/ 5 May 2011

‘Bin Laden will not walk on this Earth again’

The United States government has now decided not release photographs of the body of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, as President Barack Obama did not want it used as a “propaganda tool”.

Reuters reported that despite pressure from his own aides to release the photographs to back the administration’s account, Obama said it was important the photographs “of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence”.

Gruesome photos taken in the aftermath of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani hideout have emerged, showing the blood-soaked bodies of three unidentified al-Qaeda militants. Reuters released the pictures as the Obama administration announced it would not be publishing a picture of Bin Laden’s body.

Obama told CBS’s 60 minutes that he was “absolutely certain” it was Bin Laden but that the US did not need to “spike the football” or trumpet the fact he was now dead.

Meanwhile, Reuters released gruesome photographs of three unidentified al-Qaeda militants killed during the raid on compound in Abbottabad.

Not sanctioned
The release of the photographs was apparently not sanctioned by the White House, but they do show the level of violence employed by a unit from the US Navy Seals.

The US’s Poynter Institute journalism school said this week media houses needed to consider the news value of violent images.

Kelly McBride, Poynter Institute senior faculty for ethics, reporting and writing, said: “Conspiracy theories are starting to germinate. And getting to people as much information as possible about how this happened is important, so people understand what our government is doing to combat terrorism, and so they can fill in the blanks to combat conspiracy theories with accurate information.”

In his interview with CBS, Obama attempted to fill in some of these blanks.

“There are going to be some folks who deny it [Obama’s death]. The fact of the matter is, you will not see Bin Laden walking on this Earth again.”