you just want to see these pictures because you get all hot and bothered just thinking about them. ah the libs and their kinky fetishes.
On May 18, 7:57 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[email protected]> wrote: > Obama on torture photos: cover-up and complicity > 15 May 2009 > President Obama’s repudiation of his promise to comply with a court > order and release Pentagon torture photos marks a qualitative > deepening of the cover-up of the crimes carried out under Bush as well > as their continuation under the new administration in only slightly > altered form. > > The president’s decision amounts to the deliberate suppression of > evidence that the US military-intelligence apparatus, at the direction > of the White House, carried out systemic torture. > > The about-face on the torture photos is of a piece with a series of > actions taken by the administration in recent months. These include > the Obama Justice Department’s attempt to suppress lawsuits > challenging extraordinary rendition, torture and illegal domestic > spying, all hallmarks of the police-state apparatus erected under Bush > in the name of a war on terrorism. > > Moreover, according to press reports, the decision on the photos > coincides with the administration’s finalizing of plans to hold terror > suspects indefinitely without charges in the US itself. It was > precisely the Bush administration’s designation of such detainees as > “enemy combatants”—supposedly without the protection of either the > Constitution or the Geneva Conventions—that facilitated the use of > torture. Now, it appears that this status of legal limbo is going to > be continued on US soil, with far-reaching implications for democratic > rights. > > Obama’s statement Wednesday justifying his keeping the photos secret > is a mixture of political hypocrisy and outright lies. > > He began by insisting that the images in question “are not > particularly sensational.” If this is true, it begs the question of > why the government refuses to release them, purportedly for fear that > they would provoke attacks on US troops. > > On this score, Obama is lying. It should be recalled that after the > exposure of the Abu Ghraib photos in 2004, the Pentagon managed to > suppress other images, which were described by then-Defense Secretary > Donald Rumsfeld as depicting acts “that can only be described as > blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhumane.” Republican Senator Lindsey > Graham of South Carolina was more explicit about these photos and > videos. “We’re talking about rape and murder—and some very serious > charges,” he reported at the time. > > The Washington Post Thursday quoted an anonymous congressional staff > member who said that the images “are more graphic than those that have > been made public from Abu Ghraib.” The staff member warned, “When they > are released, there will be a major outcry for an investigation.” > > Obama further claimed that the photos would not add “to our > understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of > individuals.” > > Here the Democratic president embraces the contemptible claim by the > Bush White House that the torture carried out at Abu Ghraib and > elsewhere was merely the work of a few “bad apples,” a handful of > soldiers who have been jailed, cashiered or otherwise punished. This > alibi has been thoroughly discredited by the Justice Department memos > released last month, which gave pseudo-legal justifications for > precisely the abhorrent abuse seen at Abu Ghraib. Senate > investigations have also established that these acts of torture were > discussed and approved by the top officials in the Bush > administration. > > Finally, Obama warned that the release of the images would “inflame > anti-American opinion” and “put our troops in greater danger.” This > concern only makes sense given the Obama administration’s refusal to > seriously investigate—much less criminally prosecute—torture and other > war crimes carried out under Bush. Thus, instead of being seen as > evidence in holding the guilty accountable and making a decisive break > with their criminal policies, the photos represent more proof that > those responsible—Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet and others—enjoy > impunity, and that the new administration is covering up for torture. > > Obama’s action was no doubt influenced by US military commanders, who > exercise virtual veto power over political decisions in Washington. > His primary concern, however, is not the reaction that the photos > would provoke in Iraq and Afghanistan—where daily military atrocities > weigh far more than photographic images. Rather, it is their political > impact at home. > > When Obama complied with another court order last month and released > the Bush Justice Department’s so-called torture memos, his aim was to > put the issue behind him, coupling the declassification with a blanket > guarantee that no one would be prosecuted for torture. > > Instead, the memos have provoked a bitter internecine struggle within > the capitalist state, with the Republican right led by Cheney in > alliance with sections of the military-intelligence apparatus taking > the offensive in defending torture and exposing leading Democrats like > House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as political accomplices in implementing > these methods. > > Obama fears that the release of the photos would not only intensify > this conflict, but also provoke popular outrage in the US itself along > with demands for investigations and prosecutions of former top > officials. > > This is something the Democratic president is desperate to avoid. He > has no interest in defending democratic rights at the expense of a > confrontation with the military brass and the CIA. > > Moreover, Obama is continuing the two wars initiated under the Bush > administration, pursuing their original aim of asserting US hegemony > over the strategically vital and oil-rich regions of the Persian Gulf > and Central Asia. He wants to avoid anything that would discredit > these wars in the eyes of the American public, including the exposure > of the systemic torture to which they gave rise. > > Torture is not incidental to these wars, nor was it merely the > preferred policy of the sadists in the Bush White House. It is > integral to such colonial-style counterinsurgency campaigns, in which > a major aim is to terrorize and intimidate the population. It was > employed by the French in Algeria, the British in Kenya, the Belgians > in the Congo and the Portuguese in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea- > Bissau. The American military is following in their bloody footsteps. > > As his administration’s policies are making ever clearer, Obama is a > spokesperson for America’s financial oligarchy. Whatever his > differences in tactics and style from Bush, this entails political > reaction across the board, from bailing out finance capital at the > expense of working people, to waging imperialist wars, to defending > torture. > > None of these issues—the destruction of jobs and living standards, > war, torture and the assault on democratic rights—can be confronted > outside of a decisive break with the Democrats and the development of > a mass independent political movement of the working class committed > to the socialist transformation of society. > > Bill Van Auken --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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