We do not envy President Obama as he tries to undo George W. Bush’s illegal and shameful detainee policy.

Last week, Mr. Obama faced protests from some of his top generals, and more attacks from Republicans in Congress, as the government got ready to release photographs of soldiers abusing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. Members of both parties decided there was political gold to be mined in complicating the president’s efforts to shut down the Guantánamo Bay prison.

But that does not change the fact that Mr. Obama was wrong when he flip-flopped and decided to resist orders by two federal courts to release the photos. We fear he is showing the same lack of resolve when it comes to Mr. Bush’s kangaroo courts — the tribunals at Guantánamo that Mr. Obama denounced passionately and frequently during the 2008 campaign.

기사제목 :Photographs and Kangaroo Courts:
Published: May 16, 2009 in NY Times