Obama says he will not release Bin Laden pictures

[News_Editor]

Obama says he will not release Bin Laden pictures

2011-05-05 00:23:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he will not release pictures taken of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after his death.

Obama made the remarks during an interview with CBS News.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-05

[News_Editor]

Obama says he will not release Bin Laden photos

2011-05-05 00:41:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he will not release photos taken of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after his death.

Obama made the remarks during an interview with CBS News, the network said, giving no further details about his comments. The interview is scheduled to air on Sunday.

Bin Laden was killed on Sunday during a secret U.S. mission at a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. Some officials have called on the White House to release the photos, while others argued against it.

Earlier on Wednesday, Sky News cited a U.S. official as saying that the photos of Bin Laden were taken in a hangar and show a part of his skull as well as one of his eyes is missing.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers on Wednesday also voiced his opposition against releasing the photos. "I don't want to make the job of our troops serving in places like Iraq and Afghanistan any harder than it already is," he said. "The risks of release outweigh the benefits."

Rogers said there is a 'real risk' that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway," he said.

Rogers added: "Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaida killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet. Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaida has been eliminated."

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-05

[BuckarooBanzai]

IMHO that is the right choice. There is nothing to gained by releasing these pictures. They would only serve as fuel for the nut cases.

[flying]

IMHO that is the right choice. There is nothing to gained by releasing these pictures. They would only serve as fuel for the nut cases.

While that may have been true with the pictures which they did not release of the detainees at Guantanamo bay....in this case they cannot release that which they do not have. :jap:

Edited May 4, 2011 by flying

[dananderson]

I do want the military,already in harms way, to be the subject of anything inflamatory effectivly stirring the hornets nest by the release of these photos. I definatly do not want the photos realesd for that very reason. The conspiracy theorists have been effectivly marginilzed. Way more downside than upside as to the gory photos being released.imho

[Ulysses G.]

They could easily come up with fake photos if they wanted to - the US government. I could care less as the conspiracy "community" will not be satisfied either way .

It would be interesting to see the footage of the mission and assassination however.

[PhilHarries]

IMHO that is the right choice. There is nothing to gained by releasing these pictures. They would only serve as fuel for the nut cases.

Would that be the rag'ead nut cases or the conspiracy theory nut cases? The difference is one lot are dangerous, the others just amusingly irritating.

[geriatrickid]

President Obama acted in the best interests of the USA when he he said no. His position is based upon nation security needs, American values and down right decency. There can be no better way to differentiate between the savages that post beheadings of hostages and the USA.

It was heartening to see responsible Republicans agree with the position. When the Republicans with a knowledge of national security reasons (e.g. Senators McCain and Hutchinson) or Congressman Rogers, chairman of the House committee on Intelligence are on the same page, people should listen. Secretaries Gates and Clinton were against the release of photos too.

If some people have a need to look at the picture of a dead corpse with its brain exposed and an eye hanging out, then that speaks to their mental health issues and not a need for information. Responsible elected and public service officials have seen the documents and that should suffice. A release of the photos will only inflame muslim sensitivities. It's time to move on and hunt down the other terrorists that will be identified from the cds, hard drives and info stix seized in the raid.

There will always be some mentally ill people that will invent conspiracies or deny the event. Let them. Osama, won't be be walking around anymore. He's dead.

[Ulysses G.]

There will always be some mentally ill people that will invent conspiracies or deny the event.

And raving about it on the Internet.

[canuckamuck]

I do not think that giving evidence of the death would be nearly as inflammatory as causing the death of Bin Laden. The war started long ago and this is just a piece of it.

I believe presenting the evidence is the decent thing to do. Nobody takes a world leader at his word, especially not an American president. Politicians get to the top by manipulating the truth.

As far as I am concerned, they still have to prove he is dead.

Now we will have to go through another decade of Bin laden mythology, and probably dozens of Bin Laden hoaxes. In fact a decent impersonation of Bin Laden will be all it would take to rally Al Qaeda and continue as if this never happened.

[BuckarooBanzai]

I do not think that giving evidence of the death would be nearly as inflammatory as causing the death of Bin Laden. The war started long ago and this is just a piece of it.

I believe presenting the evidence is the decent thing to do. Nobody takes a world leader at his word, especially not an American president. Politicians get to the top by manipulating the truth.

As far as I am concerned, they still have to prove he is dead.

Now we will have to go through another decade of Bin laden mythology, and probably dozens of Bin Laden hoaxes. In fact a decent impersonation of Bin Laden will be all it would take to rally Al Qaeda and continue as if this never happened.

