Too gruesome? Viewing Osama's death photos is a choice. We may simply choose not to look. Is he aware of the popularity of television shows like CSI, and other 'autopsy' shows, which nightly reveal scenes far more visually unsettling than OBL's bullet holes, are viewed by tens of millions of Americans each week.
It is however a relief to discover that Islamic extremists were not previously inflamed towards, or by, the United States. It is comforting to know that withholding these pictures will prevent a repeat of the last two decade's daily onslaught around the world by radical Islamists resulting in tens of thousands of deaths of innocent lives, and hundreds of bombings in dozens of countries. Imagine what might happen if they were suddenly 'inflamed' by pictures of a dead Bin Laden. Imagine how much more serious the 9/11 attacks might have been had the attackers been inflamed. Is the President serious in that statement, or is it leftover humor from the White House Correspondent's Dinner?
Americans have the same right to proof as Obama does. Bin Laden and his movement have forced us to watch our fellow citizens leap as human fireballs from the buildings in New York, screaming beheading victims on the internet, charred American citizen's bodies hanging from bridges, and so many more weekly 'gruesome' scenes. Yes, we have a right to see Bin Laden's bullet holes!Have we forgotten that early in this President's term he was eager to release 'gruesome' photos of alleged abuse of terrorist detainees by American interrogators? He did did so to appease the world's concerns about the issue and at the expense of America's image abroad. At that time, was willing to show gruesome photos revealing what he regarded as America's (and George Bush's) evils and it wasn't a concern and justified under the flag of transparency. He relented only at the strenuous objections of military commanders.
Now, with a very visible and highly touted successful counter-terrorism adventure which he can rightfully take credit for, he is unwilling (with no prodding) to show the pictures as they would be too abhorrent and inflame the Muslim world. Why the philosophical switch? One would wonder why he was willing to inflame the Muslim world last year over the Bush era interrogation photos, but unwilling to do so now with his own pictures.
When will this President someday decide to appease his own citizens, as opposed to the Arab/Islamic world? Why is he then incredulous when many polls reveal that one out of five polled believe he is a Muslim? Has he considered the possibility that hundreds of millions of Muslims also consider Bin Laden an enemy of their faith, and of the world, and that they might rejoice at pictures proving his demise?
In killing Osama Bin Laden, Barack Obama had several options. One was an air strike in which OBL would have been killed, but his body would have been obliterated with no 'proof' that OBL had been killed other than a crater where his house stood. The other was an extraordinarily risky and dangerous raid by special forces personnel to bring out his body ... to prove his death! This raid involved extreme risk to the lives of the team involved.
In choosing to not reveal the 'proof' to the American public, why then did he risk the lives of the CIA and Navy personnel to get that proof.
He simply states that he is satisfied it is OBL's body. He is satisfied? Given that he is the only one who needs proof (apparently the American public does not require the proof), then why the risky raid? He would have had his proof with a simple air strike and his claims to have killed OBL would have required we take his word for it just as surely as we have to do so now. Why did he feel that he had to see the body to prove the death to him, but that same need does not apply to American citizens.
Did he risk the lives of those servicemen just so he could have his own personal proof? Those servicemen risked their lives to show the world that Bin Laden was dead, not just to show Obama. We all have the same right to closure that Obama does.
Show the pictures!
