The group said they showed prisoner abuse went far beyond well-known cases in Iraq and elsewhere."These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread," said Amrit Singh, an ACLU lawyer.No details have been released of what the pictures show.The Pentagon said its policy had always been to treat detainees humanely and the investigations that yielded the photographs showed the U.S. military did not tolerate abuse."What this demonstrates is that we have always been serious about investigating credible allegations of abuse," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.He said more than 400 military personnel had been disciplined for failing to follow detainee policies. Their punishments included prison sentences, bad conduct discharges and demotions, he said.Whitman said the Pentagon decided to release the pictures after courts twice ruled in the ACLU's favor."We felt this case had pretty much run its course," he said. "Legal options at this point had become pretty limited."PENTAGON DEFENDS POLICIESThe Pentagon has long argued that abuse at Abu Ghraib jail outside Baghdad after the 2003 U.S. Republicans say the methods were legal and yielded information that saved lives.King Abdullah of Jordan, one of America's closest allies in the Middle East, said media accounts suggested the United States had engaged in torture but that President Barack Obama was now trying to ensure detainee treatment was legal."What I see .. shows that there were illegal ways ...

of dealing with detainees," Abdullah said in an interview with NBC's "Meet The Press" program to be broadcast on Sunday.Rights activists have strongly criticized Jordan's own human rights record A U.N. investigator said in 2007 that the use of torture by Jordanian security forces was widespread.Gates the Pentagon chief said on Thursday there was a risk al Qaeda could exploit disclosures such as the interrogation memos. But he said it was inevitable that much of the material would end up in the public domain."I think pretending that we could hold all of this and keep it all a secret even if we wanted to ... was probably unrealistic," he told reporters at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina. "So we'll just have to deal with it."Whitman said the Pentagon would release 44 photos already identified in the court battle with the ACLU, along with a substantial number of others A U.S.

defense official said the number of pictures released would be in the hundreds.Some pictures would be redacted to protect the identity of those involved, Whitman said.(Editing by John O'Callaghan) Barack Obama. A little round-up from the local teams...GophersI saw a little action from the recent AAU tournament this past weekend.The main attraction was the 17+ team, the Howard Pulley Panthers.It’s the best traveling AAU team in Minnesota.My friend Kevin has a brother (Michael) that plays for this team.(A little background: Kevin, the oldest brother, became famous for his stifling defense at St. I don’t know if this is always like he acts, but it was noticeable.Everyone else on the team played relatively hard given the fact that they were killing them, but White stood out.I’m interested to see how he plays when Tubby’s watching.I bet his demeanor changes.And it will have to, because Tubby isn’t going to put up with that shit. Overall, the team has good talent and White & Williams have the potential to be game changing college players.The word is that they are good friends and it would be great for the program to get both of them and let Tubby work his magic.TwinsYour Minnesota Twins just took 3 of 4 from the best team in baseball, the Boston Red Sox.They are now 20-17 and leading a balanced Central division.We talked a lot of Twins last week but this weekend series win vs.

the Blue Jays.I deposited my money in the bomb pool, so pay up when it happens. TimberwolvesOne week from today is the NBA draft lottery.The Timberwolves are again in prime position for a high draft pick.No surprise there.They have the third-best position with a 13.8 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick, which if we get, would be historic, since we’re a really shitty organization.We’ve made it past the first round of the playoffs one effing time and yet, we’ve never got the No.  1 pick.Is this the year?History says no.But, it has to happen one of these years or I’m going to start thinking this franchise is cursed.We can go as high as No 1 (unlikely) and as low as No. So, stay tuned to next Tuesday to see where our luck lands...VikingsMay is finally the month that the NFL kind of takes a break, which has been nice.Vikings notes have been minimal at this time.That of course doesn’t stop me from mentioning them on the back end of this column.It’s the Vikings for Christ sake; they are king in this town.Anyways, SI and ESPN have both come out with their power rankings now that the draft is done.SI has the Vikings as the seventh ranked team heading into pre-season and ESPN has them at #12.Too high?Too low?Or just right?Personally, No 7 seems aggressive and No. 12 seems a little low.I would put us at #10, a good round number.With the additions we’ve made (Jared Allen in particular) and assumed maturation of some players (T-Jack), I like the 10th spot for the Purple.That puts us right around the fourth or fifth spot in the NFC.I can live with that.Another quick note- Our schedule came out maybe a month ago and here it is for those that don’t pay attention: Green Bay, Indy, Carolina, Tennessee, New Orleans, Detroit, Chicago, Bye, Houston, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Chicago, Detroit, Arizona, Atlanta and NY Giants.Two things: 1) I should switch that No. 10 ranking, I only see three losses (Indy, Jacksonville, and one of the Green Bay games).2) The coldest place we play is Oct. 19th at Chicago.Everything else is perfect weather.That could be huge.We’re comin, We’re comin... This article is also featured on TK on Toast.