(Artwork: Mark Clifford)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama declared Monday he would try to block the court-ordered release of photos showing U.S. troops abusing prisoners, abruptly reversing his position out of concern the pictures would “further inflame anti-American opinion” and endanger U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House had said last month it would not oppose an appeals court ruling that set a May 28 deadline for releasing dozens of photos from military investigations of alleged misconduct.
CIA Refuses to Turn Over Torture Tape Documents
Bush Advisor Says President Has Legal Power to Torture Children
When I saw this portrait http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb234/vurdlak8/illusions/obama_by_gerada_02.jpg I imagined Obama with one hand closing a door and through the doorway, seeing someone being waterboarded.
I’d like to present an alternative view just for the sake of thought and discussion.
I’m not convinced that more torture photos exist. And if that is the case, then this is a manufactured story.
Let’s just say that the torture may have been manufactured as a story in the first place. Why, because the American public is supposed to be afraid of its government and convinced that we are only a legal maneuver away from being tortured ourselves.
To believe that widespread torture occurred would mean believing in the entire concept that Muslim terrorist actually conspired against the USA and were able to successfully execute the 911 attacks. This is quite a stretch of the imagination if one asks themselves the most simplistic questions. So, if the Muslim terrorism frame is an illusion, then why would wouldn’t wide spread torture also be an illusion?
So, what better way to perpetrate the belief of fear in the public then to create a story that more photos exist but that the government will not release them. How are we to know what really happened?
I certainly can’t proved my speculation. It’s merely provided as a thought exercise, just to make sure none of us are getting too caught-up government-media manufactured frames of thinking.
I hope Catherine lets this one through 🙂
Bert, I agree with your meaning.
I don’t believe torture is used to get information. It is state terrorism intended to terrify those who would otherwise be willing to sacrifice their lives in opposition of the state. It is one thing to be willing to die in a gun fight, be hanged, or rot in prison. It is another to be willing to risk that you or people you care about will be tortured indefinitely.
It also is part of a broader set of actions designed to reduce people’s belief in themselves, their community and humanity at large. If one learns of a wrongful act being carried out against another and fails to act in their defense, it reduces that belief. There is a big matrix of such set-ups that both involve cutting off avenues of meaningful direct action to help victims, and bribing people to participate in the abuses such as saving money at a Big Box store or sharing profits via stock appreciation/dividends.
I think if a system has effects it was designed and implemented to have them. I don’t indulge in the dysfunctional system explanation. The, “if only they’d do this or that”. Nah. Systems are easy to understand. They work the way they are designed to work. It is the stated motives that don’t match.
I tried to email Catherine to request her emails to use normal darker and larger fonts, also none of her links can be clicked on in Outlook 2003 and probably other email clients. Makes it more work to copy and paste every link we are interested in. Hope my comment goes to the right person/department, sorry to post an off topic comment in this section!