They just didn't know they were making that case. (Warning FOX link don't click unless absolutely necessary) Today it was announced that both President Obama and General Odierno agreed that they will not release photos of US detainee abuse.
A senior administration official told FOX News that Obama told his legal advisers last week that he did not feel comfortable with the release of the photos because he believes they would endanger U.S. troops, and that the national security implications of such a release have not been fully presented in federal court.
So, the pictures are so bad that they endanger Americans here and abroad? Yes. That's one of the most important reasons to prosecute for torture. It could save lives.
This just in. General David Petraeus makes the same argument.
CNN reports that Gen. David Petraeus was among top military officers who pressed for blocking the photos, expressing concern that the release of the "very explicit photos" would put U.S. troops at risk from violent reaction in the Mideast and Afghanistan.
Yes of course. These violent pictures would put troops at risk. And the torture that we have done IS putting them at risk right now. We're all at greater risk of being attacked if we are a torturing nation. Guess who else is on board? (From same USA Today article)
Update at 12:50 pm. ET: The AP quotes Morrell as saying that Defense Secretary Robert Gates shares those concerns. He says lawyers are looking at their options.
Everyone agrees releasing the photos would be dangerous. So, they must all agree that torturing in the first place was extremely dangerous to the security of US troops, and Americans traveling abroad (as well as god forbid Americans at home.) There are many good reasons to prosecute those that ordered, implemented and assisted in torture and conspiracy to torture. Not prosecuting puts countless lives at risk for political convenience. Matthew Alexander, an American interrogator during the Iraq War, makes this case better than I ever could.
I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The large majority of suicide bombings in Iraq are still carried out by these foreigners. They are also involved in most of the attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. It's no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. How anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me -- unless you don't count American soldiers as Americans.
Update: Robert Gibbs in his press conference moments ago.
He believes that the release of these photos could pose a threat to the men and women we have in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan.