President Barack Obama decided on Wednesday not to release photographs of slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's body, saying they could incite violence and be used by militants as a propaganda tool.
President Obama told CBS's 60 Minutes today that he will not release gruesome photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse.
We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Obama told Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes. "We don't need to spike the football.
Obama, in an interview with CBS to be broadcast at the weekend, explained why he opted against publication of the Bin Laden picture. "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," the president said.
CIA Director Leon Panetta's assertion that the photos would eventually be made public, suggesting a split among the president's top aides, and it drew swift criticism from some Republicans.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called withholding the photos a mistake, saying it will "unnecessarily prolong" questions about whether the al Qaeda founder really died.
Pictures that were released provide a sense of the extreme violence employed by US Navy Seals as they stormed through the compound in the early hours of Monday. Two men lie in pools of congealed blood; a third lies prone with his arms flung over his head. Around are scattered hints of life before the Americans struck: computer cables, bedding, a tin mug and a plastic gun.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban, who harbored bin Laden until they were overthrown in late 2001, challenged the truth of his death, saying Washington had not provided "acceptable evidence to back up their claim" that he had been killed.
In Pakistan, the streets around bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad remained sealed off on Wednesday, with police and soldiers allowing only residents to pass through.
President Obama told CBS's 60 Minutes today that he will not release gruesome photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse.
We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Obama told Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes. "We don't need to spike the football.
Obama, in an interview with CBS to be broadcast at the weekend, explained why he opted against publication of the Bin Laden picture. "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," the president said.
CIA Director Leon Panetta's assertion that the photos would eventually be made public, suggesting a split among the president's top aides, and it drew swift criticism from some Republicans.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called withholding the photos a mistake, saying it will "unnecessarily prolong" questions about whether the al Qaeda founder really died.
Pictures that were released provide a sense of the extreme violence employed by US Navy Seals as they stormed through the compound in the early hours of Monday. Two men lie in pools of congealed blood; a third lies prone with his arms flung over his head. Around are scattered hints of life before the Americans struck: computer cables, bedding, a tin mug and a plastic gun.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban, who harbored bin Laden until they were overthrown in late 2001, challenged the truth of his death, saying Washington had not provided "acceptable evidence to back up their claim" that he had been killed.
In Pakistan, the streets around bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad remained sealed off on Wednesday, with police and soldiers allowing only residents to pass through.
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