Obama: Bin Laden Kill Shot Photos Will Remain Unreleased

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 4, 2011 6:40PM

President Obama told 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft in an interview that will run Sunday that he will not authorize the release of photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse taken to prove his death and remain classified.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday that releasing the images, believed to be pretty graphic in nature, would only serve to inflame anti-American sentiment globally. The U.S. is already receiving criticism for bin Laden's burial at sea, even though the people who disposed of the late al Qaeda leader's body prepared it for burial in accordance with Islamic tradition.

Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, who has seen a photo of bin Laden's body, said that the risk of releasing the photos outweighs the benefits and noted that "conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway." Rogers also indicated it might be time to tone down the jingoism that's stood in for patriotism since news of the Sunday raid that killed bin Laden broke.

"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," he 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."