Obama’s Moment of Weakness - Stern.de Germany

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

This coupled with the "get out of jail free cards" for the CIA thugs makes the promises of "change" a bit hollow.

http://watchingamerica.com/News/26968/obama%E2%80%99s-moment-of-weakness/


It’s the first major breach of promise by the “savior.” President Obama has reversed his previous decision and now says he won’t release additional photos of the United States military torturing captives. In making this wrong decision, Obama is weakening himself for no good reason.

The announced great cleanup action after the dirty George W. Bush era - was this it? Despite his promises during the campaign, now the president says he won’t release more torture photos taken in prison compounds in Iraq and Afghanistan. Further evidence of U.S. excesses in its war on terror will remain hidden away, at least temporarily. The government had just recently vowed it wanted to show these photos to the world, especially because a New York court had ordered them released.

So why the about face? A taciturn Obama explained that he was motivated by a concern for the safety and security of soldiers, should the photos become available to the public. Human rights organizations, liberal and otherwise, as well as many of Obama’s supporters are rightly up in arms over such a measure being taken by their hero. Global anti-Americanism, open or latent, they know is rooted in this self-image Americans try to project about freedom, peace and democracy, which is now proving to be phony and self-serving.

As politically understandable as Obama’s decision might be, it’s still wrong. He is putting his greatest asset, his credibility, on the line in doing this. He is also unnecessarily antagonizing his strongest supporters, the liberal left. But the last word still hasn’t been uttered in the matter of torture photos, because the Supreme Court will eventually decide whether the photos may be made public or not. How the necessary debate over torture will proceed won’t be in Obama’s hands after that decision – and that’s not a sign of his strength.

[FrenchieCat]

1. First off, the author of this piece assumes that a wrong decision has been made....

and I guess doesn't feel the need to argue the point.
As for Obama weakening himself for no good reason....
He might argue that US Soldier's lives is a great reason.

As for America's image being phony and self-serving,
that has been true since the beginning of this country.

I don't believe that Obama deciding that the world, if they saw these photos,
would not be better off at this moment,
doesn't make us any more phony and self serving
than we have been for the last 200 years.

If the writer can't make a distinction between the care and thought that Obama
took in making this decision, after the last 8 years,
than the author wouldn't recognize strong if it hit him in the face.

[ControlledDemolition]

2. If the country does not come clean, there will be more needless death and destruction in the future.

I'm talking about the long term. Short term there could well be a spike in violence.

Remember, hidden truth could well be a future ticking time bomb. Get it out, take the lumps, and only then move on.