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President Obama has reversed his earlier decision to accede to the release of photos depicting alleged abuse of detainees in U.S. military custody, and the Administration will now oppose their release in court.
Good for him. Obama said today that he made this decision because no interest would be served by releasing the photos, as demanded by the American Civil Liberties Union, and that publicizing them would only “further inflame anti-American opinion" and endanger American troops in the field.
Reaction on the right ranged from graceful commendation to smug satisfaction. WaPo's Chris Cillizza wrote a column entitled, "The Left Rises Up Against Obama," but based on my own quick review of a dozen major left-leaning websites, I'd say the reaction there was fairly tame -- except for a few well-known conspiracy-minded hysterics like this one. I get the feeling that leftie bloggers feel they have to write something critical to mollify their own "base," but realize that they can only beat up so much on a liberal Democrat who's been in office for three months.
In any case, Obama made the right choice, even if he had to make a highly public 180-degree reversal of himself in the process. Being President is vastly different from being a candidate for President. He now has the tremendous responsibility for protecting the nation and commanding hundreds of thousands of service men and women who stand in harm's way in two wars. Obama is showing that he's prepared to shoulder that burden.
What do you think of his decision? Post a comment.
Good for Obama. No good would come of publicizing these photos...just more
ReplyDeleteanti-American misery.
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flowers,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support -- and spread the word!
It's a tough decision, but I believe too that it's the right one.
ReplyDeleteI applaud the president on this move.
ReplyDeleteWhat good would release of the photos do to anybody? The troops would be punished and our reputation would take a serious hit. These photos would be degrading to the people of the Middle East where most of these prisoners hailed from. It would have been a lose-lose situation.
This is one of the first moves where I support the president 100%.
Ryan
Regardless of the "justifications" cited by the Left, the only reason for releasing these photos is to fuel continued anger, outrage and retribution against the Bush administration at the cost of American security interests and American lives. It is puerile, infantile and disgusting. Obama is right to block these.
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