Back Towards The Locus

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the release of 21 photographs showing prisoner abuse in Iraq. ACLU attorney Amrit Singh has said that:

“These photographs depict abuse at locations other than Abu Ghraib…Their release is to hold government accountable for torture policies and bring an end once and for all to the abuse of prisoners.”

Meanwhile, the Electronic Frontier Foundation are suing Bush, Cheney and the NSA for illegal surveillance:

“In the complaint, the EFF states: “In addition to eavesdropping on or reading specific communications, defendants have indiscriminately intercepted the communications content and obtained the communications records of millions of ordinary Americans as part of the Program authorized by the President.”"

Now, Biden and Obama have suggested that they will investigate possibilities of “genuine crimes“, but this is about as reliable as your Dad’s old Ford in quicksand and so we must also look elsewhere.

• Both the ACLU and the EEF are independent organisations, and they and others like them must be supported in forging independent investigations. The Judges order to Cheney to preserve his records suggests that the Courts may be cooperative in making the wealth of information accessible, and cases can be pursued, even if only to directly challenge narratives and disseminate information.
• Senators need to continue challenging illegalities such as the NSA wiretap and investigations such as the FBI anthrax probe. Direct action – lobbying, protest – would be useful in encouraging these fleeting signs of dissent and, above all, promoting a touch of independent thought in politicians.

Through investigations, and even arrests if we’re lucky buggers, the Bush administration ‘can’ be removed and accountability ‘can’ be had. This requires Obama/Biden to realise that a) that Republican era has been awesomely deceitful as well as incompetent and b) that America can’t move on until it’s bloody well taken stock.