From the AP:

British and American newspapers published photos Friday showing an imprisoned Saddam Hussein clad only in his underwear and washing his laundry, prompting an angry U.S. military to launch an investigation and the Red Cross to say the pictures may violate the Geneva Conventions.

Britain’s The Sun and the New York Post said the photos were provided by a U.S. military official they did not identify. The photos not only angered the U.S. military, which issued a condemnation rare for its immediacy.

President Bush said Friday he did not believe the photos would incite further anti-American sentiment in Iraq, which is edging toward open sectarian conflict.

“I don’t think a photo inspires murderers,” Bush said at the White House. “These people are motivated by a vision of the world that is backward and barbaric.”

He added, “I think the insurgency is inspired by their desire to stop the march of freedom.”

Bush was briefed by senior aides Friday morning about the photos’ existence, and he “strongly supports the aggressive and thorough investigation that is already under way” that seeks to find who took them, White House press spokesman Trent Duffy said.

Well, Newsweek is no doubt ecstatic about this turn of events—should take the heat off of that rag’s dubious journalistic ethics for the time being; but shame on both the Sun and the Post for running with this.  The photo was clearly not released with the blessings of the DoD, and freedom of the press does not mean the press is compelled to print everything it gets its hands on.

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update:  Arianna weighs in.