Post date: May 04, 2011 9:44:17 PM
White House says Obama won't release photos of Osama bin Laden's body, citing risk of violence. Attorney General says killing was an act of national self defense.
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES (MAY 4, 2011) NBC - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday (May 4) he had decided not to release photographs of Osama bin Laden's body because they could have incited violence and been used as an al Qaeda propaganda tool.
In deciding not to make public the pictures of the corpse, Obama resisted arguments that to do so could
counter skeptics who have argued there is no proof bin Laden is dead.Quoting Obama from interview conducted with the CBS program "60 Minutes", White House spokesman Jay Carney said, "I think that given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk."
"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence. As a propaganda tool, so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again," Carney quoted Obama as saying.
The decision not to release photos followed intense debate in the Obama administration. CIA Director Leon Panetta had said on Tuesday (May 3) the pictures would be released.
Carney also said U.S. special forces who killed Osama bin Laden conducted their mission in a manner "fully consistent with the rules of law" and they would have accepted the al Qaeda leader's surrender if it had been offered.
U.S. acknowledgment on Tuesday that bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead had raised accusations Washington had violated international law. Exact circumstances of his death remained unclear and could yet fuel controversy, especially in the Muslim world.
Asked about relations with Pakistan, where bin Laden was able to live for years in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, just north of the capital, Carney said co-operation between the two countries was vital and continuing.
"We have a complicated but vital and important relationship with Pakistan. We don't agree with everything but their co-operation has been essential in the fight against al Qaeda and we continue to work on that relationship and seek that co-operation and receive it. And we will continue to seek and find and bring to justice terrorists who are plotting to do harm to Americans and our allies," he said.
The CIA said it kept Pakistan out of the loop because it feared bin Laden would be tipped off, highlighting the depth of mistrust between the two supposed allies.
Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee bin Laden was a legitimate military target and had made no attempt to surrender to the American forces who stormed his fortified compound near Islamabad and shot him in the head.
"It was justified as an act of national self-defense," Holder said, citing bin Laden's admission of being involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
It was lawful to target bin Laden because he was the enemy commander in the field and the operation was conducted in a way that was consistent with U.S. laws and values, he said, adding that it was a "kill or capture mission."
There has been little questioning of the operation in the United States, where bin Laden's killing was greeted with street celebrations. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed the killing boosted Obama's image, improving Americans' views of his leadership and his efforts to fight terrorism.