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“The Central Intelligence Agency this week plans to show some lawmakers photos of a deceased Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was killed May 2 in a daring US raid,” AFP reports. “John McCain, the Republican senator, told a journalist he did not plan to see the images, noting: ‘I’ve seen enough dead people in my life.'” Well good for you Senator. Thank you for your service and all that. But what about US? What kind of BS is this? The President of the United States thinks our elected representatives are “responsible enough” to see images of the terrorist leader with a bullet hole (or two) in his brain but We, The People are not? It gets worse . . .
Now the snaps have turned into some sort of asinine political litmus test, with Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe proudly proclaiming “me first!” and Massachusetts RINO Scott Brown playing “will he won’t he,” after prematurely declaring that he already had.
Before this Capitol Hill show-‘n-tell, I didn’t care whether or not the Obama administration released the images of a bullet-ridden Bin Laden. Now I demand it. In fact, here are two things I didn’t say at the time:
1. SPIKE THE GOD DAMN FOOTBALL – We should have celebrated the death of our enemy. Only a nation of cowards (or Quakers) would prefer a moment of silence for Bin Laden’s untimely (as in late) demise rather than a joyous proclamation of the primacy of freedom and democracy and, yes, death from above. We should have taken a national holiday.
2. SHOW THE PICTURES – What’s with this inflame nonsense? The people who hate us hate us. Their supporters and/or potential supporters need to fear us. The more they fear us, the less likely they are to help those who would attack us attack us. And by “us” I mean YOU. If terrorists are happy to crash planes into buildings filled with thousands of civilians, we are ALL in the crosshairs. They are so we are. It’s that kind of world, people. Wake the f up.
Now, remind me again. Why did we elect these fools? Oh, and anyone who shoots a bullet into the air where it lands they know not where is also a fool. Still, it’s hard to say who’s more dangerous: elected officials or irresponsible gun owners.
I don’t understand the morbid fascination with these photos. Releasing the photos might make some folks happy, but their release doesn’t serve any real purpose but to provide jihadists with additional propaganda material.
I don’t think they should be released to the public. Will they eventually be released? Probably. I don’t think a request under the Freedom of Information Act can be denied because the secrecy does not serve any quantifiable national security purpose. It does serve a purpose, but I don’t think that purpose meets the threshold for keeping it secret.
As for your statement/question: “The CIA thinks that our elected representatives are what ‘responsible enough’ to see images of the terrorist leader with a bullet hole (or two) in his brain but We, The People are not?” I don’t think that is the case at all. Firstly, I don’t think it is the CIA’s call; it’s the President’s call. Secondly, it is not a matter of “responsibility.” Public release of the photos does not serve any valid purpose, and the administration wants to keep them from going public. Showing them to our elected representatives is a way for the administration to show them to US without making them public. These are OUR representatives … For better or worse.
The more jihadists who see Bin Laden’s busted brain the better. The more Americans who see Daniel Pearl’s decapitation the better.
We live in a world with unspeakable evil. We should, at least, see it.
Some people like ‘the bubble’, Dude. If they can’t see it, they don’t have to deal with it. It is something I have never come to understand.
We should have put his body on display in NY for all to see.
I do think that Bin Laden needed to die. Don’t get me wrong. I dissagree with your statement: “The more jihadists who see Bin Laden’s busted brain the better.” It isn’t about “scaring” these people away. Fear plays no part in this for them (for us it does though). They are religious zealots who believe that they are protecting their holy land, fighting a holy war and are spreading Islam. Release of the pictures will prove nothing, and only enrage the Islamic population more. The extremists don’t need any more sympathy for their cause.
Anyway, would I like to see the pictures? Hell yeah. Can the public handle them? Not my decision, but I would say absolutely. Death is a part of life.
I hate to say it, but by not releasing the pictures the government may be doing the right thing. That is not instigating any more attacks or opening the door for more islamic sympathizers. We have to keep in mind that we are fighting a terrorist sect of Islam and not Islam. I think it is important to keep it clear in the worlds eyes that we, a chrisian nation (for the most part), are fighting the terrorists, and not the nation of Islam. There is a difference and making that distinction will lend us credibility.
“ZP says:
May 12, 2011 at 11:01 AM
I do think that Bin Laden needed to die. Don’t get me wrong. I dissagree with your statement: “The more jihadists who see Bin Laden’s busted brain the better.” It isn’t about “scaring” these people away. Fear plays no part in this for them (for us it does though). They are religious zealots who believe that they are protecting their holy land, fighting a holy war and are spreading Islam. Release of the pictures will prove nothing, and only enrage the Islamic population more. The extremists don’t need any more sympathy for their cause.
Anyway, would I like to see the pictures? Hell yeah. Can the public handle them? Not my decision, but I would say absolutely. Death is a part of life.
