About Those Photos

Yesterday the Obama Administration announced that they are not going to release additional photos of prisoner abuse and torture. The ACLU, left leaning blogs, and other liberal groups blew a gasket.

"He was going back on his promise."

"He's just like Bush and Cheney."

And on the surface I didn't like the decision either. I figure these photos are going to get out one way or the other. As Scalzi said it's like removing a bandage. Better to do it now and take the up front pain.

He also brought up another point, Obama clearly knows information that we don't and that information may, MAY, justify not releasing the photos. There's another point to consider though. Obama is proving to be a master of letting his opponents hang themselves. He feeds a little rope and they tie the knot. Ethically, it would probably be better to release the information. However, politically he could be leaning on the ropes waiting for them to get too close and let down their guard.

Sully who was worked up about it yesterday is coming to think the same. He thinks those getting rope-a-doped though is the American public. That Obama is setting us up to realize just how widespread and awful the abuse really was.

UPDATE: I reread this and wanted to point out that, at this moment, I am disappointed and upset the photos are not being released. With what I know I full heartedly believe they should be made public. I think that holding them back is only temporary and they will come out anyway. Probably in a slow painful trickle as each small group of photos released makes a splash in them media and are posted on the web. Political considerations can, and often should, be trumped by what is ethically and legally correct. I'm just with holding final judgment at this point because I still believe that Obama is a smart and ethical president and I believe he is making his decision based on what is best for the country as a whole. I'm prepared to be wrong this time and will admit it when I think all the evidence is in.