White House takes back promise to release torture photos

The White House said today it was reversing course on its decision to turn over 44 photos depicting alleged torture of detainees abroad by U.S. soldiers.

In a statement the White House said Obama "strongly believes that the release of these photos, particularly at this time, would only serve the purpose of inflaming the theaters of war, jeopardizing US forces, and making our job more difficult in places like Iraq and Afghanistan," The Washington Post reported. 

In April, the Obama administration told a judge it would not oppose an order to release the photos in response to the American Civil Liberty Union’s lawsuit for them. The photos were supposed to come out by May 28.