Thursday, June 18, 2009
President Barack Obama and many members of Congress oppose the release of photos depicting abuse of detainees at U.S.-run facilities on the grounds that the images would spark a violent backlash by terrorists against American soldiers. “Every photo is a bullet for our enemies,” argues Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Along with military leaders, Graham points to 2004, when the first set of detainee images—from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal—became public and caused more attacks on the U.S. military, as an example of why the U.S. cannot risk allowing anymore photos to surface. But a story by CQ Politics questions this claim for keeping the additional photos a secret.
According to Pentagon information and independent experts, there is no clear link between the Abu Ghraib scandal and violence in Iraq. In fact, America fatalities dropped significantly in the month after the abuse photos became public in the last week of April 2004. When attacks and troop deaths increased months later, the cause was more than just Abu Ghraib, experts told CQ Politics. According to Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and international Studies, the connection between the release of the photos and violence in Iraq afterwards “is opinion, not analysis.”
Nevertheless, Graham and Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) are sponsoring legislation that would exclude the hidden photos from being subject to the Freedom of Information Act. A similar bill is also developing in the House.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
No Proof Detainee Photos Led to Military Deaths (by John M. Donnelly, CQ Politics)
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