Why In the Hell Isn't Obama Releasing Photos of the Dead Bin Laden?

The Obama administration is hemming and hawing and quite literally stalling its way through pressure to provide evidence of Osama bin Laden's death by publishing the photos of bin Laden's dead body and I would like to know why. Now, let me make this perfectly clear, I have no doubt that bin Laden is dead and was killed exactly how it has been revealed to us. But the fact that Obama is not releasing the photos is very disturbing to me.

Let's review some history here - when Saddam Hussein was captured in Iraq, the U.S. released a video of him immediately upon capture. When Hussein's two sons were killed by U.S. forces, pictures of them were finally released to prove to the Iraqis that they were dead. And when al Qaeda in Iraq's celebrated leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a bombing of his safehouse in Iraq, the photos of his dead body were also released.

But now, with the world's most wanted man now dead, someone that 300 million Americans have been waiting to see killed for 10 years, Obama and his crew are balking.

From the article at CBS News:

With questions already surfacing about whether Osama bin Laden is really dead, the Obama administration on Monday hedged when pressed over whether it would release photographic evidence of the body.

"We are less than 24 hours from the arrival on target of those individuals," White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said. "We have released a tremendous amount of information to date. We are going to continue to look at the information that we have and make sure that we're able to share what we can because we want to make sure that not only the American people but the world understand exactly what happened and the confidence that we have that it was conducted in accordance with the mission design."

"At the same time, we don't want to do anything that's going to compromise our ability to be as successful the next time we get one of these guys and take them off the battlefield," he added.

Brennan said the debate within the administration is over 1) whether to release anything at all and 2) what to release if visual evidence is indeed released. He also suggested the DNA results used to identify bin Laden's body could be released.

"You have to take a look at it from the standpoint of what are the upsides and downsides," he said. "And sometimes when you conduct an operation that is based on intelligence and is based on the very sensitive and very capable forces that we have available to us in the U.S. government, you want to make sure that you're not doing anything to expose something that will limit your ability to use those same intelligence sources and capabilities in the future."

This is complete bullshit. So you release a photo that apparently will show bin Laden shot in the upper left section of his head and part of his skull is blown away....how in the sam hell is that going to compromise the integrity and secrecy of the operation?! I'm not asking for the video of the operation showing the shot that kills bin Laden (although I'd love to post that!) - I just want to see his head blown to bits and see that he ain't smiling as he gains his 72 virgins.

I hate to say it but this whole stalling of releasing the photos of bin Laden's body and his burial at sea reeks of Barack Hussein Obama's reverence for Islam. I, personally, think the President is pulling the strings on this one and doesn't want to inflame the Muslims across the world with a show of triumph by the U.S. And I'm not referring to Obama trying to stop violent response by islamists...I'm referring to the fact that Obama wants this to be seen just as an assassination of a single bad guy in the world and doesn't want any apparent links to Islam.

Well, Mr. Obama, we've waited a decade for justice and vengeance. I demand that I get to see this mutherfucker's blown to bits head. I want to see the entry wound of that bullet in his chest, too. I want to see how this bastard's body was ravaged by the vengeance of a Navy SEAL's rounds. I've seen too many videos this week of Osama bin Laden laughing and smiling over the years - I, and other Americans, deserve to see the horror he experienced those last few seconds on earth. And I want the islamists of this world to see the result of what happens when you fuck with the U.S.A.

Will U.S. release gruesome bin Laden photos?


With questions already surfacing about whether Osama bin Laden is really dead, the Obama administration on Monday hedged when pressed over whether it would release photographic evidence of the body.

"We are less than 24 hours from the arrival on target of those individuals," White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said. "We have released a tremendous amount of information to date. We are going to continue to look at the information that we have and make sure that we're able to share what we can because we want to make sure that not only the American people but the world understand exactly what happened and the confidence that we have that it was conducted in accordance with the mission design."

"At the same time, we don't want to do anything that's going to compromise our ability to be as successful the next time we get one of these guys and take them off the battlefield," he added.

Pressed on whether "releasing a photo or two might avoid conspiracy theories throughout the Muslim world," Brennan responded: "We are going to do everything we can to make sure that nobody has any basis to try to deny that we got Osama bin Laden. And so, therefore, the releasing of information and whether that includes photographs, this is something to be determined."

Brennan said the debate within the administration is over 1) whether to release anything at all and 2) what to release if visual evidence is indeed released. He also suggested the DNA results used to identify bin Laden's body could be released.

"You have to take a look at it from the standpoint of what are the upsides and downsides," he said. "And sometimes when you conduct an operation that is based on intelligence and is based on the very sensitive and very capable forces that we have available to us in the U.S. government, you want to make sure that you're not doing anything to expose something that will limit your ability to use those same intelligence sources and capabilities in the future."

Former senior CIA official Michael Scheuer said on CSPAN Wednesday that he believes the administration "will be forced to put out the pictures" in order to head off conspiracy theories.

Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, said on CNN Monday the administration needs to decide a course of action based on the pictures themselves.

"You have to see the picture to make a judgment whether it's in our interest or not," he said.

Skeptics at home and abroad are already asking for proof that bin Laden has indeed been killed.

"There is not a shred of evidence that Bin Laden has been killed and, of course, the media are not requiring any," one American wrote in an email to CBS News. "...Is it un-patriotic or un-American to ask how, specifically, we know that he's dead?"

In July 2003, the Pentagon released extremely graphic photographs of Saddam Hussein's two sons, Uday and Qusay, after they had been killed - though they had been touched up by a mortician. The release appeared to be an attempt to convince skeptical Iraqis that the two men were indeed dead.

Any photos of bin Laden are expected to be gruesome in light of the fact that officials say he was shot in the face during the raid on his compound. Though officials say he is easily identifiable post-mortem, the nature of his death suggests that may not be the case - potentially degrading their value as evidence of his death.