Obama will seek to delay photos release

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30725189/

Obama will seek to delay photos release
Pictures reportedly depict the abuse of prisoners by U.S. military in Iraq
5-13-9

WASHINGTON - In a reversal, the White House says President Barack Obama is fighting the release of photos showing abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan because he believes their release poses a national security threat.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday that the argument had not been made before in the courts. He also said that the president believes the release could discourage the investigation of any abuses.

Obama's decision to challenge the court-ordered release came after the top military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan told the president they feared the release of the photos could endanger their troops.

Defense and military officials tell NBC News that President Obama will seek to delay the release of hundreds of photos that reportedly depict the abuse of prisoners by U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is expected to announce Obama's decision.

The Pentagon has said it will release the pictures this month.

Obama decided he "did not feel comfortable" with the release and last week instructed his legal team to fight it in court, said an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president's decision had not yet been made public.

Obama has instructed administration lawyers to make the case that "the national security implications of such a release have not been fully presented to the court," the official said.

"The president strongly believes that the release of these photos, particularly at this time, would only serve the purpose of inflaming the theaters of war, jeopardizing U.S. forces, and making our job more difficult in places like Iraq and Afghanistan," the official said.

The official said that Obama believes the actions depicted in the photos should not be excused and fully supports the investigations, prison sentences, discharges and other punitive measures that have resulted from them. But, the official said, the president does not believe that publicizing the actions in such a graphic way would be helpful.

Military agreement

Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq met with Obama at the White House Tuesday to ask the administration not to release the photos. Defense officials say Odierno is "vehemently opposed" to the release because he fears it could create a widespread "backlash" against military forces in both war zones.

According to one official, "It would put a bull's-eye on the backs of our forces."

Gen. David Petraeus, senior commander for both wars, had also weighed in, as had Gen. David McKiernan, the top general in Afghanistan. Gates fired McKiernan on Monday for unrelated reasons.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said military "commanders are concerned about the impact the release of these photos would have for the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," and Defense Secretary Robert Gates shares their concerns.

In Afghanistan, release of the pictures this month would coincide with the spring thaw, which usually heralds the year's toughest fighting. Morrell also noted the release as scheduled would come as thousands of new U.S. troops flow into Afghanistan's volatile south.

According to military officials many of the photos are similar to the infamous prisoner abuse photos out of Abu Ghraib prison, but some of these photos reportedly include mug shots of prisoners who appear to have been badly beaten during their capture or interrogation.

Freedom of information

The photos were gathered in the course of dozens of military investigations of prisoner abuse between 2001 and 2006. Pentagon officials say 400 individual servicemembers have faced disciplinary action, either criminal convictions or non-judicial punishment as a result of the investigations.

The American Civil Liberties Union has sought the release of the photos and won a lawsuit against the U.S. government before the federal appeals court in New York. The only legal option left to the government was to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Instead the Obama administration had earlier made the decision to end the appeals and release the photos.

Through an arrangement with the court, the Pentagon was preparing to release, by May 28, two batches of photos, one of 21 images and another 23. The government also had told the judge it was "processing for release a substantial number of other images."

The ACLU criticized the decision.

"The decision to suppress the photos is profoundly inconsistent with the promise of transparency that President Obama has made time after time," ACLU lawyer Jameel Jaffer said.

NBC's John Yang and Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this story.