Steve Verdon asks:
A video was released on a militant islamic websitie supposedly showing the beheading of an American.
……
Now for those who are clamoring for the full disclosure of all the pictures and videos of the Iraqi prisoners…do you favor releasing this video? If not, how do you explain your hypocrisy?
As one who advocates full disclosure at all levels of government I’d be happy to answer.
Yes, release the video. And, release pictures of the coffins both leaving Iraq and arriving home; release pictures of the dead and wounded in situ (be they American, British, Iraqi, or other); release pictures of everything.
What about women who are raped? Children who are abused? Where exactly is the line drawn?
Full disclosure does not have to mean completely demeaning again and again and again those who have suffered.
If you are talking about civilian victems of a governmental action then full disclosure is appropriate. And, yes, everything related to the Iraq occupation is driven by governmental action.
If you are talking about incidents being dealt with in the civilian criminal justice system then pictorial and other disclosure outside a courtroom may not be warranted.
Everything needs to be at least written about. We’ve killed and wounded tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, yet you rarely hear that on the news.
The American People need to know what has been done in their name.