Justice asks high court to block release of photos

Justice asks high court to block release of photos

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to block the release of disturbing pictures of detainee abuse on grounds their disclosure could incite violence in Afghanistan and Iraq and endanger U.S. troops there.

The administration took the issue to the high court after President Barack Obama in May reversed a decision to stop fighting the release of the photographs.

They were ordered released as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Bush administration had also fought their release, and lost.

The 21 color photographs were taken by service members in Iraq and Afghanistan and were part of criminal investigations of alleged abuse. Some pictures show "soldiers pointing pistols or rifles at the heads of hooded and handcuffed detainees," Solicitor General Elena Kagan said in her filing with the high court.

In one picture, "a soldier holds a broom as if 'sticking its end into the rectum of a restrained detainee,'" Kagan said, quoting from an investigation report prepared by the Pentagon. Two investigations led to criminal charges and convictions, she said.

Kagan said the military has identified more than two dozen additional pictures that could be affected by the court's ruling.

The most likely outcome of the release of the pictures "would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger," Obama said in May, an argument reflected in Friday's filing.

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