Pentagon may have up to 2,000 photographs of prisoner abuse

From Raw Story and by Stephen C. Webster The Pentagon will release for the first time 44 photographs depicting prisoner abuse after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) won a court ruling in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in 2004. A "substantial number of other images" are also being processed for release, the Department of Justice wrote in a letter to a US federal court: according to the Guardian, citing an unnamed official, that "substantial number" could be as many as 2,000 photos. "These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by US personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib," ACLU staff attorney Amrit Singh said in a release. The Iraqi prison at Abu Ghraib became infamous after photographs showing Iraqi detainees being humiliated and abused by their US guards were published in 2004. The latest disclosure "is critical for helping the public understand the scope and scale of prisoner abuse as well as for holding senior officials accountable for authorizing or permitting such abuse," added Singh. "The Pentagon has noted that it investigates all allegations of detainee abuse, and since 2001 has taken more than 400 disciplinary actions against U.S. military personnel found to have been involved in such abuse," reported the Washington Post. "Calling the ACLU push to release the photographs 'prurient' and 'reprehensible,' Dr. Mark M. Lowenthal, former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production, told ABC News that the Obama administration should have taken the case all the way to the Supreme Court," reported ABC News. "They should have fought it all the way; if they lost, they lost," Lowenthal said. "There's nothing to be gained from it. There's no substantive reason why those photos have to be released." The Obama administration released four sensitive memos last week that blew the lid on harsh CIA terror interrogation tactics approved by the Bush administration, including the use of insects, simulated drowning and sleep deprivation. But Obama has said that CIA officers involved in interrogations should not be prosecuted as they had received legal guidance from their superiors. Obama has faced criticism from both ends of the political spectrum, with rights groups demanding prosecution of former Bush administration officials and conservatives charging the move endangered national security.