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US/UK hiding war crimes by invoking “National Security”

This is the core mindset now prevalent in both the U.S. and UK for hiding their crimes from its own population and then rest of the world: disclosure of what we did will embarrass and shame us, cause anger toward us, and thus harm our 'national security.' As these governments endlessly highlight the bad acts of those who are adverse to them, they vigorously hide their own, thus propagandizing their publics into believing that only They – the Other Tribe Over There – commit such acts.”

This is exactly the same mentality driving the Obama administration’s years-long effort to suppress photographs showing torture of detainees by the U.S. In 2009, Obama said he would comply with a court ruling that ordered those torture photos disclosed, but weeks after his announcement, reversed himself. Adopting the argument made by a group run by Bill Kristol and Liz Cheney against disclosure of the photos, Obama insisted that to release the photos 'would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in danger.' Obama went further and announced his support for a bill sponsored by Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman to amend the Freedom of Information Act – a legislative accomplishment which Rep. Louise Slaughter told me at the time had long been 'sacred' to Democrats – for no reason other than to exempt those torture photos from disclosure.”

No healthy democracy can possibly function where this warped mindset prevails: we are entitled to hide anything we do that makes us look bad because making us look bad harms 'national security,' and we are the ones who make that decision without challenge.”

But even more threatening than the menace to democracy is the propagandzied public this mentality guarantees. A government that is able to hide its own atrocities on 'national security' grounds will be one whose public endlessly focuses on the crimes of others while remaining blissfully unaware of one’s own nation. That is an excellent description of much of the American and British public, and as good an explanation as any why much of their public discourse consists of little more than proclamations that Our Side is Better despite the decades of brutality, aggression and militarism their own side has perpetrated.”

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