Judge Orders Release of Abu Ghraib Photos

[Torog]

Judge Orders Release of Abu Ghraib Photos
September 30, 2005 4:25 AM EDT

NEW YORK - Photographs showing U.S. soldiers tormenting Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison tarnished America's reputation when they were released last year, with some critics of the U.S.-led occupation citing the scandal as vindication.

On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the release of dozens more pictures of abuse from the infamous Baghdad prison - potentially opening the military up to more embarrassment from a scandal that already has stirred outrage around the world.

U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rejected government arguments that the images would provoke terrorists and incite violence against U.S. troops in Iraq.

He said terrorists "do not need pretexts for their barbarism" and that suppressing the pictures would amount to submitting to blackmail.

"Our nation does not surrender to blackmail, and fear of blackmail is not a legally sufficient argument to prevent us from performing a statutory command. Indeed, the freedoms that we champion are as important to our success in Iraq and Afghanistan as the guns and missiles with which our troops are armed," he said.

The 74 photographs covered by ruling were taken by a soldier; three videotapes also were ordered released. A military policeman who saw the photos turned them over to the Army. Some may be duplicates of photos already seen by the public.

An appeal of Hellerstein's ruling was expected, which could delay release of the pictures for months.

Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, said releasing the photos would hinder his work against terrorism.

"When we continue to pick at the wound and show the pictures over and over again it just creates the image - a false image - like this is the sort of stuff that is happening anew, and it's not," Abizaid said.

The American Civil Liberties Union sought release of the photographs and videotapes as part of an October 2003 lawsuit demanding information on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody and the transfer of prisoners to countries known to use torture. The ACLU contends that prisoner abuse is systemic.

"It's a historic ruling, said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. "While no one wants to see what's on the photos or videos, they will play an essential role in holding our government leaders accountable for the torture that's happened on their watch."

Bridget F. Kelly, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, said her office was reviewing the ruling and considering its options.

Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had argued in court papers that releasing the photographs would aid al-Qaida recruitment, weaken the Afghan and Iraqi governments and incite riots against American troops.

But the judge said his task is not to "defer to our worst fears, but to interpret and apply the law, in this case, the Freedom of Information Act, which advances values important to our society, transparency and accountability in government."

The ACLU had sought the release of 87 photographs and four videotapes altogether. The judge viewed the pictures and videotapes and ordered some of them edited. Romero said those images apparently contained so many redactions that they would have been unintelligible.

The judge said the pictures were important because they were the best evidence of what happened at the prison.

Torog Reviewed by Torog on 09-30-2005. Judge Orders Release of Abu Ghraib Photos Judge Orders Release of Abu Ghraib Photos September 30, 2005 4:25 AM EDT NEW YORK - Photographs showing U.S. soldiers tormenting Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison tarnished America's reputation when they were released last year, with some critics of the U.S.-led occupation citing the scandal as vindication. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the release of dozens more pictures of abuse from the infamous Baghdad prison - potentially opening the military up to more embarrassment from Rating: 5

[Torog]

Howdy Y'all,

I hope and pray,that the appeal of this crap is forthcoming and stops it in it's tracks. If this is allowed to proceed,then more people will die,including more of our soldiers,who would not have died otherwise,every death as a result,will be on the judge's head.

The insanity of liberal thinking is,is that if one soldier does something wrong--then all soldiers should be punished. The anti-wars,desire nothing less,than the complete and total failure of the Iraq war,and a return to despotism and instability, across the whole region.

This has little,if anything-to do with freedom of information..it's all about attacking the Bush admin and dooming millions of folks to the loss of what few freedoms they have. The anti-wars have their freedom and believe that if one is not already free,then it's a part of their 'culture'..and must not be interferred with..bullshit ! To put all of our troops in danger like this,is a betrayal..that translates into traitorism.

Have a good one ...

[amsterdam]

perhaps they will make some more of those great club gitmo t-shirts with pictures this time?

i want the one with the guy wearing the black outfit and fake electrodes on his hands....priceless.it should be followed by the sentence,"i joined the jihad and all i got was this free koran and prayer rug?"

[lemonboy]

I don't understand the logic that says withholding information from the public to "protect them" is better than relying on their own judgment. You are so content at calling everyone stupid. It is really quite offensive.

I don't see the need to pussyfoot around the issues by advocating censorship.

[eg420ne]

Our Image has already been damage, Everyone but the american people have seen them pictures. Its are right 2 see what this Criminal Gov't is hiding, because them soilders wouldnt do that if someone from the top did not tell them 2 do it maybe it will cause riots in the states, maybe it help bring home the troops and arrest the criminals in DC. I bet if it was a democrat
gov't you be like thats are freedom 2 see them pictures, tell me u wouldnt. The Iraq people have known what the American troops have done 2 its people so I not care about them, its are people im worried about,. What will americans do when they see them pictures maybe they all just go back to watching TV and act like nothing happen.

Maybe we need 2 abort every republican and the crime rate would go down

[Arioch]

So you think photographs showing U.S. soldiers tormenting Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison will incite Muslims to violence? Theyâ??re certainly pissed off about this site:

http://www.nowthatsfuckedup.com/

[Arioch]

U.S. Army Ends Probe on Porn Site Photos of Iraq Corpses
By Will Dunham
Republished from Reuters/Alertnet
Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:52:26 -0700

Move along, nothing to see here.

