See no evil

Newsday.com: Government: release of Abu Ghraib prison photos could cause riots

Releasing pictures and videotapes of detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison would aid al-Qaida recruitment, weaken Afghanistan and Iraqi governments and incite riots against U.S. troops, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff says.

The warning by Gen. Richard B. Myers was contained in court papers filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and recently unsealed.

The government submitted additional papers to the court Friday arguing that some information in its arguments that remains redacted should not be made public.

Myers said the release of the pictures "pose a clear and grave risk of inciting violence and riots against American troops and coalition forces."

That risk couldn't have anything to do with the detainee abuse itself, could it? By the logic employed by Myers, evil is not inherently bad -- if the tree falls in the forest and no one hears, it makes no sound. For this administration, evil is a sin only if you get caught.