Why'd Obama Switch On Detainee Photos? Maliki Went Ballistic

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Barack Obama found common ground on troop withdrawal when they met in Baghdad. Photo: EPA

From McClatchy:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama reversed his decision to release detainee abuse photos from Iraq and Afghanistan after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki warned that Iraq would erupt into violence and that Iraqis would demand that U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq a year earlier than planned, two U.S. military officers, a senior defense official and a State Department official have told McClatchy.

In the days leading up to a May 28 deadline to release the photos in response to an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit, U.S. officials, led by Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, told Maliki that the administration was preparing to release photos of suspected detainee abuse taken from 2003 to 2006.

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My Comment: The key phrase in this report is the following one:

Maliki said, "Baghdad will burn" if the photos are released, said a second U.S. military official.

And Iraqi PM Maliki is right.