The only viable “proof” of the death of Osama bin Laden would be to show the public photos of his death. Without some sort of proof of a secret raid, and secret burial at sea, the world is supposed to believe what the US government touts as truth.
McClatchy reports:
WASHINGTON — Skeptical-sounding federal judges on Thursday considered whether the public can see pictures of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, taken after he had been shot dead by U.S. Navy SEALs in a raid on his hideout two years ago.
The 52 pictures, some described as “graphic” and “gruesome” by a top CIA official, highlight a Freedom of Information Act fight that climaxes just as Hollywood’s version of bin Laden’s death hits movie theaters. But while Hollywood’s depiction has attracted both critical acclaim and political heat, and was accomplished with the CIA’s help, the real world pictures snapped by elite commandos seem destined to remain secret.
“They’re telling us it’s a risk . . . that Americans will die if we release these documents,” Judge Merrick Garland said Thursday, adding that “when the government tells us this is likely to lead to death, shouldn’t we defer to that (even) more than when they say it will result in the release of secret information?”
Judge Judith Rogers, who like Garland was appointed by a Democratic president, further cited “the concern that these images could be used as propaganda.” Echoing arguments made by Obama administration officials, Rogers suggested that the propaganda concern is aggravated by the late bin Laden’s prominence as al Qaida’s leader.
“Almost anything associated with him is necessarily of concern,” Rogers said.
Well, what I find necessarily concerning, is the fact that there is zero proof he was ever killed, and that the American people are supposed to buy another piece of information from our Benghazi President?
With Barack Hussein Obama’s only apparent success in the seat of President falling squarely on the “fact” that Osama bin Laden was conquered in death, we ought to have something more to go on than sweet stories of apprehension and “respectful” and “dignified” Muslim burial at sea.
Our nation releases photographs and video of our own slain President, (and much of the photos and footage is quite graphic) to whom we owe some respect as a President, yet we are not able to “handle” the release of pictures of public enemy number one?
The idea that we are somehow being “protected” from any backlash, is ridiculous. Films are being made about the reported raid, and yet we have no proof that what Obama has said occurred has actually occurred. Within minutes, our nation reported the death of Osama bin Laden, and the fury among Al Qaeda and Obama friends-the Muslim Brotherhood, would have begun there.
In an era gone by, we’d have publicly declared him captured, dead and buried, and show our proof in a strong message of military might and anti-terrorist strength. Rather, we say he’s dead…pander to the Muslim world that we were terribly respectful after we shot him in the face, and then tell the American people to “just believe it”. We promise to make Hollywood movies about it, knowing full well most of America today believes more of what Hollywood sells than what they can figure out on their own with some fact checking, calling any ideas with an ounce of skepticism of the government “conspiracy theory.” The administration wants nothing more than for any questions of actions, even if the actions are just and true, to be touted as conspiracy theory, when all the public is asking for is accountability!
Want an administration that can stand on it’s word without proof? Then show some accountability on things such as Fast and Furious, Benghazi, Obamacare, lies about abortion and abortion mandates, bail-outs, tax hikes, executive orders behind closed doors, secret deals, alliances with Marxists and terrorists, efforts to override the 2nd Amendment, etc.
“ (the photos) They depict the fatal bullet wound to (bin Laden’s) head and other similarly gruesome images of his corpse,” John Bennett, director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, stated in a 22-page declaration filed in 2011.
Other pictures or video show bin Laden’s corpse as the commando team flew by helicopter away from his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Some show bin Laden’s body being washed and tended by U.S. personnel, and some show his post-midnight burial in the North Arabian Sea by the crew of the USS Carl Vinson.
“The government fails to appreciate that these are various types of images,” Judicial Watch attorney Michael Bekesha stated Thursday, noting that some of the photos being sought show what the government itself refers to as a “dignified” burial service.
Bekesha argued, in part, that the Obama administration failed to individually specify how each of the 52 photographs or videotapes pertains to the kind of weapon system, intelligence operation or foreign relations activity that can properly be withheld under the Freedom of Information Act. Justice Department attorneys countered that officials provided sufficient specific detail and that, in any event, other priorities trump the public’s right of access to government information.
“Release of these materials could reasonably be expected to harm national security,” Justice Department attorney Robert Loeb argued Thursday.
As it happened, the 45-minute oral argument Thursday occurred only about one block away from the Washington museum where the Oscar-nominated Hollywood version of the bin Ladin raid, “Zero Dark Thirty,” received its D.C. premiere Tuesday night. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has formally asked the CIA for all information provided to the filmmakers by agency officials.
The help provided by the CIA included detailed information about the floor plan of bin Laden’s compound, as well as meeting with the moviemakers, documents obtained by Judicial Watch under a separate FOIA request show.
“I can’t tell you how excited we all are . . . about the project,” the CIA’s then-public affairs director George Little wrote the screenwriter in a November 2011 e-mail. “It’s been a real pleasure to help facilitate things.”
Obama is also banking on the idea that Americans will believe that it is the administration pushing for the release of images surrounding his death, when in fact, we have no idea if anyone has formally asked, since Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein is heading up the effort to get the information to filmmakers.
It’s a shame that in today’s government we must demand proof, and are unable to believe simply the honorable words of our leadership. However, that is the state of our Union. I want nothing more in the cause against Islamic terrorism, than OBL to be dead, along with his entire regime of Islamic terrorist understudies. However, I don’t buy a single thing this administration spoon feeds the public without facts to back it up. A Hollywood movie that is reportedly making CIA reports into fact, unfortunately, is not proof, nor is Hollywood supposed to act as an agent of the US in media reporting.
As far as the fear of retaliation from Al Qaeda? Isn’t that the entire reason for taking out OBL? If we take out the leader, and are scared to prove it, what good was it in the first place. The only victory Obama can sell with this one, is the idea that we are still just as fearful and appeasing to an organization of terrorism with the leader supposedly killed, than we were with him in charge.
Obama, time to man-up and face your supposed victory with some proof for the nation it was supposedly done for..and something more trustworthy than your worthless words we learned long ago, aren’t worth their weight in dung.
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