This came out last night and I attached it to my previous post, but I think it bears some discussion in regards to the whole torture photo release issue. David Axelrod was interviewed by Jim Lehrer. Here is a partial transcript:

JIM LEHRER: Now to our interview with David Axelrod. I spoke with him earlier this evening from the White House Briefing Room.

David Axelrod, welcome.

DAVID AXELROD, senior adviser to President Obama: Thanks, Jim. Good to be with you.

JIM LEHRER: Thank you. On the detainee abuse photos, how does the president's opposition to releasing them, to making them public, square with his positions on transparency and public disclosure?

DAVID AXELROD: Well, Jim, his positions on transparency and public disclosure are strong and well known, but they don't -- they're not without limit.

When he believes that the release of materials may jeopardize the national security, then he's going to make that case. In this case, his concern is that the release of the photos from acts that happened years ago will serve to inflame the situation now and endanger our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. And that's something he's not inclined to do.

JIM LEHRER: And on what is that based? Why does he believe that it will inflame these folks in Iraq and Afghanistan?

DAVID AXELROD: Well, obviously, the photos are provocative. We've seen them, photos like them the past. They've had an inflammatory effect. They were used by our opponents and al-Qaida as propaganda tools and recruiting devices. And so we don't want to go back there again.

JIM LEHRER: Have you seen these photographs, as well as the president?

DAVID AXELROD: I've seen some of the photographs.

JIM LEHRER: You agree that they would be inflammatory?

DAVID AXELROD: Well, I think the president has made the right decision. And his first responsibility is to protect the safety of our troops and to protect the country. He's making the decision on that basis.

My fundamental understanding from the president is that he feels strongly that this would have a deleterious effect on our troops, that it would put them in jeopardy, and he wants to pursue all legal avenues to prevent their release at this time...

JIM LEHRER: Did Vice President Cheney's criticism of President Obama and saying that he's jeopardizing the safety of the country have any influence on this decision of President Obama?

DAVID AXELROD: Absolutely not. Believe me, I've been with the president as he speaks about these issues, and he's got one thing on his mind, which is to make the right decision for the troops, for the country, for our national security. I don't think he's worried about comments from the sidelines by anybody.

JIM LEHRER: For the record, there's no concern among the president and his advisers such as you about what Vice President Cheney's been saying about President Obama?

DAVID AXELROD: I don't have any concerns at all. I mean, the vice president has his own motivations, whatever they may be. He is free to offer his opinions.

But the president has responsibilities, and he's going to discharge those responsibilities through his best judgment, regardless of what the vice president has to say.

JIM LEHRER: On the photos, is the president prepared to take this all the way -- it's now in a federal appeals court. If he loses in that case, is he going to go to the Supreme Court with it?

DAVID AXELROD: Well, let's see what happens, Jim. But my fundamental understanding from the president is that he feels strongly that this would have a deleterious effect on our troops, that it would put them in jeopardy, and he wants to pursue all legal avenues to prevent their release at this time, which is a sensitive time in both Iraq and Afghanistan. So, you know, I expect that he will pursue all legal avenues.

One of the key comments made by Axelrod is his qualifier about releasing the photos "at this time", a statement he makes twice in the interview. The second instance being "to prevent their release at this time, which is a sensitive time in both Iraq and Afghanistan."

Considering the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, and the recent suicide bombings in Irag after what seemed like a period of quiet, is it difficult to imagine that the release of more torture photos right now could contribute to inflaming an already tenuous situation? Is it not Obama's job to take these things into consideration?

I have a hard to believing that the release of more graphic torture images would not be sensationalized by the world media, that they wouldn't be used to ramp up a new wave of Anti-American sentiment, and that our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan wouldn't be the frontline targets for a new backlash.

It seems that there are many here at TPM that just can't imagine the situation, or the anti-American feelings shared by some (or many) in the Muslim world as possibly getting worse. But you know what? It can always get worse.

We are on our way out of Iraq, why add fuel to a fire that has died down. Afghanistan is unraveling, the Taliban is threatening Pakistan, and we are trying to keep the whole the whole thing from disintegrating into complete chaos. Is now the best time to hand out a fresh round of anti-American recruitment posters to the people who are shooting at our troops every day over there right now as you are reading this?

Maybe you're not worried about putting the troops in greater danger, but it is, after all, Obama's job as Comander-in-Chief to be concerned about such things. Is your judgement, based on the information available to you, superior to his, based on the information available to him? 

So what's the problem with not releasing those photos "at this time"? Aren't the photos we've seen enough evidence of widespread corruption and abuse? Aren't 100 photos of torture and a mountain of evidence enough? Does one need to see 1,000 more to really be convinced of the evil and crimes committed under Bush/Cheney?

"But, but, but," you argue, "these photos will be the final push that leads to prosecutions. The others weren't good enough. These are the photos that will really make Americans mad and then they will scream for the heads of Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld. But of course, they won't make anyone else mad, and the notion that this could present a real and present danger to the troops, well, that's just nonsense, the same old cover-up excuse."

Yeah...right.

Update:

Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before Congress yesterday and reiterated the same position:

The United States' attorney general has said he is prepared to go to court to prevent the release of scores of photos reportedly documenting prisoner abuse by US troops. Eric Holder's remarks to US congress on Thursday came a day after Barack Obama, the US president, said he would move to block the court-ordered release of the photos.

Holder told the US house judiciary committee that Obama's reversal of his original decision not to oppose their release was because he feared a backlash against US troops serving in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. "The president consulted with the generals on the ground and made the determination that the release of those photos would endanger our troops," he said.

"The concern was the release of those photos could have a negative impact on the situation both in Iraq and in Afghanistan and I think the president as commander in chief ... thought that the posture he has now put us in was the better one."