Should the government release the images of Osama or not?

Our government owes it to the American people and the world to produce these pictures.

Doesn't matter to me. Dead is dead. Unless he produces another cave video I'll believe the U.S. Navy on this one.

well it seems our President has decided not to release them. he doesnt feel we should see the images for some reason.

(05-04-2011 01:16 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  well it seems our President has decided not to release them. he doesnt feel we should see the images for some reason.

I find it quite revealing that the same group of folks that were frothing at the mouth to release the Abu Ghraib photos weren't as concerned about the 'sensitivites' of the muslims as they were interested in political games, now are wringing their hands over what some illiterate arab in the streets of the middle east might think.

The fact that the administration's story surrounding the killing of Bin Laden is 'evolving' even now, makes it imperative to release the photos to prove that Bin Laden is dead. Already those that fall prey to conspiracies theories are working overtime...

Release the damn photos...

Not to worry. The photos will somehow soon end up on the net.

They want us to take their word for it. It's not like they ever lied or covered up screw-ups before....right? :)
What gets me is there are already so many versions of the killing. How many spokespeople are involved here? And why can't they get their stories straight?
Bin Laden's wife was killled....no....that was a mistake....she was wounded. Bin Laden was shot twice in the left eye.....well.....it was actually a single shot above the left eye. Geesh....yeah, let's believe whatever they tell us.

this reminds me of the whole birth certificate thing. he had one, just show it to us.

we know he's dead, so do the bad guys. let's see the pictures.

i just don't get this guy.

Is any terrorist group saying he's alive?

This is silly.

We have video of the moon landing and a marker on the moon you can bounce a laser off of. Yet a lot of people say it never happened.


People are idiots.

here's what i dont get. we showed the pics of Sadam's kids, and they were REAL messed up looking.

my whole stance is, if you dont want to look at them you don't have to look at em. I dont need the President saying I don't need to see them. they arent classified.

Conspiracy theorists will still say the photo is doctored. You either believe he is dead or you believe that he is still alive. I sincerely doubt the release of the photo will change the minds of those that do not believe.

So I voted no....the photo does not need to be released.

Also, the political risk Obama is making is significant if UBL is not actually dead. Can you imagine the downfall if Osama shows up in a new video just before the election in 2012?

(05-04-2011 10:17 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  here's what i dont get. we showed the pics of Sadam's kids, and they were REAL messed up looking.

my whole stance is, if you dont want to look at them you don't have to look at em. I dont need the President saying I don't need to see them. they arent classified.

LOL! Actually he does get to make that call.

The important thing is they got him. Nothing good globally can come from those pictures ending up around the world on the internet.

(05-04-2011 10:17 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  here's what i dont get. we showed the pics of Sadam's kids, and they were REAL messed up looking.

my whole stance is, if you dont want to look at them you don't have to look at em. I dont need the President saying I don't need to see them. they arent classified.

Different administration, and the people of Iraq still didn't believe it was them. The people who was there didn't get in till well over 3 hours after the fire fight and they were so bloated by then you really couldn't tell. Now I know this is different but still do you "NEED" to see the photos.

Conspiracy Theroist's will have conspiracy either way so does it matter. Some Al Qaeta memers are saying that Bin Laden has been dead a year and half and its only time until someone spins it into something.

I find it funny though that the Radical Right are giving 100% of the credit to Bush for the kill.

(05-04-2011 10:52 PM)HerdZoned Wrote:  I find it funny though that the Radical Right are giving 100% of the credit to Bush for the kill.

Yet they are unable to give any credit to Bush for the economy...

I certainly recognize that the President has the final say here, I just think he made the wrong decision. the reason it is important to release these is for closure across the world. we ALL need to KNOW he is dead.

Ive seen three different stories about how this went down already, each being reported as fact. the photos would just help everyone calm down and stop speculating. indecision makes us look like we are hiding something.

The photos would only incite a call to arms by Muslim radicals. They would not satisfy naysayers. The world is behind the actions taken by the United States. Excellent time to take the winnings and retire from the game. As the President said, there is no need to spike the football.

(05-05-2011 07:34 AM)panama Wrote:  The photos would only incite a call to arms by Muslim radicals. They would not satisfy naysayers. The world is behind the actions taken by the United States. Excellent time to take the winnings and retire from the game. As the President said, there is no need to spike the football.

Bingo! It's not worth it.

(05-04-2011 10:21 PM)Cajunman02 Wrote:  Conspiracy theorists will still say the photo is doctored. You either believe he is dead or you believe that he is still alive. I sincerely doubt the release of the photo will change the minds of those that do not believe.

So I voted no....the photo does not need to be released.

Also, the political risk Obama is making is significant if UBL is not actually dead. Can you imagine the downfall if Osama shows up in a new video just before the election in 2012?

Perfectly put.

how can you say with certainty that releasing the photos would "incite violence?" I look at it the other way. By NOT releasing them you give the conspiracy theorists and the radicals who seek to harm us a way to say, "No he isn't dead." That in itself is a problem. If we have eliminated him then we need to make it clear. Do not give the terrorists a platform to stand on.

BTW, this also hurts our credibility. When we killed Sadam's kids we showed their pictures (very gory mind you), when we killed that other Al-Qaeda general we showed his images as well. By NOT showing this image you give ground to doubt. If we have shown all the other photos but wont show this one, perhaps we didn't kill him. I do not believe that myself, but it is, according to the Today Show, a popular mindset right now in the Middle East. That is potentially very dangerous. Since we dumped his body overboard and cannot produce a body now, the radicals could claim we are holding him at GITMO. That could rally our enemies just as easily, perhaps even more so, than his images.

the movement away from our normal policy is what is going to hurt us. its like blackjack, play the same way every hand or risk hurting everyone at the table. you have to stick to a policy or people around the world will distrust us even more than they already do. even those who support Obama's decision have to acknowledge that.

People who don't believe he is dead will not be convinced by photos. People who believe he is dead don't need the photos. The small number who aren't certain will hear enough from both sides that the photos still won't help them make up their minds.
If some relatively moderate Muslims perceive us as flaunting the death of bin Laden then we may push them towards the extremist camp. Why take that chance when we have nothing to gain by releasing the photos?