We will go through that anyway as the content of your post already suggests. Nobody would trust what was provided, Catch 22. The game is not worth playing.

[whybother]

People who don't believe that bin Laden is dead will not believe photos showing that he is dead. So there is no point releasing any photos.

Edited May 5, 2011 by whybother

[Ulysses G.]

People who don't believe that bin Laden is dead will not believe photos showing that he is dead. So there is no point releasing any photos.

I have to agree, but I do not mind if they do anyway.

[Tolley]

President Obama acted in the best interests of the USA when he he said no. His position is based upon nation security needs, American values and down right decency. There can be no better way to differentiate between the savages that post beheadings of hostages and the USA.

It was heartening to see responsible Republicans agree with the position. When the Republicans with a knowledge of national security reasons (e.g. Senators McCain and Hutchinson) or Congressman Rogers, chairman of the House committee on Intelligence are on the same page, people should listen. Secretaries Gates and Clinton were against the release of photos too.

If some people have a need to look at the picture of a dead corpse with its brain exposed and an eye hanging out, then that speaks to their mental health issues and not a need for information. Responsible elected and public service officials have seen the documents and that should suffice. A release of the photos will only inflame muslim sensitivities. It's time to move on and hunt down the other terrorists that will be identified from the cds, hard drives and info stix seized in the raid.

There will always be some mentally ill people that will invent conspiracies or deny the event. Let them. Osama, won't be be walking around anymore. He's dead.

The US is not coming out of this smelling like roses.

After all they effectively assassinated Bin Laden when he could have easily been taken alive.

And of course footage of many in the US yahooing and celebrating Bin Laden's death like a football victory hardly seem like the appropriate response to his death.

[Ulysses G.]

And of course footage of many in the US yahooing and celebrating Bin Laden's death like a football victory hardly seem like the appropriate response to his death.

He was a mass murderer who would have kept on killing. Removing him from the planet is a lot more important than any football victory.

[Steely Dan]

The US is not coming out of this smelling like roses.

After all they effectively assassinated Bin Laden when he could have easily been taken alive.

And of course footage of many in the US yahooing and celebrating Bin Laden's death like a football victory hardly seem like the appropriate response to his death.

I think when the dust settles it may well emerge that Bin Laden was unarmed when he was killed, but frankly I don't care. As for people celebrating Bin Laden's death, cast your mind back to 9/11 when groups of people in Gaza were dancing on the rooftops celebrating the deaths of nearly 3,000 innocent people. You give football celebrations as an analogy, well frankly there is some truth in that, this is a clash of civilisations, though that word should be used in the loosest sense for the Islamic fundamentalists on the opposing 'team'. War, unlike football does not have a referree so there's no point screaming for an offside flag if you don't like the tactics used by your opponents, that's the unpalatable truth of the matter.

[BuckarooBanzai]

Against my better judgment:

http://www.reuters.com/subjects/bin-laden-compound

[geriatrickid]

The US is not coming out of this smelling like roses.

After all they effectively assassinated Bin Laden when he could have easily been taken alive.

And of course footage of many in the US yahooing and celebrating Bin Laden's death like a football victory hardly seem like the appropriate response to his death.

You base your opinion on the early reports. If you wish to accept those excerpts then you also have to accept the complete debriefing reports, particularly the claim that a long arm and a pistol were found in close proximity to Bin Laden. In the dark, would you have been able to determine if a guy coming at you was armed? Do you think Osama was rushing over to welcome the infidel intruders? If the Seals could have taken him alive they would have, but I don't think it is fair to have expected anyone to hesitate in such a situation. Osama was a sworn enemy and he died as people like him do.

The refusal of the US government to release gory photos is intended to get away from the celebatory expressions. I can't blame folks for being happy since Osama tried to kill them. I'd be happy too if the guy that swore to kill me ended up dead too.

The key US elected officials, Republicn & Democrats inlcuded have seen the photos and that's good enough for me.

Edited May 5, 2011 by geriatrickid

[trisailer]

I agree with the decision to not release the photos. I personally think it's sick and disrespectful of human life to show photos of dead people. Any dead people. Whatever closure the victims need will not come from seeing the result of more violence. It is perfectly human to want revenge and cause suffering to those who cause suffering to us, but we have laws aimed at balancing our human passions. If we claim to be civilized it seems to me we should be held to a higher standard. There are enough people in positions of trust who have seen the photos that there is no need to make them a political football.

