The Poor Man: (I don’t need your) photograph

We inch closer to a showdown between the courts and the White House:

Following a two-hour closed hearing in New York on August 15, a federal judge ordered the government to reveal blacked-out portions of its legal papers arguing against the release of images depicting abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib. The government has until August 18 to make the currently redacted statements public, or to appeal the decision.

The court will next hear arguments on August 30 to determine whether the Defense Department must release 87 photographs and four videos depicting abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib. After unsuccessfully invoking the Geneva Conventions to block the release of the images, the government is now citing a legal provision that permits the withholding of records “compiled for law enforcement purposes,” that “could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.”

The ACLU has evidence that the torture taking place in US and affiliated facilities around the world has been approved directly by the imperial President, based on his supra-legal wartime powers. These photos depict illegal actions ordered by the government because we are at war. The government now believes that these photographs and videos need to be suppressed because we are at war. If they believe this strongly enough, and if the court - as seems almost certain - disagrees, they may for the first time publicly invoke that ability “inherent in the President” to set aside the law, which has previously only been invoked in private.