The Obama administration has petitioned the US Supreme Court to overturn a District Court order mandating disclosure of detainee abuse photos, alleging that this could lead to further violence in Iraq and Afghanistan that would endanger US civil and military personnel.
According to the US government, Exemption 7(F) of the Freedom of Information Act is applicable under the current circumstances of the case. Says the Obama administration:
The court of appeals’ view that Congress intended to require disclosure when a death or multiple deaths could reasonably be expected to result if the particular victims could not be sufficiently identified in advance disregards Exemption 7(F)’s fundamental concern with human life and safety and misapprehends the practical balance that Congress struck in that exemption.
The photos are now part of the records of the Department of Defence and the Department of the Army.
The report quotes Director of the American Civil Liberties Union National Security Project Jameel Jaffer, who referred to the Obama administration’s position as disappointing since the administration previously had agreed to carry out the court order.
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Anyone would be an utter and complete dumkoff to believe any words that proceed out of his mouth.