Having said that, there is no doubt that they will come out eventually. I'm sure there are lawyers at this very moment preparing a case that will eventually decided by the courts.

I think that the west has to take some responsibility for the current level of violence in the middle east. If we only focus on the fact that these people want to kill us without recognizing the "why" than we will be locked into killing them all. This approach is stupid IMO because we are generating hate at a much faster pace than we can extinguish. Let's admit it; we are a violent society. We are addicted to it. We are a sick society. 911 happened because the CIA was asleep at the wheel and the orgainizations charged with protecting America failed us. Nobody got fired, the policy that produced all this violence was stepped up and the result is more violence, endless violence.

It begs the question, will we have to live forever with this violence? It is not going to go away. OBL told his operatives to forget about big attacks after 911, he said they can create more terror by turning the propane on in peoples homes. It will never stop until the violence stops and it's just a matter of time until they get their hands on a dirty bomb or even a nuke. The intelligence agencies have already demonstrated their incompitence. Why would I trust them?

We have met the enemy and he is us.

[Robby nz]

Rogers added: "Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaida killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet. Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaida has been eliminated."

Well Obama and the US certainly acted like he was a trophy when they announced his death to the world.

Got news for you Mr Rogers, I cant see Al Qaida ever being eliminated, they are not all in one place but spread throught the world and dont wear a uniform to show what they are.

The death of OBL and the murder of Gaddafis grandchildren the previous day will only inflame the hate and desire for revenge of radical islam.

Live by the bomb die by the bomb.

Now theres a thought; in spite of all the security how many US presidents have been shot?

[markg]

You give football celebrations as an analogy, well frankly there is some truth in that, this is a clash of civilisations, though that word should be used in the loosest sense for the Islamic fundamentalists on the opposing 'team'. War, unlike football does not have a referree so there's no point screaming for an offside flag if you don't like the tactics used by your opponents, that's the unpalatable truth of the matter.

Actually, war DOES have a referee. It's called the Geneva convention. You can have a look at some of it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions

Grave breaches of the convention are listed here as;

Not all violations of the treaty are treated equally. The most serious crimes are termed grave breaches, and provide a legal definition of a war crime. Grave breaches of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions include the following acts if committed against a person protected by the convention:

* willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment, including biological experiments

* willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health

* compelling someone to serve in the forces of a hostile power

* willfully depriving someone of the right to a fair trial

Willful killing..............?

I personally think it was a mistake to go after him. I remain unconvinced he played a major part in 9/11 (not listed by the FBI as wanted for it....) and i remain unconvinced he continued wielding power within Al Queda. He was reportedly very sick. It might have been better to let him die naturally. I think it was also an extremely crass and immature move to let the mainstream media whip up national fervour by beaming images of whooping Americans at ground zero. So what if they do it in Gaza, we're supposed to be setting the civilised example!! I understand the rationale for burying him at sea, if reports are true that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia refused to take the body. I also think that on balance, Obama made the right choice in not releasing the photos. The conspiracy theorists won't believe them anyway and i think the releasing of pictures of the dead, for public analysis or titillation or just plain morbid curiosity, is unpleasant. The US is damned if they do and damned if they don't on this one. It might have been better to let sleeping dogs lie.

[OzMick]

President Obama acted in the best interests of the USA when he he said no. His position is based upon nation security needs, American values and down right decency. There can be no better way to differentiate between the savages that post beheadings of hostages and the USA.

It was heartening to see responsible Republicans agree with the position. When the Republicans with a knowledge of national security reasons (e.g. Senators McCain and Hutchinson) or Congressman Rogers, chairman of the House committee on Intelligence are on the same page, people should listen. Secretaries Gates and Clinton were against the release of photos too.

If some people have a need to look at the picture of a dead corpse with its brain exposed and an eye hanging out, then that speaks to their mental health issues and not a need for information. Responsible elected and public service officials have seen the documents and that should suffice. A release of the photos will only inflame muslim sensitivities. It's time to move on and hunt down the other terrorists that will be identified from the cds, hard drives and info stix seized in the raid.

There will always be some mentally ill people that will invent conspiracies or deny the event. Let them. Osama, won't be be walking around anymore. He's dead.

The US is not coming out of this smelling like roses.

After all they effectively assassinated Bin Laden when he could have easily been taken alive.

And of course footage of many in the US yahooing and celebrating Bin Laden's death like a football victory hardly seem like the appropriate response to his death.

