U.S. will not release photos of Osama bin Laden’s body
Posted May 4, 2011 3:34 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The White House has announced its decision not to release photos of slain al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
In a briefing Wednesday afternoon, press secretary Jay Carney said President Barack Obama consulted with top cabinet and security officials and concluded he did not want the images to be used as propaganda and considers the DNA and facial analysis ample proof.
“We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies,” Carney quoted Obama as saying in an interview earlier in the day with the CBS program 60 Minutes.
“This is somebody deserving of the justice he received, but we don’t need to spike the football.”
Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, agreed that making the photo public could endanger U.S. forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and conspiracy theorists would not be persuaded no matter what the government does.
U.S. officials said Navy SEALs dropped down on ropes from helicopters, killed bin Laden’s aides and pushed their way into the compound’s main building during the Sunday raid.
The mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was killed during the firefight and buried at sea.
“There is no question at all that Osama bin Laden is dead,” Carney told reporters. “He will not walk this Earth again.”
According to a CNN poll, a majority of Americans say the photo should be made public.
With files from The Associated Press
