Friday, April 24, 2009

Detainee Pictures To Needlessly Jeopardize National Security

What are the motivations behind all this interest in so called "enhanced interrogation" techniques? Certainly, the punditry isn't to alter policy, because Obama signed an executive order banning the controversial techniques before he even had the drapes picked out at the White House. Paul Krugman argues that it's to save America's soul, which presumably means to vindicate the far-left base that has been pushing this issue for years. Documents and photos are classified not as part of a conspiracy to keep the public uniformed, but to prevent detrimental effects on national security, and yes, the lives of troops and CIA operatives performing the grim task of protecting the nation.

The America Civil Liberties Union (which ironically has a very dictatorial style in its own internal affairs), has used a FOIA request to acquire photos of detainee abuse on May 28 that will, no doubt, lead to serious repercussions for national security. From the Military Times:
The letter from Justice said the Pentagon was preparing to release 21 photos at issue in the appeal, plus 23 others “previously identified as responsive.” The letter added that the Pentagon also was “processing for release a substantial number of other images contained in Army CID reports that have been closed during the pendency of this case.”

The ACLU and the Defense Department reached an agreement for “all the responsive images” to be released by May 28, the letter said.
The base, clamoring for the heads of Cheney and other Rethuglicans, will make available to the world photos that will accompany Jihadist propaganda around the world. While we pride ourselves on living in a transparent society, I really wish some of these "activists" would stop foaming at the mouth for two seconds and consider the consequences of their actions.

No comments:

Post a Comment