If you cannot understand how this is a legitimate concern, how releasing the pictures so soon have a great chance to only unite further those who followed bin Laden who otherwise may otherwise sit stunned and hollow, then well. Just.. well. It is a good decision, regardless of what administration calls for it.
.59c Tacos at Taco Time tomorrow .39c Tacos at Del Taco tomorrow $3 Margaritas at Chevys tomorrow Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Who's to say which is the greater title, though? I've been both a Producer and a Consultant. The truth is, neither title is the key to happiness. True happiness must come from within, not from without. Anything outside of you...material possessions, people, titles...can be taken from you and if your happiness is based on it, your happiness will be gone. But happiness that comes from within is there til you die.
http://gawker.com/#!5798497/ex just...d-be-forced-to-release-the-osama-death-photos Ex-Justice Department Official: Obama Could Be Forced to Release the Osama Death Photos But all the agonizing may have been for naught. According to Daniel Metcalfe, the former chief of the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy—a post that effectively made him the government's top expert in the Freedom of Information Act—the odds are better than even that a FOIA lawsuit seeking the photo's release would succeed. "If someone brought a FOIA complaint seeking the photo, and the government had improperly classified it, I think the government would lose," Metcalfe, who supervised the defense of more than 500 FOIA and Privacy Act lawsuits for the U.S., told Gawker. He is now the executive director of the Collaboration on Government Secrecy at American University's Washington College of Law. Under the FOIA, government agencies—but not the White House itself—can be compelled to turn over any document, photo, video, or other record as long as there's no statutory reason for withholding it. Obama faces two obstacles to keeping the bin Laden photos secret: 1) Since it was (presumably) taken by a Navy SEAL working on a joint mission of the CIA and Department of Defense's Joint Special Operations Command, it was originated by a federal agency subject to the FOIA and 2) There doesn't appear to be a good reason under the FOIA not to disclose it. "As far as photos of the corpse go," said Kel McClanahan, the executive director of National Security Counselors, a law firm specializing in litigating secrecy issues, "there's nothing I can reasonably think of that would exempt that, unless someone classified them." The government could conceivably try to deny a FOIA request for the photos based on the statute's privacy exemptions, but that would put it in the awkward position of going to court to protect Osama bin Laden's surviving family members' privacy. So classification is the best bet. Trouble is, you can't simply classify things because you don't want them released. There has to be a reason. And according to Metcalfe, it's hard to imagine a good reason to classify a simple photograph of bin Laden's corpse.
I understand the argument and find it weak. Treating our captors with respect and dignity has done NOTHING to turn swords into plowshares for the extremists who hate us. If K*be Bryant mowed my lawn, cleaned my house and made me dinner, I'd still hate the motherfucker. Why? Because he's a rapist, but worse he's a L*ker, and L*ker hatred is a moral imperative. Now, if I feel that way about a silly sports figure, imagine how they feel about people they think are the Great Satan? Trying to show that we understand and appreciate their issues and that we have deep respect for Wahhabist ideas hasn't worked. It's time to send them a little message: Don't fuck with us. Showing the leader of their movement with half his skull missing is a nice little postcard. If it enrages them, so be it. They already hate us. Perhaps they rush into an action and make a mistake. If it pushes someone over the edge, they were going to get washed over anyway. But that's just the sideshow. The real issue is the government works for us. They're not our mommy or daddy; they don't get to decide what's best for us. We have the freedom to live our own lives and make our own decisions. It's not their right to withhold something that has no classified value. We know he's dead. We can decide whether or not we wish to look at it.
That's not the case anymore Max. The government IS our mommy and daddy. They pay for our food, our medical bills, and our rent. They tell us to wear seat belts, helmets, and not to take drugs. If that doesn't sound like a parent, I don't know what does.
It's not a question of making the people who already hate us begin to like us. They are haters for life. It's a matter of not widening their pool of recruits by fueling the anger that leads to people being receptive targets for organizations like Al Qaeda to recruit. That takes longer, because it's a generational effect, but it's the only type of process that has a chance of working.
The daily gut?!? I haven't clicked on your link yet but if this is some crack on me about eating too many tacos today you might be entirely right.
As Minstrel said, this isn't about showing respect or understanding. Though giving off that idea does take some weight from extremists trying to recruit because it is just another topic they can't sell to potential recruits. There are many ways people grieve/react when a revered figure dies. Some get angry regardless, they're infuriated and wish to seek vengeance. Some though are stunned, in disbelief, don't know how to react. What of all the low level people in AQ? How will they react? Will their allegiance falter with bin Laden gone? There are bound to be people like that, and several potential recruits as well. I'd really rather not incite their anger and unite them by releasing photos of his corpse which is bound to not be pretty in any way. Also, what if bin Laden is wearing a seatbelt in his death picture? Natebishop is bound to go batshit against the government and start a new sleeper cell. No one wants that.
For whatever my 2 cents is worth... I get the sense that this decision is about continuing to build and mend Islamic relations with the US. If you were paying attention to Obama's announcement, he made several points to go out of his way to speak directly to muslims and show them that WE are the good guys. Furthermore, providing an almost proper burial - a sign of respect to the religion and culture - to the world's most hated figure seems like a calculated move as well. These decisions seem to me to be to isolate terrorists, Jihadists and Al Queda members and show the rest of the wold of Islam, that we (the US) recognize that there is a profound difference between the former and latter. I'm no political expert, but it would seem to me that the ultimate solution to peace, harmony, respect and true democracy in the Middle East lies with the support of the masses. Perhaps the decision to release the photos won't turn would-/will-be Jihadists into pro-Americans, the assertions that essentially say "they are who they are and won't change" ring true to me as well, but I don't think this decision is about them. Maybe the decision to withhold the photos was simply to avoid having future Muslim men and women join the Al Queda cause? Every effort to split Islamic radicalists with the majority of the Islamic world - the Middle East versions of all of you and me, will weaken their cause and strengthen ours. If you don't buy that, how about simply playing the "worst-case scenario" game? Worst case scenario of not showing the photos? Conspiracies abound forever, Obama loses the presidency, the terrorists that were already going to be terrorists do their thing, the world keeps turning. Worst Case Scenario of showing the photos? Conspiracy theorists claim the photos are faked, bring up consistencies in the story provided mere minutes after a huge military assault on the other side of the globe, Obama still loses the presidency. The Terrorists that were already going to be terrorists do their thing AND are more effective in recruiting other people who, had they not seen the offensive photo of half of Osama's head, wouldn't have been terrorists, to ALSO become terrorists. The world keeps spinning with more terror in the world. Worst case, yes, however why risk it?