I hate to say it, but by not releasing the pictures the government may be doing the right thing. That is not instigating any more attacks or opening the door for more islamic sympathizers. We have to keep in mind that we are fighting a terrorist sect of Islam and not Islam. I think it is important to keep it clear in the worlds eyes that we, a chrisian nation (for the most part), are fighting the terrorists, and not the nation of Islam. There is a difference and making that distinction will lend us credibility.”
The extremists do not need any more reasons to be terrorists. They will garner hate and put it to use in whatever way they see fit. You had it right when you stated they are religious zealots who will stop at nothing to spread their cause. What we as ‘infidels’ do is of little concern to the overall outcome of this. Picture or no, death or no, they will still be terrorists.
The instigation of anything on the West’s behalf is irrelevant to these people. They will find reason where there is none to justify their complete hatred. What we do doesn’t matter in the end. It is only how we stand together against this idiocy that will make a difference. There is no starting or slowing this ‘war’. There is no band aid for it. It is something that has existed since before the West existed and will long after whatever wars will be fought.
After TET in 68′, we had folks from battalion HQ come out to the field to look at the bodies, before the plows buried them. We called these people REMFs.
We still do 🙂
I agree with Sen. Haley Joel Osment, oops, I meant Sen. “I See Dead People” McCain. Hide the pictures. After all, we don’t want to enflame the jihadists who are spending every waking hour of every day salivating over the prospect of killing as many Americans as possible. Imagine what they would do if they were really, really, really angry at us and not just really, really angry.
Sarcasm aside, to paraphrase Golda Meir, we’ll have peace with these savages when they love their own children more than they hate ours. Which will be never.
It is a convenient and politically correct cover.
Do you really want critics to be analyzing the height, weight, facial structure, teeth, and other identifying characteristics of the body and comparing them to known photos of Bin Laden? I reckon that perhaps the govt learned from their previous error with Saddam (as I recall the teeth matched one of Saddam’s doubles but didn’t match the confirmed photos of Saddam).
After all, we don’t want to enflame the jihadists who are spending every waking hour of every day salivating over the prospect of killing as many Americans as possible. Imagine what they would do if they were really, really, really angry at us and not just really, really angry.
As per usual, Ralph said it best.
I really don’t want to be a wet blanket, but come on. This is a little nutty. Members of congress have access to all kinds of information that we don’t get to see. Some of that is classified, some of it will scare the sheeple, and some of it is just politically epedient not to show. I’m not always happy about it, but in this case there is no benefit to releasing them and lots of potential drawbacks
In this situation I think it makes perfect sense not to show these pictures. There are riots all over the muslim world every time anything like this comes out (seriously weren’t dozens of people killed in riots that broke out when there was a possibility that Korans would be burned). It just does not make sense to release these pictures when it could put American lives at risk (embassy staff and soldiers)
The “Muslim world” has riots like we have backyard BBQs. I think it’s mostly a weekend thing.
Screw ’em. I’ve carried dead bodies and you get used to it. I say piss them off-I have ammo and a few other surprises…
Bravo Zulu, CUJO. You and JOE MATAFOME get my personal Hardcore Hardass awards. And that’s a compliment. Actually, that’s two compliments. Once for each of you.
It was just a job…
It serves no positive purpose to release the photos. There’s no upside, only downside.
For conspiracy theorists, it’s only more raw material for their twisted analyses — fuel to the fire.
And it’s beyond naive to suggest the photos will instill fear in our terrorist enemies. These people are willing suicide bombers. Photos will scare them? In Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq, citizens have seen far more gruesome sights on a regular basis — in person. This is what Afghanis have experienced:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/photos/the-kill-team-photos-20110327
So we are going to frighten terrorists with a photo of bin Laden’s corpse? The suggestion is laughable — it’s completely ignorant of the destruction and violence delivered upon these people on a daily basis. They’ve already seen far worse, and on a scale the average American can’t even imagine.
If released, all the death photos can do is assist in the martyrdom of Osama bin Laden, and serve as a powerful propaganda and recruiting tool throughout the Islamic world. They serve no purpose whatsoever in the furtherance of American interests.
As he has throughout this mission, Obama made exactly the right call in not releasing the photos, and he is totally correct in ignoring the current manufactured controversy — which is nothing more than the usual partisan-fired, media-driven bullshit. If Obama released the photos, the very same pack of magpies would be endlessly sharpshooting that decision. This whole issue is a complete waste of time and everyone has better things to do.
America was not founded by pu**ies. If you want a real story of hardcore, here’s one: a Rhodesian Selous Scout once found himself across the border w/o supplies or water. His solution, he cut a bit of meat from one of the dead enemy piled about, and then drank some blood to stop his dehydration.