Defense Department to Release More Abu Ghraib Pictures and Videos

Rather than continuing to fight a FOIA appeal launched by the ACLU over the release of 74 pictures and 3 videos of the torture at Abu Ghraib, the Defense department has finally agreed to their release. Rumsfeld should have realized long ago that his department's opposition, based on the assertion that the viewing of more Abu Ghraib photos would incite violence, was a non-starter but his lawyers haven't ruled out using that argument in the future:

In court papers, the government noted that Web site Salon.com published images depicting the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Salon.com recently posted 279 photographs and 19 videos from Abu Ghraib on its Web site.

The Defense Department will identify any of Darby's images already published on Salon.com and release edited versions of any that may not have appeared on the Web site, it said in court documents. The pictures have been edited so the faces of the prisoners are not shown.

A U.S. defense official, who asked not to be named, said: "This stipulation only applies to the 74 photos and three videos that were part of the litigation. We reserve the right to repeat arguments and to appeal future orders to release other images."
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"The withdrawal of the government's appeal only confirms there was no legal basis for withholding these images from the public in the first case," ACLU attorney Amrit Singh said.