White House mulls release of graphic Osama photo

The Killing of Osama bin Laden: Photographs

A video grab dated June 19, 2001 shows Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden in a video tape said to have been prepared and released by bin Laden himself. Copies of the tape, which shows members of al Qaeda training at their al-Farouq base in Afghanistan, were circulated to a limited number of Islamists.

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Complete coverage: The killing of Osama bin Laden (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration was still debating Tuesday whether to release gruesome images of Osama bin Laden's corpse, balancing efforts to demonstrate to the world that he was dead against the risk that the images could provoke further anti-U.S. sentiment.

Late Tuesday, CBS News producer John Nolen asked CIA Director Leon Panetta about releasing the photo.

"I think it will be," Panetta said. But the "White House makes the final decision."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said earlier Tuesday that officials are concerned about the "sensitivity" of doing making it public. Carney, who described the photo as "gruesome," said there is a discussion internally about the most appropriate way to handle but "there is not some roiling debate here about this."

The Killing of Osama bin Laden

Asked if President Barack Obama is involved in the photo discussion, Carney said the president is involved in every aspect of this issue.

Carney urged reporters to be patient and said there is no timeline for a decisions, CBS News' Mark Knoller reports.

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by 1206ca May 4, 2011 12:10 PM EDT: FORGET what we believe... it is what the people in the middle east believe... in their mentality... their society... no body equals no proof... again, DNA ONLY proves that he had been at that location... NOT proof that he is dead... if our purpose in all of rhis is to end terrorism (real long shot that one!!) then we need to irrefutably demonstrate that he has been killed by our troops... that we will persevere... that we will (for a change) stay the course... what have we proven? With hard evidence ... nothing... as noted previously... "...we f@#ked up the end game..."; Reply to this comment


by Irby32 May 4, 2011 11:58 AM EDT: Pics/Vids welcome here! Let's see it all; Reply to this comment


by uktena May 4, 2011 10:26 AM EDT: Yeah, John Dillinger's photos were gruesome too; but those made front page in every US newspaper. It's not that I care to see them, hell Hollywood could make an OBL for a photograph. It is all to suspicious to me. Burial at sea? Nations have been hiding their dirty little secrets in the oceans for millennia (or pretending to), just ask the former fishermen of Somalia, now know as pirates, about European nuclear waste dumped off their shores. Who knows what the truth is when it is coming from any government. It was good for ratings, now on to the next tail wagging the dog.; Reply to this comment


by lagunagal May 4, 2011 9:50 AM EDT: To take an exemplary military prosecution or so we are led to believe and gum it up like this leaves me with huge reservations as to the bona fides of this event. The only evidence we have were yesterdays gummed up presser's where you had this administration bumping into to one another and one picture of a room full of wide eyed people watching a wall which according to one of yesterday's presser's was merely an audio of the event. As bad as Bushy was, after the Delta Forces were through Uday and Qusay Hussein, at least he had the brass to post the evidence for us and the Middle East. No more posts, blogs or news gathering for me. I have to get back to my life which I'm preparing to begin again in 2013. This is nothing short of additional Birth Certificate like aggravation and I'm done with it. Obviously this is Obama's MO and I for one have no more time to be toyed with by this administration.; Reply to this comment


by lami987 May 3, 2011 10:54 PM EDT: May be show photo/video with wound on the forehead censored. There'll be doubters regardless of what is shown.; Reply to this comment


by lagunagal May 3, 2011 9:59 PM EDT: IMO the longer Obama waits the more suspect the results will become especially in the Middle East. This is beginning to tarnish an otherwise exemplary prosecution.; Reply to this comment


by 1206ca May 3, 2011 8:56 PM EDT: In a part of the world mostly mired in a 13th century mentality, no body... then he is still alive... how the hell did we screw this one up too... we had 24 hours in which to bury him in compliance with the laws of Islam.... someone please invent a really good reason why we didn't remove his body to Afghanistan.... Saudi Arabia.... ANY Moslem country, have him identified by a proper cleric... or even Donald Trump... and then dump him in the ocean... why pray tell, do our "leaders", in the infamous words of Charlie Wilson... always find a way to "...f@#k up the end game..."; Reply to this comment

by us_1776 May 3, 2011 6:23 PM EDT

I have no need to see the gory aftermath.

I would just show the photos to selected members of the press and congress.

End of story.

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by Birdman04 May 3, 2011 6:45 PM EDT: Yep that works for me.


by san850 May 3, 2011 6:50 PM EDT: Works for me as well. The only ones who will never shut up about not seeing the gory photos are the doubters/birthers ... but even if they were shown the photos, they would scream "FAKE" or "PHOTO-SHOPPED". So it really doesn't matter.


by Irby32 May 3, 2011 5:50 PM EDT: Have we become so weak that we can't handle a reality photo? I mean it's America...we thrive on gore. Look at all our cop, csi shows and movies...

This is no brainer...no pun intended OBL :); Reply to this comment


by catwoman1952 May 3, 2011 5:43 PM EDT: I have a son over there fighting for this country, so don't give me any crap when my family has sacrificed for this cause!; Reply to this comment