Taguba denies he's seen abuse photos suppressed by Obama

[Pirate Smile]

Source: Salon

Taguba denies he's seen abuse photos suppressed by Obama
The general told a U.K. paper about images he saw investigating Abu Ghraib -- not photos Obama wants kept secret.

By Mark Benjamin

May 30, 2009 | Retired Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba denied reports that he has seen the prisoner-abuse photos that President Obama is fighting to keep secret, in an exclusive interview with Salon Friday night.

On Thursday an article in the Daily Telegraph reported that Taguba, the lead investigator into Abu Ghraib abuse, had seen images Obama wanted suppressed, and supported the president's decision to fight their release. The paper quoted Taguba as saying, "These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency."

But Taguba says he wasn't talking about the 44 photographs that are the subject of an ongoing ACLU lawsuit that Obama is fighting.

"The photographs in that lawsuit, I have not seen," Taguba told Salon Friday night. The actual quote in the Telegraph was accurate, Taguba said -- but he was referring to the hundreds of images he reviewed as an investigator of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq -- not the photos of abuse that Obama is seeking to suppress.

"The photographs in that lawsuit, I have not seen," Taguba told Salon Friday night. The actual quote in the Telegraph was accurate, Taguba said -- but he was referring to the hundreds of images he reviewed as an investigator of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq -- not the photos of abuse that Obama is seeking to suppress.



Read more: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/05/30/taguba/

[girl gone mad]

1. So the Telegraph was correct and Gibbs owes them an apology?

[Patsy Stone]

4. If I read this correctly,

the Telegraph said he saw the ones in the lawsuit, and he says in this article he hasn't seen those; so I don't think the Telegraph was accurate about which ones he saw, although they were correct that he has seen photos during his investigation.

Confusing, much?

What I don't have the answer to, and maybe someone will tell me, is whether Obama also wants to suppress the thousands of remaining photos.

Either way, the photos, all of them, should be released. Although I was on the fence about it, and I understand there is a real danger to US soldiers in the field, I choose to err on the side of complete transparency.

on edit: I found the answers to my questions here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5743957 (Thanks, Solly Mack!)

[No Elephants]

6. That story definitely was intended to convey the impression that Taguba was talking about the

photos that Obama is trying to keep secret. So, no, I don't think Gibbs owes any apology.

[Solly Mack]

2. I figured as much!

He was either talking about the additional 2000 photos OR...and this is likely...the remaining Abu Ghraib photos from his report that might not be a part of the additional 2000.

And, of course, the 2000 additional photos could include the remaining Abu Ghraib photos which has been suggested.

[PainPerdu]

3. Parsing pix

Hmmmh....I wonder if there are images and photos of torture perpetrated on the "torture ships"?

I haven't heard anyone address THAT distinct possibility..er...probability.....

[SpartanDem]

5. And the plot thickens