Obama's Sister Soulja Moment? Story from the Washington Post.

Obama's Sister Soulja Moment?
President Obama’s decision this week to reconsider release of inflammatory Pentagon interrogation photos may mark a shift in his administration’s handling of politically charged national security issues -- upsetting his allies on the left but making some new friends among conservatives in the military.

Obama has asked Atty. Gen. Eric Holder to review an earlier plan to release 44 Department of Defense photos showing harsh interrogation of detainees abroad, according to a senior military official who was informed about the decision. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said yesterday that Obama had “great concern” about the danger for U.S. troops in releasing the photos but didn’t explain further.

“Folks are listening,” said the senior military official, who was among those at the Pentagon who warned Obama that public dissemination of the photos could put U.S. troops in the field at greater risk because of indignation, particularly in the Muslim world, at graphic evidence of U.S. brutality. Those making this case to the White House are said to have included Bob Gates, the secretary of defense; Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. David Petraeus, the CENTCOM commander; Gen. Ray Odierno, the U.S. commender in Iraq; and Gen. David McKiernan, the outgoing U.S. commander in Afghanstian.

Obama seems to have concluded that to achieve the right balance on controversial Bush-era issues such as interrogation -- summed up in the president’s frequent admonition that we need to look forward rather than backward -- he will have to disappoint some liberal supporters. Specifically, his second thoughts about releasing the detainee photos upset the American Civil Liberties Union, which thought it had an administration promise to release the pictures by May 28 in response to an ACLU lawsuit.

Obama had tried to strike that forward-not-backward balance earlier, accompanying last month’s release of CIA interrogation memos with a promise not to pursue a witch hunt against CIA officers who were following Justice Department legal advice. But that blew up in his face, triggering precisely the spasm of backward-looking recrimination and CIA angst that Obama had hoped to avoid.

In releasing the torture memos, Obama had rejected counterarguments from CIA Director Leon Panetta. But he seems to have listened to similar warnings from his military commanders who argued that flooding the Internet with a new batch of photos of Americans engaging in shocking practices would put U.S. soldiers in danger without a commensurate public benefit.

Is this a “Sister Soulja” moment on national security, like bill Clinton’s famous criticism of a controversial rap singer during the 1992 presidential campaign -- which upset some liberal supporters but polished his credentials as a centrist? We’ll have to wait and see, but certainly military officers I spoke with this week were pleased -- even as the ACLU was indignant.

Views: 46

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Less Prone favorited tjdavis's video
5 hours ago
Less Prone posted a photo

Social Engineering 101

That's how it goes.
6 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

A Prelude to WW III ? It Seems There We Are Trailblazing Idiocy into More Blood and Destruction!

They're rolling out the 25th Amendment trying to stop Joe Biden from insanely thrusting the US in a…See More
11 hours ago
Less Prone posted a video

Chris Langan - The Interview THEY Didn't Want You To See - CTMU [Full Version; Timestamps]

DW Description: Chris Langan is known to have the highest IQ in the world, somewhere between 195 and 210. To give you an idea of what this means, the average...
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

RFK Jr. Appoinment Rocks the World of the Federal Health Agncies and The Big Pharma Profits!

The Appointment by Trump as Secretary of HHS has sent shockwaves through the federal government…See More
Tuesday
tjdavis posted a video

Somewhere in California.

Tom Waites and Iggy Pop meet in a midnight diner in Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes.
Tuesday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

1 possible 1

"It's possible, but less likely. said the cat."
Monday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Monday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Monday
Tori Kovach commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

You are wrong, all of you.

"BECAUSE TARIFFS WILL PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKETS!"
Monday
Tori Kovach posted photos
Monday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Whatever Happened?

Whatever Happened?  The unsung heroes will go about their dayRegardless of the welcome they've…See More
Sunday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post A Requiem for the Mass Corruption of the Federal Government
"cheeki kea Nice work! Thank you! "
Sunday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post A Requiem for the Mass Corruption of the Federal Government
"Chin up folks, once the low hanging fruit gets picked off a clearer view will reveal the higher…"
Sunday
Doc Vega's 4 blog posts were featured
Saturday
tjdavis's blog post was featured
Saturday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's blog post Replicon Started in Tokyo October 08, 2024
"Your right LP it's insane for sure and hopefully improbable, keeping an open mind. Checking…"
Saturday
rlionhearted_3 commented on tjdavis's blog post Bill Gates Deleted Documentary
Saturday
rlionhearted_3 commented on tjdavis's blog post Bill Gates Deleted Documentary
"The white dude in the center is Bill Gates!!! "
Saturday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's blog post Bill Gates Deleted Documentary
Nov 15

© 2024   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted