Rights and Responsibilities

I was just watching Bill Maher, who I actually think might qualify for one of my elusive left wing whackjobs except that with the exception of one cause - legalizing drugs - he too is a critic and not a true believer. As part of the round table the group was discussing something that I swear I heard on Air America months ago as if it is breaking news: there are more Abu Ghraib photos, and apparently a couple of videos.

Those of you not remembering the first time through this nightmare can go here.

The root of the discussion was whether American citizens have a right to see the photos. The right honorable governor of Arkansas posited that even if we do have a right "do we need to see them?"

The Pentagon apparently believes (probably correctly) that releasing another round of photos like the last one will fuel resentment of American forces throughout the world and just generally be a bad thing in the entire campaign against terror.

Should this matter? Probably. Will deferring the release make a difference? Possibly. I mean if these photos were released now we would have a likely idea about where the worst of the animosity would be. If we sit on them until things are more calm I believe that won't be the case. Isn't this like a band-aid we know we have to take off? Why are we peeling it off hair by hair when we know one good tug is the best way?

But whatever. I think if they believe now is really the wrong time then I would be ok with an independent commission reviewing the photos and then sealing them for a known period of time. In this case I think something less than 5 years would be in order. If we haven't calmed things down to where the release wouldn't be incendiary by then we obviously have bigger problems at hand.

A delay for tactical purposes set aside, I believe that there is more than a right involved here. I believe that we not only have right to view these images, we have a responsibility to see these images. We have a responsibility to witness things that are done by our forces, authorized by our government, done with our mandate. Even though the rhetoric about the war has been pretty balanced with one side saying there have been numerous atrocities and the other saying there have been tremendous achievements. Curiously though we haven't really seen much of either. What we have seen have been real bland images of burnt out vehicles on the one side and uneventful government proceedings on the other.

Why haven't we seen pictures of Iraqi students returning to schools? Why haven't we seen a parade of images of power stations and water pumping stations working? And then why haven't we seen the other prison images? Who is it that is keeping this portrayal so down the middle? It's like the government is trying to fight a war without bothering us. We have a responsibility to be bothered.

Its not just pictures either. The government itself is playing hide the ball a little with casualty figures. Yesterday on Fresh Air a former soldier who had been in the Iraqi theatre asserted that for every solder killed 10 were substantially wounded. We've heard lots of stories about how advancements in battlefield medicine have kept people alive. We haven't heard much about what consequences they then have to live with. I've heard several times that as long as you are still alive when they move you out of Iraq, if you then die you are not counted as an Iraqi fatality.

This is the wrong place for spin. We have a responsibility to hear it straight.

Go ahead people, bother us. This is a big deal. If we have things to be proud of, let us see them. If we have things to be ashamed of, let us be ashamed. If we have things to celebrate, let us celebrate them. And if we have things to mourn, let us mourn them. People are dying on both sides every day. It shouldn't just be another day at the office.