The lastest round of torture photos are being withheld for one reason....

[OrlandoGator]

...because when they hit the wire, impeachment talk will finally hit the mainstream media.

It's self-preservation, and the Bush administration is realizing that the photos will turn the current "perfect storm" into a hurricane.

[thinkingwoman]

1. Yep...self-preservation

for the WH and nothing more.

[samdogmom]

2. Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Sad to say, but you've probably hit the nail on the head. In addition, they will, without a doubt, set off WAVES of new anti-USA attacks around the world.

[tabasco]

3. They're on the edge. They are more dangerous right now.

This is when they will go for a big power grab.

They are now openly defying a federal judicial order. How far will it go?

[indepat]

17. As far as needed when YOU are the law

[NorCalDem]

4. What do you think Bush's Approval Rating would drop to

if/when/never they get released (I'm betting on NEVER).

I would not be surprised to see below 30%, cause even Christo-Fascist-Fundies get perturbed over images of child-rape and murder.

That would absolutely KILL this administration, and guess what, it qualifies as another cover-up. On top of RoveGate (not PLAMEgate, Rove is the criminal), the public would lose all confidence. I'm hoping and praying that this is exactly what happens, it's just hard to get happy about the release of images that revolting :(

[shraby]

5. Can the Federal Judge send marshals to gather

the photos and videos because he had ordered them to be released.

[ConfuZed]

6. I believe the more they fight to withhold the photos if they got out...

it will be a hell of alot more damaging... guess they didnt think about that.

[Kali]

19. Hey, tell me about your graph!

What is the story there? What is it from?

[JDPriestly]

22. "Some people" in the press corps must be getting

real itchy curious about those photos about now. What is this administration hiding? It must be really bad.

[deadparrot]

7. Well, I hope you're right.

I'm cynical, I suppose. I guess I think that this administration can, and does, get away with literal murder on a daily basis.

If these photos can do real damage, however, I pray for their fast release, even if the images to turn my stomach and make me ashamed to be an American.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. I agree tittle seven of FOIA is being cited to protect the gang

[PurityOfEssence]

9. And the more they stall, the worse they look

They've denied them, played them down, fought against releasing them and now pulling every version of stalling they can. Shortly, they'll be in contempt of court.

Admittedly, Rumsfeld has characterized them as horrible, but he's the only one I know of who hasn't avoided the issue like the plague.

They will come out. Someone's got them mirrored somewhere.

These guys just don't get it; they think they can just do as they please.

[Tommymac]

10. And until a prominent Dem or media whore with big brass ones

calls them on it live on MSM they will continue to do as they please.

[nookiemonster]

29. Yep, The status quo is getting pretty fucking old.

n/t

[Kansas Wyatt]

11. Sounds like something that needs to be "leaked,"

And BushCo. can just face a shit storm of hurricane proportion for a change. After all, George W. Bush is the "Glorious Commander," and it is his illegal war.

[MasonJar]

12. What if all of us write one senator, say Boxer or Kerry, and insist

that he/she calls this an abuse of power at a news conference, carefully explaining that this is unlawful since it is in direct violation of a court order. And what if we contacted some unhappy journalists like Bill Moyers and Bob Edwards and asked them to lead the news coverage. Would that help! These idiots in charge of our poor country are anti-Constitution.

[Fleshdancer]

13. They should fear the global response more than the domestic response

When these photos are finally released, impeachment will be the least of their worries. I just hope our soldiers are pulled out of Iraq before the shit hits the fan.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. They do

Count One: Conspiracy to Wage Aggressive War

This count helped address the crimes committed before the war began, showing a plan to commit crimes during the war.

Count Two: Waging Aggressive War, or "Crimes Against Peace"
Including “the planning, preparation, initiation, and waging of wars of aggression, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements, and assurances.”

Count Three: War Crimes
These were the more “traditional” violations of the law of war including treatment of prisoners of war, slave labor, and use of outlaws weapons.

Count Four: Crimes Against Humanity
This count involved the actions in concentration camps and other death rampages.