The U.S. Army after a brief inquiry has failed to determine whether U.S. soldiers provided grisly photos of people killed in the Iraq war to a porn Web site in exchange for free access to it, officials said on Wednesday

The numerous graphic pictures posted on the Web site showed men, with their faces visible and wearing what looked like U.S. military uniforms, standing over a charred corpse, mutilated dead bodies and severed body parts.

The porn Web site states the photos were provided by troops in Iraq as well as Afghanistan in order to get free access to its sexual images. Many of the photos, still posted on the site, are accompanied by captions making light of the corpses; for example one photo of a charred body was dubbed â??Cooked Iraqi.â?�

The Army Criminal Investigation Command in Iraq conducted the preliminary inquiry within the past week but closed it after concluding no felony crime had been committed and failing to determine whether U.S. soldiers were responsible for the photos and whether they showed actual war dead, Army officials said.

Col. Joe Curtin, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said there currently was no formal investigation into the matter.

â??Weâ??re not blowing this off,â?� Curtin said. â??If the Army thinks itâ??s in its interest to investigate something, we will. There are multiple challenges here. One is the anonymity of the sources, dates, times, locations, units, anything that is reasonably identifiable that we can work off of.â?�

This controversy over the photographs involving U.S. military personnel comes a year and a half after other pictures taken by U.S. soldiers became public in April 2004 showing them abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail, a scandal that prompted international condemnation of the United States.

â??CURSORY INVESTIGATIONâ??

The Washington-based Muslim civil rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations, which had called for an investigation into the allegations of photos of corpses swapped for pornography, called the probe insufficient.

â??Itâ??s entirely inappropriate for the military to do such a cursory investigation of something that is really casting a very negative light on our nationâ??s military and can only serve to further damage Americaâ??s image and interests throughout the Islamic world,â?� said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the group.

Hooper said the military must determine who was involved and whether the conduct violated U.S. military law and international laws governing conduct during wartime, including the Geneva Conventions.

Curtin said the Army was not ruling out the possibility of opening a formal criminal investigation. â??Any time new information becomes available thatâ??s credible, yes, they potentially could reopen the case,â?� he said.

The Web site separates the corpse pictures from its sexual images. According to an article in the Online Journalism Review of the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Southern California, the siteâ??s owner, Chris Wilson, lives in Lakeland, Florida, but hosts the site out of Amsterdam. The article quotes Wilson as saying the siteâ??s images of nude female U.S. soldiers in Iraq and photos of war dead provide a â??rawâ?� account of war.

Officials said that while the Armyâ??s preliminary inquiry had determined no felony act had taken place, soldiers potentially could be punished for conduct unbecoming a soldier, which generally brings administrative sanctions.

Without confirming the authenticity of the photos or who took them, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, â??This does not represent the values of the United States military, and doesnâ??t represent the vast majority of the actions and behavior of our men and women in uniform. It is a despicable practice. Itâ??s unacceptable. And the department is going to address it.â?�

Curtin said the military was examining policies, procedures and legal implications of how soldiers transmit photos from the battlefield, and could consider limiting troopsâ?? use of their own personal computers or cameras in a combat zone.

â??The military must be very careful in not violating an individualâ??s First Amendment rights,â?� Curtin said, referring to the constitutional right of free expression.

â??Soldiers encounter the horrors of war, and they are able to record it,â?� Curtin said. â??You mix it with the porn site, now you muddy the waters.â?�

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker on Wednesday sent a message about â??Internet Safetyâ?� to U.S. soldiers, but focused on restrictions on images that could compromise operational security on the battlefield. Curtin said the message was unrelated to the corpse photos.

[hempity]

Howdy Y'all,

I hope and pray,that the appeal of this crap is forthcoming and stops it in it's tracks. If this is allowed to proceed,then more people will die,including more of our soldiers,who would not have died otherwise,every death as a result,will be on the judge's head.

The insanity of liberal thinking is,is that if one soldier does something wrong--then all soldiers should be punished. The anti-wars,desire nothing less,than the complete and total failure of the Iraq war,and a return to despotism and instability, across the whole region.

This has little,if anything-to do with freedom of information..it's all about attacking the Bush admin and dooming millions of folks to the loss of what few freedoms they have. The anti-wars have their freedom and believe that if one is not already free,then it's a part of their 'culture'..and must not be interferred with..bullshit ! To put all of our troops in danger like this,is a betrayal..that translates into traitorism.

Have a good one ...

Your hopes and prayers apparently are crap, it is all going to come out in the wash, and no matter how much you scream, cry, and stomp your little feet, you will pay for this and other atrocities committed in the name of your God and your false freedom.
The war in Iraq is already a failure, "there is no right way to do a wrong thing".
you are a traitor, anyone who thinks like you are traitors to liberty and freedom, you fight,die, and kill innocents defending your ignorance.

[nicholasstanko]

Howdy Torog,

i reckon you believe in the army dont you? dont you feel proud thinking of the heroic men who fought to uphold our freedoms those many decades ago?

well then how come you're so willing to let it go down the trash like that? you really want to excuse such wanton and depraved behaviour?

it wasn't enough to even hear a rumour of abu ghraib mistreatment? you didnt demand action from your congressman? you excused it because the enemy was getting what they deserved?

some patriot you are.

[ermitonto]

Oh no! Pictures show the truth that the U.S. military isn't an army of angels bringing love and peace and happiness to the world! Panic! Suppress! Censor!