The ACLU fought and won the case to force the Department of Defense to make public by May 28, 2009 "photos depicting the abuse of prisoners by U.S. personnel."
There's been a lot of pushback regarding the release of these photos. I have no reason to believe otherwise, yet I wonder if those who are part of this pushback will succeed in keeping the pictures from being released. Guess we'll find out by May 28.
And when they are released, what will we do? How are we to look at these pictures? How can we prepare ourselves so that this is not just some sensational political event, but a somber confrontation of man's inhumanity to man?
I do know one thing. Dick and Liz Cheney can talk faster and faster, they can pour out torrents of words for as long as they like, and it won't do them any good. Harold Ford and Joe Lieberman can equivocate and excuse and that won't do any good either.
A picture is worth a thousand words, they say.
But more than that, what has been done to human beings, the scope and nature of these acts, is too big to talk away.
The only question is how long it will take for the American people to stand up and say "This is wrong."
To look at the pictures of naked men and wish for a blanket to cover them, to look at human beings being made to feel horrible pain and wish for a gentle hand to lift them up, take them away from the pit, heal their wounds, for these are people who could be you, could be me. How will we feel when we look at these pictures? Will we be able to look at these pictures?
To those who believe they can talk it all away, scare us yet again with dire warnings of CODE RED danger, you are fooling yourselves. You are running so fast, aren't you? Running so that you will never see what infinite damage has been done, not only to those who were tortured, but to the young men and women who committed these crimes.
How many suicides resulted from these acts? How do you go back to "normal" civilian life after you have irrevocably damaged another human being? How do you compartmentalize torture?
This is beyond politics, even as politics and politicians try to contain the horrible reality of torture with market tested Luntzian memes and obfuscations. This is beyond even the never ending ability of our mainstream media to suffocate the truth into fake controversies to boost their audience and profits.
A picture is worth a thousand words. And more than a thousand politicians.
We will never be safe so long as the citizens of this country do not face what has been done, stand up, and say "This is wrong." Never.