[Fleshdancer]

20. this explains their desire for Bolton

Oh the bitter irony. Waging an illegal war without the support of the UN based on broken UN resolutions only to face the potential wrath of the international courts. No wonder the Bolton nomination is so damn important...if we can't force the UN to overlook our crimes then I guess we'll break away from the UN? Is that how it will go down?

In the meantime, what can we look forward to from individual states? A pull out of coalition forces? Oil embargo? Economic sanctions?

Then there's the obvious problems. I wouldn't be surprised to see an increase in terrorist activities both on and off American soil. The political climate in the US is going to hit rock bottom at a time when we're looking at filling 2 SCOTUS seats (I think the Roberts nomination will take longer than expected) and as the original poster noted, impeachment hearings wouldn't be too surprising either.

I feel sorry for whoever wins the 2008 nomination. S/he is going to have a HUGE mess to clean up.

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Yep and the games have begun

China made its move and has declared her intent for MAD...

that is just the begining

Oh and the cimiate in the US, in my real cynical and bad days I foresee a civil war and quite possibly the breakup of this country

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[moodforaday]

16. What I don't understand is

Why the pictures were provided to the government, but not to the press at the same time. Copies of that CD should have been sent *everywhere*. With so much secrecy imposed by *, with gag orders galore, what's the likelihood of this material being released soon? I think it's close to nil.

With the recent bombings, the allegation of Cheney telling the Pentagon to prepare for Iran and Bush warning an SC candidate about "impending doom", time is running out fast!

I believe only two things can be counted on for help. We can count on either one or more *significant*, credible, high-level people blowing the whistle, or on some sort of internal conflict among the Republicans or between them and the WH, which would result in a number of Republican congresspeople "defecting". There have been small signs of the latter (e.g. "White House threatens veto on detainee policies" - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050721/pl_nm/arms_congress_dc ), but it's not enough. Without serious whistleblowers, the administration will continue doing whatever the hell it wants.

(edited for grammar)

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

18. And Bush has threatened to veto the defense spending bill

if there's even the merest mention of an investigation by the Congress into torture at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. He's trying to blackmail Congress into silence by threatening them with the political issue of their loyalty to the troops. I say we should call Bush's bluff and demand that our Senators immediately convene an inquiry into this as well as the Rove matter. If Bush vetos that bill, it will only serve to make this a bigger media story.

Here's a link to a Reuters article on Yahoo! that describes this new threat of political blackmail by Bush:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050721/pl_nm/arms_congress_dc_4

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

21. Yes, there needs to be calling of bluffs. However I'm not optimistic to

be seeing this from the current crop of Dems in elected office. The track record is not promising.

I hope, hope I'm wrong.

[lonestarnot]

23. Hurricane already hitting here!

Posting pics from impeachment demonstrations here late tonight. State tuned!

[OrlandoGator]

25. Kick.

:kick:

[OrlandoGator]

26. Final kick.

:kick:

[MrSlayer]

27. You know, I really don't know about that.

The people that support these clowns will not turn on them no matter what. The Pukes in Congress will not turn no matter what. And certainly the right-wing hate radio talking heads will spin and justify it all for them. I really don't think those guys will care at all and some will be happy with it, wishing more. Republicans and Democrats are no longer people who simply disagree on certain policies, we are mortal enemies and they will never give in to the truth because it will mean they have lost. It's not about the country anymore, it's about winning and losing and doing ANYTHING to remain in power. I don't think a lot of us on this side really understand that. We believe in fairness, justice and truth and they do not, they just want to kill us. I don't think they will react with horror and disgust to the pictures and videos, they will react with horror and disgust over the things we say about it and The Chimp. I hate to be this cynical but it's just the way it is now. Half the country that follows politics will be outraged, the other half will defend it, the rest will be indifferent and ultimately the administration will get away with it.

[Disturbed]

28. They will be accidently destroyed.

Many Dems in Congress saw these photos and videos many months ago after the 1st batch were circulated. There were around 2K photos and several videos. These come from the same source as the ones that were shown on TV, only much worse. Why haven't any Dems spoken out in outrage all this time about these? Rethugs and Dems mostly agreee that the U.S. Occupation of Iraq must continue for many more years. These photos and vids upset that goal. Make no mistake, Dems and Rethugs are in agreement about the Colonzation of Iraq.