Media Outlets File Freedom of Information Act Requests For bin Laden Raid Photos

The Associated Press has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to force the Obama administration to produce the photographic evidence taken during the raid that led to the death of al-Qeada leader, Osama bin Laden.

Politico, Fox News, Judicial Watch and Citizens United have all also filed FOIA requests.

There are not many that don't believe bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda even confirmed it to their followers, but following the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, White House officials and mouth pieces have managed to bungle the story of the sequence of events so badly (26+ different versions) that the public is left wondering what is true, what really went down, in what order and why won't the administration release visual proof.

Michael Oreskes, senior managing editor at The Associated Press, states the reasoning behind the AP's FOIA request as being "This information is important for the historical record."

Also:

For Oreskes, the photo is an important piece of evidence to establish what happened during the Navy SEALs raid on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound. "In the week since the raid there's been a whole series of story-lines about what happened in this raid," said Oreskes. "At this point, anything that might shed more light on what occurred is potentially quite newsworthy. So we would like this imagery to fully understand what happened during this event."

"I can't tell you what understanding we would get," he prefaced. "But we would like to see it and compare it with other things we're being told about this raid both by U.S. officials and officials in other countries."

Perhaps so, but one glaring reason to release the photo is accuracy. The American public's right to know, to see for themselves, the visual evidence of the death of the man who bragged about giving the order for the 9/11 attacks that killed so many and threw our country into complete shock.

Another reason is the photo of bin Laden dead would, no matter how gruesome the photo is, also give visual forensic evidence one way or another of bullet entry positioning, angle of entry point, etc...

Personally, I wouldn't care if bin Laden was executed on his knees, shot while sleeping or taken out while on his feet due to concerns of a bomb strapped to his body or his ability to reach for nearby weapons.

I would understand redacting portions of the video of the raid that showed SEAL member's faces, for example, but the AP is right, the death of bin Laden is history and as such should have as much factual data available to the public, not just the ever changing stories the White House has put out there.


Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz makes a very good point:

The president's decision to suppress the remaining photographic evidence is disturbing on many levels. First, it is wrong on its merits. The public is used to seeing visual portrayals of dead bodies. They are routinely shown on television and in movies. Anyone who has served as a juror or a courtroom observer in a homicide cases has seen bodies riddled with bullets or afflicted with stab wounds. We are mature enough to endure viewing such visual evidence if we choose to. Nor is there any real risk that these photographs will inflame Muslim or Arab sensibilities, any more than the photographs of Saddam Hussein did.

On a more fundamental level, I have serious doubts whether the president has the legal or constitutional authority to suppress these photographs. As Commander in Chief, he had the authority to order the kill operation, but in a country governed by the First Amendment, the president may lack the authority to decide what is published and what is suppressed. It would establish a terrible precedent for the Commander in Chief to be given the sole authority to determine what the public has the right to see and know, especially when the sole justification for suppression is a matter of judgment regarding the possible offensiveness of the photographs.

In a democracy, doubts must always be resolved in favor of disclosure, particularly in a matter of such great public interest and controversy. Surely Congress has at least equal authority to decide what to do with the photographs. Moreover, the press may have the right to obtain and publish these highly relevant items of evidence as part of its duty to inform the public. Some media will surely challenge the president's decision, and if they do I hope they win. The great Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis taught us nearly a century ago that "sunlight is the best disinfectant." The remaining evidence of how Bin Laden was killed -- the photographs and the results of any forensic tests that may have been hastily performed -- should be exposed to the sunlight of publication. Only then will the virus of doubt be disinfected.

Demands for the photographic evidence are not only coming from one side of the political aisle or another, it is coming from both, with arguments against the release showing the same.

Side note: Polls are showing that the bounce in Obama's approval numbers directly following the news of bin Laden's death are already starting (One week, two days later) to head back down, despite the fact that historic bounces from major events averaged President's a 13 percent spike that should have lasted an average of 22 weeks.

Currently, 50% approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president while 39% disapprove. In a May 2 poll by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post, 56% approved while 38% disapproved. Obama’s current job rating represents an improvement from early April, when 47% approved of his job performance and nearly as many (45%) disapproved.

That was Pew, if you look at the averages over at RCP that lists most of the polls conducted, then averages out approval disapproval, Obama is only at 51.6 percent approval just nine days after the initial announcement of bin Laden's death.

Is there any doubt in anyone other than obamabot's minds that the White House's ever changing stories, refusal to release visual closure to the public, Obama's arrogance in thinking he and he alone should decide what the public should and shouldn't be allowed to see and the bumbled handling of the whole aftermath by his administration, is one of the major reasons for his "bounce" to start dipping in less than 2 weeks as opposed to the averaged 22 weeks it was projected to last? (Another major reason being the economy)

If so, I have this bridge in Brooklyn I am looking to sell... email me, we will discuss a price.

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May Osama bin Laden Rot In Hell- Snarky Linkfest Of Osama News

Six days in after the announcement that Osama bin Laden was killed and the news cycle is still full of news relating to the raid and death of the the Al-Qaeda leader, so below we will have linkage to quite a few eye catching stories.

Starting with the trouble making slob, Michael Moore who thinks al-Qaeda has been dismantled for a long time and that executing bin Laden was wrong and anyone who thinks bin Laden being killed without a trial, simply hates "being American".

MOORE: No, no. They killed him. But what I'm saying is they didn't kill because there was some kind of firefight or something going on. They went there with the intention to kill him. That's an execution and -- or an assassination, whatever you want to call it.