"..............he could have easily been taken alive." Are you saying that this man was such a hypocrite that he would send hundreds of muslim martyrs to their death, but would meekly surrender himself to the servants of Satan?

You say the response of the american public was inappropriate. What would you consider to be an appropriate response?

[markg]

Violence spirals into ever decreasing circles of violence. Now someone will avenge the death of bin Laden. Then the US and/or her allies will avenge that, and we continue spiraling on, out of control. Had anyone considered WHY the Twin Towers were attacked? They didn't do it because they were bored one Sunday.

I'm reminded of the Good Friday agreement. To try to end the spiraling of violence, both sides stood up and said ENOUGH! Enough of killing, revenge, killing again, more revenge. ENOUGH! It doesn't work. There must be another way. And there was. And after 80 years of 'live by the bomb, die by the bomb' they stopped. And there is peace. And isn't that a much nicer way to live our lives?

[QED]

There was a picture of his dead body on the front page of one of the Thai newspapers on Tuesday. Sorry don't know the name of the paper and can't find it online, one of my staff showed it to me when we went out to lunch....

[Boatman]

Al Quaida is not a powerful organization anymore. Anyone notice the retaliation for BL's death? Exactly.....

The only reason 9-11 happened is because we (westerners) were too lax in our security. Isreal has been locking the door to the airline pilot's cabin for at least two decades. It doesn't get any easier than that to prevent this whole episode.

EVERY email that gets sent in the civilized world is routed through gov't computers now. Don't believe it? Just as a joke, email a friend and say you figured out how to get a bomb on an airliner. I guarantee someone will pay you a visit if you live in USA. They (muslim terrorists) have been marginalized to the point of insignificance.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Boatman

[chuckd]

It's a miracle how perceptions change from day to day in Washington.

______________________________________________________

Barack Obama to release up to 2,000 photographs of prisoner abuse

President Barack Obama is to release up to 2,000 photographs of alleged abuse at American prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan in a move which will reignite the scandal surrounding Abu Ghraib prison in 2004.

Article here... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/5215068/Barack-Obama-to-release-up-to-2000-photographs-of-prisoner-abuse.html

_______________________________________________________

U.S. lifts photo ban on military coffins

By Elisabeth Bumiller

Published: Monday, December 7, 2009

WASHINGTON — In a reversal of an 18-year-old military policy that critics said was hiding the ultimate cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the news media will now be allowed to photograph the flag-draped coffins of America's war dead as their bodies are returned to the United States, but only if the families of the dead agree.

The decision, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday, lifts a 1991 blanket ban on such photographs put in place under President George Bush. It chiefly affects coffins arriving from Iraq and Afghanistan that go through Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/americas/27iht-photos.1.20479953.html

[Boatman]

There was a picture of his dead body on the front page of one of the Thai newspapers on Tuesday. Sorry don't know the name of the paper and can't find it online, one of my staff showed it to me when we went out to lunch....

Those pictures are FAKES !

[markg]

Al Quaida is not a powerful organization anymore. Anyone notice the retaliation for BL's death? Exactly.....

The only reason 9-11 happened is because we (westerners) were too lax in our security. Isreal has been locking the door to the airline pilot's cabin for at least two decades. It doesn't get any easier than that to prevent this whole episode.

EVERY email that gets sent in the civilized world is routed through gov't computers now. Don't believe it? Just as a joke, email a friend and say you figured out how to get a bomb on an airliner. I guarantee someone will pay you a visit if you live in USA. They have been marginalized to the point of insignificance.

I didn't ask HOW 9/11 happened, I asked people to think WHY 9/11 happened. It happened as revenge. So we take revenge against them (in the name of God and justice ! ) and then they will take revenge on us..........and we will continue in a spiral of violence, killing and revenge ad infinitum. Maybe there hasn't been revenge for BL's death because they are broken, or maybe they are planning something huge. Who knows. I do know that whilst Obama was saying the world just got a whole load safer, the US State department issued a warning to all US citizens abroad to be aware of a 'possible escalation of violence' towards them. No shizzle !! Did the world just get safer? Can i now take fluids in my hand luggage when i fly? Nah.........the world just got a whole load nastier.

What was it Einstein said? There are two infinites in life. The universe and mans' stupidity. And i'm not sure about the universe.

[OzMick]

You give football celebrations as an analogy, well frankly there is some truth in that, this is a clash of civilisations, though that word should be used in the loosest sense for the Islamic fundamentalists on the opposing 'team'. War, unlike football does not have a referree so there's no point screaming for an offside flag if you don't like the tactics used by your opponents, that's the unpalatable truth of the matter.

