By LARRY NEUMEISTER,
Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 29, 7:00 PM ET
NEW YORK -
A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of dozens more pictures of prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib' rejecting government arguments that the images would provoke terrorists and incite violence against U.S. troops in Iraq.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said that terrorists "do not need pretexts for their barbarism" and that suppressing the pictures would amount to submitting to blackmail.
"Our nation does not surrender to blackmail, and fear of blackmail is not a legally sufficient argument to prevent us from performing a statutory command. Indeed, the freedoms that we champion are as important to our success in Iraq and
Afghanistan' as the guns and missiles with which our troops are armed," he said.
Hellerstein ordered the release of 74 pictures and three videotapes from the Abu Ghraib prison, potentially opening the military up to more embarrassment from a scandal that stirred outrage around the world last year when photos of 2003 abuse became public.
The photographs covered by Thursday's ruling were taken by a soldier. A military policeman who saw them turned them over to the Army. Some may be duplicates of photos already seen by the public.
An appeal of Hellerstein's ruling is expected, which could delay release of the pictures for months.
Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. Central Command, said Thursday that releasing the photos would hinder his work against terrorism.
"When we continue to pick at the wound and show the pictures over and over again it just creates the image — a false image — like this is the sort of stuff that is happening anew, and it's not," Abizaid said.
The American Civil Liberties Union' sought release of the photographs and videotapes as part of an October 2003 lawsuit demanding information on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody and the transfer of prisoners to countries known to use torture. The ACLU contends that prisoner abuse is systemic.
"It's a historic ruling, said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. "While no one wants to see what's on the photos or videos, they will play an essential role in holding our government leaders accountable for the torture that's happened on their watch."
The government argued that America's enemies might exploit the pictures for propaganda purposes by saying the photos represent the attitudes of all Americans toward the Iraqi people.
The judge acknowledged such a risk but said "the education and debate that such publicity will foster will strengthen our purpose, and, by enabling such deficiencies as may be perceived to be debated and corrected, show our strength as a vibrant and functioning democracy to be emulated."
Bridget F. Kelly, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, said her office was reviewing the ruling and considering its options.
Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had argued in court papers that releasing the photographs would aid al-Qaida recruitment, weaken the Afghan and Iraqi governments and incite riots against American troops.
But the judge said: "My task is not to defer to our worst fears, but to interpret and apply the law, in this case, the Freedom of Information Act, which advances values important to our society, transparency and accountability in government."
The ACLU had sought the release of 87 photographs and four videotapes altogether. The judge viewed the pictures and videotapes and ordered some of them edited. Romero said those images apparently contained so many redactions that they would have been unintelligible.
The judge said the pictures were important because they were the best evidence of what happened and because they "initiate debate, not only about the improper and unlawful conduct of American soldiers, `rogue' soldiers, as they have been characterized, but also about other important questions as well."'
Associated Press Writer <<-- click to see original article Countess
Friday, September 30, 2005
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Life Through the Spirit
Romans 8:1-17
1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2. because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
3. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
4. in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
7. the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
8. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
10. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
12. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
13. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,
14. because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
16. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
17. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:1-17
(New International Version)
Christian Bible
Countess
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Sin, Confession and Redemption
Isaiah 59
1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.
9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God,
fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along.
20 "The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD.
21 "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the LORD.
Isaiah 59
(New International Version)
Christian Bible
Countess
1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.
9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God,
fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along.
20 "The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD.
21 "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the LORD.
Isaiah 59
(New International Version)
Christian Bible
Countess
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