Needlenose

Remember when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testified before Congress a couple of weeks ago about the Abu Ghraib torture scandal?

In a much-belated burst of candor, he told the panelists, “”There are a lot more photographs and videos that exist … If these are released to the public, obviously it’s going to make matters worse.”

The candor was short-lived, however, as the Pentagon/White House chickened out of releasing the newfound evidence.

Didn’t matter. The Washington Post already has it:

In a collection of hundreds of so-far-unreleased photographs and short digital videos obtained by The Washington Post, U.S. soldiers are shown physically and emotionally abusing detainees last fall in the Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.

The new pictures and videos go beyond the photos previously released to the public in several ways, amplifying the overt violence against detainees and displaying a variety of abusive techniques previously unseen. They show a group of apparently cavalier soldiers assaulting prisoners, forcing detainees to masturbate, and standing over a naked prisoner while holding a shotgun. Some of the videos echo scenes in previously released still photographs — such as the stacking of naked detainees — but the video images render the incidents more vividly.

Also coming soon to a cable news channel near you, I’m sure.