Yesterday, among the mud flinging and fist clenching outrage over Sonia Sotomayor, a few interesting stories seem to have gone under the radar. AP reports that "President Barack Obama on Wednesday ordered a review of how the nation keeps and classifies its secrets and instructed his top administration officials to lean toward disclosure when they can."

He wants more transparency. In a memo released from the white house he said: This is an important move. The previous Administration sought to keep everything secret, regardless of the information. I believe it was because they were breaking laws faster than they could find them, but hey - that's just me. With this Administration , however, we have already seen the release of memos that many have been asking for for years. They were not very pretty, but it was an important move to help understand what was done in our name. More information will be coming.

The other very important issue is that the President has also made clear - as he did throughout his campaign and after taking the office - was that no information will be released if it endangers national security. It seems to me as though he is attempting to strike a balance between these 2 very important things.

I have stated here on this blog that I tentatively and gingerly support President Obama regarding the decision to not release the newest set of torture photos. I understood my many progressive friends who claimed that he was not being as transparent as he said he would. I still understand, but - I cannot stress this enough - Obama is not Bush. The motives are not the same, despite what I am starting to hear from all sides of the aisle. Anyone who saw those first pictures may have had the feeling that the ones that were not released had to be worse. Since the first Abu Ghraib photos were first leaked, we have learned that far worse things that were done in our names. The President made it clear that he will protect our national security, which also - imo - includes the safety of our troops abroad.

Well, the pictures ARE worse than we thought. According to Reuters: The original Telegraph article is here. It's very graphic.

I am sure that these pictures will be leaked. I still stand by my feelings that I do not need to see them. It isn't because I believe in denial, it is because I believe that by withholding the images, and instead releasing information, (ie: memos and reports) this government can strike a balance between being transparent and protecting our national security. With Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder heading up this panel, (whom I have confidence in, so far) as well as other department heads helping to decide what should be released and what should not, we are getting there, slowly and surely. The president has asked for oversight from Congress. I say bring the lawsuits and push for as much information as possible to come out, but I do believe that if it really does put people - Americans - in harms way, perhaps we should wait. That is a conundrum, because I don't believe in blindly trusting any government - even our own. It was the previous administration and their actions that put our national security at risk through torture, lies and mistruths.

While we as a Nation need transparency, we also need security. Things were so muddled up in the past it is going to take a while to find that balance.

:peace: and
Raine