Abuse Photos Blocked

In a dramatic reversal that is already provoking an outcry from the left, President Obama is seeking to block the release of 44 photos depicting detainee abuse. “The most direct consequence of releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger,” he told reporters Wednesday. The Justice Department agreed to release the photos by May 28 as a result of an ACLU lawsuit, but Obama met with his legal team last week to say he wasn’t comfortable with the photos coming out for national security reasons. Obama’s been walking a fine line since releasing Bush-era memos detailing harsh CIA interrogation methods—the right has accused him of endangering national security, while the left thinks he let the torturers off the hook by not pushing for a full-scale investigation.