President Obama is blocking the release of further detainee abuse photos. Would more images of outrages committed against US detainees inflame sentiment against US troops? No doubt. Would more of such photos add nothing to the national dialog? Well… If you consider that the media is still vacillating on the definition of waterboarding, torturers and the lawyers who sanctioned torture are being exempted from prosecution, and war criminals like Dick Cheney are bragging about their participation, maybe there’s room for more dialog.

Journalist Seymour Hersh has seen the additional photographs. He’s even recounted the videos of young Iraqi boy detainees being raped by their captors. Hersh described that the most haunting aspect were the boys’ screams. Barack Obama doesn’t want the American conscience haunted by any such brutalities.