ACLU: Gov’t to Release Abu Ghraib Photos

Posted on March 28, 2006

The U.S. government has agreed to release disputed pictures showing American soldiers tormenting Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.

An American Civil Liberties Union spokeswoman said today that an agreement was reached between the ACLU and the government and was submitted to a federal judge.

Once the judge approves the deal the pictures will be released.

The judge had ordered the release of the pictures of abuse from the Baghdad prison over complaints by government lawyers that it would incite violence against U.S. troops in Iraq and provoke terrorists. The Department of Defense had appealed that order but was dropping the appeal, the ACLU said.

Let the lawsuits begin!

Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director, said the civil rights group “will press on with its lawsuit to hold high-level officials accountable for creating policies that resulted in the abuse of detainees.”

The judge ordered the pictures released earlier this year, saying 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,” he said. “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.”

The 74 photographs 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.

Let the rioting commence! We all saw what a few cartoons can do, lets see how moderate the reaction is to a regurgitation of photos like these. Thanks ACLU!