"At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee. "Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube."That's our tax dollars at work. And that is one reason why the Obama administration must release the photos: In this so-called democratic republic, We The People have a right to know how our intelligence agents and military personnel are treating their detainees. Those intelligence agents and military personnel are technically our employees, after all. And detainee abuse is no "state secret". But the accountability shouldn't stop at the domestic front. The Obama administration should release the photos to demonstrate to the world that the Bush-Cheney culture of secrecy has ended. Otherwise, the world will continue to wonder what we're hiding, and why. And that can only make things worse. That could be what incites much more anti-American violence. Obama campaigned on a promise to repair this nation's reputation in the world. In order to do that, we must own up to what happened, apologize to the world for it, and enforce strict policies against repeating our mistakes going forward. And we must fully investigate the torture issue. All those responsible must be held accountable, not just Lynndie England and her peers who were simply having too much fun following the misguided orders they were given. Until we do so, the world will continue to view us with suspicion and distrust. And deservedly so.