[Peace-discuss] It's just too embarassing…

[Brussel Morton K.]

The sinking feeling only grows: The more time passes, the more Obama  
looks like another disaster for hopes for a more humane, enlightened,  
open, administration. Is he hollow, gutless, continuing proponent of  
empire, or what--- to be doing what he's doing?

This, regarding Obama's flip-flopping on "abuse" photos (withholding  
them now because it would embarrass "us"),  from Glen Greenwald:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/14-8

Note also the video attached.

…Moreover, isn't it rather obvious that Obama's decision to hide this  
evidence -- certain to be a prominent news story in the Muslim world,  
and justifiably so -- will itself inflame anti-American sentiment?   
It's not exactly a compelling advertisement for the virtues of  
transparency, honesty and open government.  What do you think the  
impact is when we announce to the world:  "What we did is so heinous  
that we're going to suppress the evidence?"  Some Americans might be  
grateful to Obama for hiding evidence of what we did to detainees, but  
that is unlikely to be the reaction of people around the world.

If we're actually worried about inflaming anti-American sentiment and  
endangering our troops, we might want to re-consider whether we should  
keep doing the things that actually spawn "anti-American sentiment"  
and put American soldiers in danger.  We might, for instance, want to  
stop invading, bombing and occupying Muslim countries and imprisoning  
their citizens with no charges by the thousands.  But exploiting  
concerns over "anti-American sentiment" to vest our own government  
leaders with the power to cover-up evidence of wrongdoing is as  
incoherent as it is dangerous.  Who actually thinks that the solution  
to anti-American sentiment is to hide evidence of our wrongdoing  
rather than ceasing the conduct that causes that sentiment in the  
first place?

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