philipchevron wrote:IrishRover wrote:well, they can't be woirse than prevoius oines oi guess, tois' noit as much aboiut the surface cointent oitself as foir what they represent oin the boigger poicture.. what we do need essentoially ois the change of the attoitude, tois' what US people voited foir and what OIbama proimoised to deloiver
Yes, that's true, but I think the essence of what President Obama is now saying, in his revised opinion is, really "enough already, we know we did bad, real bad, but what is the point of releasing these pictures so that they can dominate the news "cycle" for a week or more and, not uncoincidentally, risk even greater danger to our boys and girls who are already in harm's way?"
Coming from Cheney or Rummy, we would rightly consider this despicable and self-serving. Coming from the new President, we know there's a good chance it's sincere, as we know him to be a man who does not consider a change of mind to be a congenital weakness. Besides, I agree with him.
My understanding is that this is a bit of political gamesmanship. Obama is well aware that the courts will force him to release these photos. US law is pretty clear on this. What he is doing is grandstanding for his opponents and enemys (and the military) and putting himself in a position to say that, "I tried to do everything that I could to do what you wanted me to do." In the end, he knows the results will be the same, the photos will come out, so he feels that the ACLU and those types won't stay too mad at him because they will end up getting what they want.