that logically the chances that anything of anything would come of this in terms of a trial against the Bush Adminstration for war crimes is so minute that why bother.

Ask some of the military vets here and in the past, and they will tell you that the US has done worse human rights violations than that including special military forces that don't abide by the Geneva Conventions.

[Nooomoto]

Why is it any civilians business what goes on during interrogations of captured insurgents/war fighters/enemies? If you really feel the need to know whats going on behind those closed doors, and really want to "change" something, go to your local recruiters office and enlist.

Instead of complaining, people should be thankful they aren't the ones tasked with doing those horrible things that happen in the middle of the night on their behalf. It's real easy to bitch from the safety of our borders.

[OCTOBER-2009]

Why is it any civilians business what goes on during interrogations of captured insurgents/war fighters/enemies? If you really feel the need to know whats going on behind those closed doors, and really want to "change" something, go to your local recruiters office and enlist.

Instead of complaining, people should be thankful they aren't the ones tasked with doing those horrible things that happen in the middle of the night on their behalf. It's real easy to bitch from the safety of our borders.

Well said brother!

The ACLU wants nothing more than to bring the U.S.A. down to it's knees. The Liberal media, the left, and the ACLU have turned this war into a political issue. Where are all of the anti-war protesters? When Bush was president they were everywhere. Now that Obama is pesident they are amazingly silent. Just another case of selective outrage depending on who is in office.

[Kratos]

it shouldn't be disclosed anyway, and Obama should have kept his yapper shut about the water boarding too. If he doesn't like the policy, stop doing it. You don't let the enemy know what we're doing...that's just stupidity in an effort to make the previous administration look bad, get over it, you won already.