Politics: Alien and Sedition Acts II

"The Bush administration agreed Tuesday to release dozens of disputed photographs and videos of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib . . . The government's decision ends a nearly two-year legal battle with civil liberties advocates over whether the publication of the material would harm national security."

In a legal filing last summer, Gen. Richard Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, argued that the disclosure of these images would "endanger the lives and physical safety" of U.S. military personnel, aid in the recruitment efforts of insurgent forces, weaken the democratic governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, and "increase the likelihood of violence against United States interests."

This is scary because when I think of national security I think of secret bases, and weapons plans, and the identities of undercover CIA agents. Saying that something can't be published because it will make the US look bad, and that will hurt national security seems to be saying that you can't criticize the US government. And that goes way too far.