- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
I applaud Salon for running these photos, which human rights and civil liberties groups have sought from the Defense Department in court proceedings. The Pentagon, naturally, has resisted those efforts, ostensibly because the images could violate the prisoners' rights to privacy, endanger American troops abroad and incite violence in the Muslim world. But if the Pentagon didn't want the world to see these images, it should have prevented this culture of prisoner mistreatment from developing.
I note that those most opposed to the press shining a spotlight into this dark corner of recent American history are also the ones who squawk loudest about how our enemies "hate freedom" and how our mission in the world is to "spread democracy."
Without an independent and aggressive press, you can't have either freedom or democracy. To argue that Salon sweep these images under the rug pushes the torture victims deeper into darkness. The Bush Administration also would have photos of American soldiers' flag-draped caskets swept into darkness, all in an effort to manage public perception of its foreign policy.
These photos and videos came out as quickly as efforts to free them could manage. The effort to hold America's government to account is precisely what I require from Salon, an American publisher of news, features and opinion. The difference between this and the Danish cartoons, I suspect, is that the Danish cartoons have already seen the light of day. These photos haven't. And that's why I think we should credit Salon for doing an excellent job.
If you ever find yourself held prisoner in some dank prison, without legal recourse, uncharged and tortured, I'm sure you would wish for someone, somewhere, preferably with an international news magazine at his disposal, to tell your story.
