I read an article written in “The Australian” online newspaper. This article titled, “No Middle Road for Barack Obama in Banning Torture Photos” by Geoff Elliot discussed Obama’s decision to ban the release of torture photos to the U.S. public press. These photos are allegedly photos of U.S. troops abusing detainees in the Iraq war. Obama stated he thought the photos would endanger the U.S. position and would endanger U.S. troops overseas. The author of this article compared the photos to the 2004 detainee abuse photos from “Abu Ghraib” the Iraqi prison. The author reports the photos inflamed anti-American Sentiment amongst Muslims.
I am not sure how I feel about this issue. I support intellectual freedom and feel we are entitled to access to these photos. However, should we endanger the troops in Iraq just to publish these pictures? Can we wait until the war is over? I honestly do not think it will matter. The anti-American sentiment will continue regardless of a few photos. I think we should be able to view photos from the war and be well aware of troop behavior. I feel information should be available regardless of how I feel about the situation. I may support or disagree with the troop’s behavior but I still think the information should be available. I went to Ireland in 2005 and saw images on television I had no idea existed. The images I viewed of Iraqi families running for their life with their children made me understand the situation in Iraq a little better. I do not understand why Americans are not given the same images on our news. All I had even seen in American was pictures of the bad guys and the American troops saving little Iraqi kids and women. What is going on here? I disagree with Obama’s decision to ban the release of these photos and think he is exercising a right he should not have.
URL: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25482297-2703,00.html
Well, I think this is one of those tricky issues. It really makes me wonder what the government/press keeps from the American people. I mean who exactly controls what the public has access to in terms of news.
ReplyDeleteI feel like in the wake of Guat. Bay and torture issues, Obama is trying to protect the troops from more bad publicity. I think that his heart it in the right place; to protect and respect the integrity of these people who are fighting on behalf of every American. But at the same time, just because something isn't in the news doesn't mean it doesn't exist. So do we have a right to see the photos? Yes, but also the context. It's the same logic when a censor just picks up a couple of passages from a book that they find objectionable. They read this passages usually out of the context. In other words, what is the context of the photos. What was happening? What were the troops orders? What did these prisoners do? How and why did they torture...and so on. Don't just splash the photos to the public, provie a context.
The only problem with taking the stance that it is ok to ban in order to protect is who determines what is truly protecting the troops? It becomes too easy for the person who is doing the "protecting" to start protecting themself. I am not implying that this is the motivation but it easily can slip into that. Also, it appears that the torture pictures are not all that is being withheld. If other countries are seeing things we are not seeing it starts to appear that we are not protecting our troops from other countries opinions rather we are denying U.S. citizens from a complete picture of the situation.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what has been written. I too believe in the importance of protecting our troops. However, I also strongly believe in government accountability. I suspect that in addition to protecting our troops, President Obama is also trying to protect those who were complicit which such heinous actions. Who knows how many knew about these actions and did nothing? Thus, in addition to protecting troops, President Obama may have wanted to avoid adding yet another issue to his growing list of problems to solve. Was he wrong? Honestly, I am not sure.
ReplyDeleteThis issue is an excellent example of how intellectual freedom is not exactly black and white.
-- Donna Bowman
Great post Emily.
ReplyDeleteI was especially interested in your comment about how things not seen in the USA can still be seen other places. In 2005 I was living in the UK and the ongoing Michael Jackson trial was big news over there. They regularly said the full name of the child victim and showed his picture in the news broadcast. In the States, the name was not revealed and no photos were published (legally) as a child victim has a right to anonymity in the legal system.
In some ways I think President Obama is trying to not throw more fuel to the fire of US aggression, but in other ways I feel he could be taking the high road by not heaping more "evidence" of misconduct by the past administration.
What an interesting post! I feel somewhat stupid because I had not heard of this before I read your blog. I feel torn on the issue, as well. I certainly believe that the photos should be released at some point. I also believe that the public should know about American troops' behavior and that these soldiers should be held accountable for their actions. On the other had, I try to put some faith in my President and government to know the best time to release certain information in light of current situations. Maybe there is some reason we don't know about that makes it best not to release them yet. I'm sure there are lots of things we don't know... which is scary.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteGreat and interesting posting for our first blog. I personally feel that Obama did the right thing by banning the pictures. Because he is trying to protect the troops and to me their image I think it was best to leave well enough alone. To I feel he's trying to not scare people or remind them of such a dangerous war that is going on. I think releasing the pictures will not only scare the Americans but terrify the parents of these soldiers even more. I also want to mention that I'm sure there are other pictures that Obama has ban thus far that will not ever be mentioned to the public.
I've known that stuff like this happens for a while now. I have several friends from different countries and we talk about how things are puiblicized differently in different countries. What I find interesting, however, is that our government and our media are the first ones to pitch a fit when countries like China censor reports but we do the same thing. Maybe it's not on the same level or to the same degree but sometimes, even though I understand the reasoning behind it, I feel like its the old pot calling the kettle black. As a librarian it bothers me even more, because I'm all about informing people. No, we don't want people undervaluing or disrespecting our soldiers. At the same time we want people that are joining the military to make informed choices and decisions. Can they really do that if they aren't getting the whole story, the complete picture?
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