Posted on 05/04/2011 11:52:52 AM PDT by NoLibZone
In an interview with Steve Kroft for this Sunday's "60 Minutes," President Obama says he won't release post-mortem images of Osama bin Laden taken to prove his death.
"We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Mr. Obama said.
The president told Kroft he saw the photos and knew that bin Laden had been killed.
"We discussed this internally," he said. "Keep in mind, we are absolutely certain that this was him. We've done DNA sampling and testing. And so there is no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden."
"We don't need to spike the football...given the graphic nature of the photo it would create national security risk," added the president.
Video of the comments will appear on the CBS "Evening News" on Wednesday.
Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Wednesday that the Obama administration should not release the gruesome post-mortem images, saying it could complicate the job for American troops overseas. Rogers told CBS News he has seen a post-mortem photo.
"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," Rogers said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."
"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet," Rogers continued. "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."
Osama bin Laden had cash, phone numbers sewn in clothes
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Cables: U.S. near bin Laden in '08, didn't know it President Obama in the Situation Room
President Barack Obama delivers a statement in the East Room of the White House on the mission against Osama bin Laden, May 1, 2011. (Credit: White House/Pete Souza)
Skeptics have called on the United States to release photos of bin Laden, who officials say was shot in the face during a raid on his compound, in order to prove that the al Qaeda leader is really dead.
The White House had said it was debating whether to release the photographs, which are believed to be extremely graphic.
CIA director Leon Panetta told CBS News Tuesday that he thought a photo would be released, though he said the White House would make the final decision. Panetta told NBC News that "I don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public." Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly advised Mr. Obama not to release any images.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin has been told the photographs are "very gruesome" and won't be for the "squeamish."
"I've had it described to me and it does sound very gruesome," he said. "Remember, bin Laden was shot twice at close range, once in the chest and once in the head, right above his left eye, and that bullet opened his skull, exposing the brain, and it also blew out his eye. So these are not going to be pictures for the squeamish."
Neil Livingstone, Chairman and CEO of Executive Action and author of nine books on terrorism, said he disagreed with Mr. Obama's decision.
"If we can't conclusively demonstrate that indeed he is dead there will be those who say he is still out there," he said. "Al Qaeda might even try to keep his legacy going and say 'they got someone else, they didn't really get him.'"
On Twitter, Sarah Palin also opposed the decision.
"Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No pussy-footing around, no politicking, no drama;it's part of the mission," she wrote.
Bin Laden news gives Obama 11-point approval bump
Bush declines Obama invitation to ground zero
Two Republican senators -- Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, a member of the Armed Services Committee - told CBS News Wednesday they had seen post-mortem photographs of bin Laden.No Democrats have said they have seen the images.
Photoshopped images purporting to show bin Laden after he was killed have already surfaced on the Internet.
More proof in my mind OBL aint dead. Other than the administration telling us where’s the proof? Seriously. I think we have him in custody but that’s open to question as well. They talk about proof but won’t share any of it? Anyone seen the DNA analysis? I don’t want to get too tin foil hat here but so far everything we have heard has had an administration filter on it.
So much for the “most transparent administration in history”.
Maybe the DNA tests came back negative?
Cicero, please tell me you forgot your sarcasm tag!
So my suspicions are confirmed then - Bush turned OBL to applesauce back in the big Tora Bora raid. Absent proof to the contrary that’s what I’m going to believe anyway - it’s not like the Government has been lying to me my entire life or anything.
“Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet,”
I remember a few!
The dead from Jimmy Carter’s failed rescue mission to Iran were openly paraded by one of their ayatollas.
A US Army officer hanged in Lebanon.
Dead and burned bodies of contractors in Iraq.
Show US the PHOTOS of Osama!
In that case I’m officially on the “Osama is still alive!” bandwagon. If this bastard won’t provew something, then I refuse to believe it.
umm isn’t this about the time for seal team 6 to drop some photos to wikileaks?
2009: Obama releases 2,000 photos of prisoner abuse
....but we don’t wanna offend anyone by showing pics of a dead Bin Laden?
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....
“Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet,”
:( Is he lidding? If not, absolute proof that Obama is not as intelligent as they would have us believe.
Hello Mr O, we’ve seen pictures of dead Americans killed by the followers of Osama in the past. Now we want to see the picture of Osama.
does anyone else think this OBL nonsense sounds a lot like the BC nonsense? no proof, conflicting stories, hearsay, wont’ release documents, photoshopped images, ad nauseum. is there anything this fool can do that doesn’t involve underhandedness? and the MSM wonders why so many so-called conspiracy theories are floating around!
Then we must accept everything the WH states.
From Deficit sending to abortion.
Questioning him is a good thing.
Will Henry Nostrolitis Waxman want a hearing on any of this?
No matter what happens these days, folks don't want to believe it. Conspiracy theories abound. How is my statement a strawman?
...and, that makes no sense. What does a strawman have to do with the Tin Woodsman?
....but we don’t wanna offend anyone by showing pics of a dead Bin Laden?
I would suggest that in Zero's upside down mentality, he thinks that treating bin Laden's corpse with dignity and the refusal to release the photos are self serving. He's not trying to protect American; it's his own hide he is worried about.
He believes that somehow his actions will placate Muslims. He doesn’t care about US citizens; his track record shows that. He is all about himself, period.
and unfortunately some people believe everything this President says as being the truth ....
Personally, I believe they did kill OBL but do not want to release the photos because it will upset the muslims ... and you KNOW we cannot do that.
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