Senator Charles Grassley says the photos and videos of a few American soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq should not be released to the public. Grassley is an advocate for openness in government — for example, he’s proposed letting microphones and cameras in federal courts — but not in this instance.Grassley says a lot of the video evidence in the prison abuse case features two military people having consensual sex,and he says that should not be released to the public. Grassley did not go to any of the private meetings where Senators were shown the pictures and video. Grassley says there’s “enough pornography coming from Hollywood” and the federal government shouldn’t be distributing more. Grassley says the attention members of Congress are paying the issue — calling military chiefs in to testify — is detracting from the overall mission in Iraq. Grassley says on the other hand, Congressional oversight is very important because “something is obviously wrong there.” Grassley says the sooner the problems are addressed, the better, even if the process is painful. Grassley says while there have been a few people who violated the Geneva Convention standards for the treatment of prisoners, there are 130-thousand troops who are in Iraq today “doing America proud.” Grassley made his comments on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program.
