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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Obama flip-flops on release of photos
Source: Agencies |
May 15, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
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UNITED States President Barack Obama says he will try to block the court-ordered release of photos showing US troops abusing prisoners, abruptly reversing his position out of concern the pictures would "further inflame anti-American opinion" and endanger US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama's turnabout on Wednesday set off immediate reactions from bloggers, both liberals who decried that he was buckling to political pressure and conservatives who agreed with the decision but said it proved the president was a flip-flopper.
The White House had said last month it would not oppose the release of dozens of photos from military investigations of alleged misconduct.
But American commanders in the war zones expressed deep concern about fresh damage the photos might do, especially as the US tries to wind down the Iraq war and step up operations against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
When photos emerged in 2004 from the infamous US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, showing grinning American soldiers posing with detainees, some of the prisoners naked, some being held on leashes, the pictures caused a huge anti-American backlash around the globe, particularly in the Muslim world.
Obama, realizing how high emotions run on detainee treatment, made it a point to personally explain his change of heart. He said the photos had already served their purpose in investigations of "a small number of individuals."
Those cases were all concluded by 2004, and the president said "the individuals who were involved have been identified, and appropriate actions have been taken."
"The decision to not release the photographs makes a mockery of President Obama's promise of transparency and accountability," said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Amrit Singh
Obama's turnabout on Wednesday set off immediate reactions from bloggers, both liberals who decried that he was buckling to political pressure and conservatives who agreed with the decision but said it proved the president was a flip-flopper.
The White House had said last month it would not oppose the release of dozens of photos from military investigations of alleged misconduct.
But American commanders in the war zones expressed deep concern about fresh damage the photos might do, especially as the US tries to wind down the Iraq war and step up operations against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
When photos emerged in 2004 from the infamous US-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, showing grinning American soldiers posing with detainees, some of the prisoners naked, some being held on leashes, the pictures caused a huge anti-American backlash around the globe, particularly in the Muslim world.
Obama, realizing how high emotions run on detainee treatment, made it a point to personally explain his change of heart. He said the photos had already served their purpose in investigations of "a small number of individuals."
Those cases were all concluded by 2004, and the president said "the individuals who were involved have been identified, and appropriate actions have been taken."
"The decision to not release the photographs makes a mockery of President Obama's promise of transparency and accountability," said American Civil Liberties Union attorney Amrit Singh
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