Howard: Citizens need to see abuse

Republican government is exercised by and for the people. Because the government acts in the… Republican government is exercised by and for the people. Because the government acts in the name of U.S. citizens, with our direction and electoral permission, we bear the responsibility for the government’s actions.

But this responsibility can only be founded on government transparency and the informed consent of the citizenry. When governments shroud their actions in secrecy, they transgress against the social contract that defines republican government in this country and around the world.

For this reason, President Barack Obama’s recent refusal to release photos documenting the torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. custody must be acknowledged not only as a violation of a campaign promise to bring transparency back to the White House, but also as a violation of the contract between the government and the governed.

The photos that Obama refuses to release depict abuses at Abu Ghraib and six other prisons, The New York Times reported. Importantly, the abuse occurred in a variety of prisons. So it disproves Bush Administration assertions that the abuse at Abu Ghraib was an isolated incident perpetrated by a “few bad apples.”

Now, we know that decisions to abuse and torture prisoners were made in the name of our safety at the highest levels of government. The American people deserve to see exactly what was done to protect them, for we are all complicit in this abuse.

But despite the ruling of two federal courts and the promises made by candidate Obama, President Obama will not release the photos, thus keeping the American people in the dark.

Why?

He tells us he will not release the photos because they could provoke more attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as a surge in anti-Americanism around the world.

There are some problems with Obama’s justifications.

First, Muslim terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11 — long before Abu Ghraib happened. They attacked us not precisely because they “hate our freedoms,” as former President George W. Bush claimed, but because the modern world is encroaching on their tribal backwaters.

Second, a certain amount of anti-Americanism is bound to occur when the United States tortures and abuses prisoners. It might have won us some street cred with the Saudis, but torture is one of those things that tends to alienate a country from the civilized world.

I’d like to know what Obama thinks Americans value, because state secrecy isn’t on my list. That’s one of the things better left to thugs and despots rather than the elected leaders of a republic. Perhaps Obama needs a reminder, but the citizens of a republic are not sheep to be herded. Deliberate obfuscation constitutes a transgression against the values of the men who founded this nation as well as the public agreement that has allowed this country to function for more than two centuries.

The American people have to see these pictures so they can accept responsibility for what was done on their behalf and then make an informed decision on such abuses. The talking heads from the left and right who defend the use of waterboarding and other tortures are only able to make their case because the American people haven’t seen the gruesome details of what was being done.

Although many people have made this an issue about Obama “lying” while on the campaign trail, I expected change from his transition to the presidency and I would have worried had it not occurred.

But what does worry me is that Obama has revealed himself as comfortable with keeping evidence of malfeasance from the American people. We aren’t talking about troop movements or classified intelligence, but about a crime that took place and must be fully exposed before we can move on as a nation.

Failure to examine this crime honestly and transparently would constitute an indelible stain on the early days of the Obama presidency. For his sake and the sake of the republic, I hope Obama will rethink the issue and release the photos.

E-mail Giles at gbh4@pitt.edu.