Actually, war DOES have a referee. It's called the Geneva convention. You can have a look at some of it here http://en.wikipedia....eva_Conventions

Grave breaches of the convention are listed here as;

Not all violations of the treaty are treated equally. The most serious crimes are termed grave breaches, and provide a legal definition of a war crime. Grave breaches of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions include the following acts if committed against a person protected by the convention:

* willful killing, torture or inhumane treatment, including biological experiments

* willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health

* compelling someone to serve in the forces of a hostile power

* willfully depriving someone of the right to a fair trial

Willful killing..............?

I personally think it was a mistake to go after him. I remain unconvinced he played a major part in 9/11 (not listed by the FBI as wanted for it....) and i remain unconvinced he continued wielding power within Al Queda. He was reportedly very sick. It might have been better to let him die naturally. I think it was also an extremely crass and immature move to let the mainstream media whip up national fervour by beaming images of whooping Americans at ground zero. So what if they do it in Gaza, we're supposed to be setting the civilised example!! I understand the rationale for burying him at sea, if reports are true that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia refused to take the body. I also think that on balance, Obama made the right choice in not releasing the photos. The conspiracy theorists won't believe them anyway and i think the releasing of pictures of the dead, for public analysis or titillation or just plain morbid curiosity, is unpleasant. The US is damned if they do and damned if they don't on this one. It might have been better to let sleeping dogs lie.

The Geneva convention protocols do not apply to non-state combatants, and Al-quaeda have committed many acts in contravention of the protocols which negates any claim they may make to their application.

IMHO the western states are in a low-speed religious war with terrorism eroding the liberties that we enjoy, and immigration with rapid breeding as invasion. Western govts go to great lengths not to offend the enemy, who are the most easily offended and yet the most offensive people on this planet. It would be better to use their ignorance and belief in myth against them, drive them into a frenzy so that they will break from cover to be shot down like rabid dogs. a good start would have been to feed OBL's body to pigs, tape it, and broadcast to every TV capable of receiving it.

[thaipak]

I agree with the decision to not release the photos. I personally think it's sick and disrespectful of human life to show photos of dead people. Any dead people. Whatever closure the victims need will not come from seeing the result of more violence. It is perfectly human to want revenge and cause suffering to those who cause suffering to us, but we have laws aimed at balancing our human passions. If we claim to be civilized it seems to me we should be held to a higher standard. There are enough people in positions of trust who have seen the photos that there is no need to make them a political football.

Having said that, there is no doubt that they will come out eventually. I'm sure there are lawyers at this very moment preparing a case that will eventually decided by the courts.

I think that the west has to take some responsibility for the current level of violence in the middle east. If we only focus on the fact that these people want to kill us without recognizing the "why" than we will be locked into killing them all. This approach is stupid IMO because we are generating hate at a much faster pace than we can extinguish. Let's admit it; we are a violent society. We are addicted to it. We are a sick society. 911 happened because the CIA was asleep at the wheel and the orgainizations charged with protecting America failed us. Nobody got fired, the policy that produced all this violence was stepped up and the result is more violence, endless violence.

It begs the question, will we have to live forever with this violence? It is not going to go away. OBL told his operatives to forget about big attacks after 911, he said they can create more terror by turning the propane on in peoples homes. It will never stop until the violence stops and it's just a matter of time until they get their hands on a dirty bomb or even a nuke. The intelligence agencies have already demonstrated their incompitence. Why would I trust them?

We have met the enemy and he is us.

I agree to what is said here, but my point is will the world be a safer place after OBL death. How many people alone have been dead in Pakistan just because Inter Services Inteligence and CIA have been using their respective governments to their advantage. I lost a friend in Pakistan in a suside bomb who had nothing to do these things. How long we will keep on paying in blood.

John Penta the CIA chief said other day it was incompetence or negligence of ISI (Pak Spy Agency) that it failed to detect the presence of Osama who was hiding next door to Pakistan Military Academy. In other words he implies that probably ISI was hiding OBL. My question is if that is the case should we think that CIA was either incompetent or part of 9/11 as many theories so far have come up. No one so far believes that people like Osama or Mullah Omer can execute such highly profiled opeartion specially in USA. Also why still Shiek Saeed the alleged master mind of 9/11 kept at Guantanmo Bay has not been brought to justice, what is stopping this Oxford Trained Economist and ex-M16 spy being put to trial.