Judge scolds government over Iraq detainee abuse pictures
NEW YORK — A federal judge scolded the government on Wednesday for being overprotective of potentially disturbing images of how the military treated prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and proceeding as if court review of its decisions about the pictures should not exist.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said in a written decision that the government had not explained the criteria it considered in determining that the release of an undetermined number of pictures he had already ordered released would threaten Americans overseas.
The government has said release of the photographs showing abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan could provoke attacks against U.S. military forces or incite anti-U.S. sentiment across the region. It released 198 pictures last year, but hundreds or thousands more are believed to exist.
The judge said the government fell far short of defending its claims, including by failing to explain why the photographs would produce such results. He chastised the government for arguing that judicial review of national security judgments is disallowed.