So President Obama has decided to flip flop on releasing more detainee abuse photos that the administration had announced it would release in accordance with a court-order earlier this week.
Obama's decision to side with Cheney and attempt to sweep away concerns about the Bush Administration's advocacy and use of torture is a terrible terrible move.
As Tom Ricks just reiterated, we will learn nothing from our mistakes if we choose simply to ignore them. Which by the way is not even half of what fighting the release of the photos is, rather than just ignoring the problem Obama is now actively working to make it more difficult to deal with.
Obama's insistence that releasing the photos' could hurt American soldiers in the field and that there really isn't anything new in them and they aren't really that shocking is exactly what his predecessor had to say in these situations. And they were both lying.
It's terribly frustrating to see Obama protect the previous administration. On Thursday Joan Walsh said:
He's flip-flopped on FISA and the photos and other issues in between, and they've all had one thing in common: His decisions ultimately protect those who broke the law to spy and torture. Obama can still do the right thing on torture prosecutions, but I'm losing faith that he will.and sadly she is right.
Glenn Greenwald is very worked up over all of this and he lays out a laundry list of wrongs the Obama Administration has committed since taking office. It's not pretty people, but you should go read the piece.
Obama has done a tremendous amount of good in his first four months in office but, especially as the story continues to unfold and flesh out, he's really stinking the joint up when it comes to the rule of law and torture.
Rachel Maddow has a good rundown of what we now know:
Also photos believed to be from the set that Obama is currently seeking to keep hidden are being published by an Austrailian news agency.
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