I wasn't going to write today, but this diary started out as a short reply to this comment in this thread in this diary and got WAY out of hand.
It's below the fold.
I understand where you're coming from, I really do; but you are wrong on this issue, and I'm going to tell you how and why.
There is only one thing I would like to see more than for the perpetrators of the torture to be brought to justice, and that is for a real and lasting peace in the middle east. I think we can have both. Those responsible can be held accountable without the public release of those photos. I'm 100% behind the public release of all written reports and detailed descriptions of the photos, just not the photos themselves. The photos can be used in a court of law without having them publicly released.
Everybody already knows the torture occurred, both here and there. The entire world already knows unless they're out in the middle of nowhere and don't give a fuck anyway. There's nothing to be gained by their release, but much to be lost.
I stand by the Obama Administration because I understand that their release will summarily end any chance at mid-east peace ever and increase the violence by an order of magnitude. It may very well destroy our nation.
EVERY muslim child will be shown those photos from an early age and not just be TOLD that the U.S. is the great satan, they will KNOW it and believe it in their heart of hearts until their dying day. Jihadists will create endless copies on the internet, in books and pamphlets. Long after the perpetrators have died of old age and their bodies returned to dust those photos will be used to create more terrorists and more suicide bombers til time immemorial.
I understand that a national self purging feels noble and righteous. You feel that if we just shine sunlight on it and come clean we can regain some of the moral dignity that these criminals have taken from us. I share your anger and indignation, but releasing the photos will not end as you envision. It will mean trapping our children and grandchildren in the vicious cycle of war in perpetuity.
You might say we already have endless war... That the MIC already has us bound to their struggle for oil and money. I understand that President Obama is riding the knife edge between war and peace, but at this point we do still have hope. He's standing strong against Netanyahu and the Republican U.S. Senators that are trying to demolish his Iranian Nuclear deal. I see him doing everything he can to hold a fragile world together. Releasing those photos will scuttle all of that.
The average citizen in the middle east longs for peace and prosperity. They have hopes and dreams just like us. They want a future for their children and grandchildren too. They want an end to the constant strife and suffering the sactions against their leaders rain down on them. I'm sure they would also, like us, like to see the criminal perpetrators of torture brought to justice.
Releasing those photos to the world at large will only exacerbate their problems, though. If those photos are released you all just might as well let John McCain, et al bomb the place to smithereens because that's the only way the suffering and conflict will end if you do.