And I think -- I think, look, like I said, I'm glad he's gone. But I just feel something has -- we've lost something of our soul here in this country. And maybe I'm just an old school American who believes in our American judicial system. Something that separates us from other parts, other countries where we say everybody has their day in court no matter how bad of a person, no matter what piece of scum they are, they have a right to a trial.

One word for Moore- Jackass.

Anyone remember the name Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed mastermind to the 9/11 attacks? He is still being given free room and board on the American taxpayer's dime. Americans still argue whether he should be tried in New York, a civilian trial, or by the military via tribunal.

So, excuse the hell out of me for being more than happy that bin Laden took a bullet to the chest and head and is no longer with us. He ordered an attack that killed approximately 3,000 people in one day. He confessed to ordering it, publicly. He bragged about it.


Guilty. Now, DEAD.

Osama will not be the catalyst so the left can cry about the conditions we are holding him in. Osama cannot cause more conflict in the country as we argue over what interrogation tactics are being used on him.

Osama bin Laden is gone. Dead. At the bottom of the ocean (supposedly unless that story also changes like the 27+ other changed stories coming from the White House.)

Picture to the left comes from Israel Matzav's site, photo-shopped no doubt, but since Obama, in his crowning glory of brilliance refuses to release a photo of a dead bin Laden for Americans to see, I will use it here anyway as a symbol to represent what we hope bin Laden looked like before being thrown into the sea to become fish food.

Consider the football spiked Mr. President.

Refusing to release the real thing means people are going to photoshop their own and a person with half a brain should have realized the to start with.

Obama's reasoning:

"It is important 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 or as a propaganda tool," said the president.

Hows that working out Barack?

FURIOUS BIN LADEN SUPPORTERS VOW TO TAKE REVENGE

US leaders were branded “murderers” by radicals, who warned vengeance attacks were “guaranteed” and shouted: "USA, you will pay."

This just in from London-istan: Violent clashes outside U.S. Embassy after hundreds of UK Muslims stage mock funeral for 'murdered' Bin Laden

Violent clashes broke out around the world today as thousands of supporters of Osama bin Laden took to the streets to protest at the Al-Qaeda leader's death.

While many protests took place across the Muslim world, the most extraordinary took place in London, where hundreds of supporters gathered at the U.S. embassy to stage a mock 'funeral service' for the slain terror leader.

Not so good huh?

Obama and his administration officials have got to be the most naive fools in the world if they believed for a second that some picture would incite more violence from the perpetually violent Islamic extremists than the death of Osama bin Laden itself would, could and has.

Btw, word is bin Laden's successor was already chosen and some even believe al-Qaeda was already being led by Egyptian Ayman Al Zawahiri and the courier who led U.S. forces to Bin Laden, did so deliberately.

After killing bin Laden, Obama okayed another attack trying to hit another "most-wanted" al-Qaeda member, Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical cleric suspected of orchestrating terrorist attacks in the U.S, but he got away.

So the I, I, I, I, I, me, me me, my, my my, President hits one and misses one. [Update] See follow up piece comparing Bush's Capture of Saddam Hussein speech to Obama's death of bin Laden speech, here)

Shit happens.

The latest of the we-have-to-keep-this-story-running-until-polls-put-us-over-the-52%-approval-mark-White House's bright ideas, is to publicize home videos of bin Laden watching himself on television. (H/T Wapo for video embed)

Newly released videos show Osama bin Laden watching himself on television and rehearsing for terrorist videos, revealing that even from the walled confines of his Pakistani hideout, he remained a media maestro who was eager to craft his own image for the cameras.

The videos, released by U.S. intelligence officials Saturday, were offered as further proof that Navy SEALs killed the world's most wanted terrorist this week. But they also served to show bin Laden as vain, someone obsessed with his portrayal by the world's media.

One of the movies shows bin Laden, his unkempt beard streaked in gray, sitting on the floor, wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a remote control. He flipped back and forth between what appears to be live news coverage of himself. The old, small television was perched on top of a desk with a large tangle of electrical wires running to a nearby control box.

In another, he has apparently dyed and neatly trimmed his beard for the filming of a propaganda video. The video, which the U.S. released without sound, was titled ""Message to the American People" and was believed to be filed sometime last fall, a senior intelligence official said during a briefing for reporters, on condition that his name not be used.

No spiked footballs here, move along.

CNN is showing the videos here.

What would a snarky, snide, sarcastic piece be if it doesn't mention the useless UN human right's watchdogs questioning the U.S.'s actions in killing bin Laden?

How does it feel to get a taste of what Israel deals with constantly Barack?

Next up, a piece from Spiked Online which begins with the question "How did ‘I hate bin Laden and I’m glad he’s dead’ become the most shocking thing one can say in polite society?"

Good question and they provide a nice essay in answering it, read that for yourself, but I am noting the concluding paragraph because it conveys what I am seeing quite a bit of online, throughout the blogosphere.

Look, if you want to have a real debate about Western intervention in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, bring it on. spiked bows to no one in the implacability of our principled opposition to foreign meddling in other states’ affairs. But if you want to tell me that bin Laden was treated badly, and that the allegedly morally unhinged reaction to his death might invite more terror upon us, then I have only one thing to say: ‘Fuck bin Laden.’

Indeed.

This has been your snark of the day.

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Osama bin Laden Killed- Side Shows Begin

The News

October of 2004 Osama bin Laden, ascribed leader of al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for ordering the attack of September 11, 2001, which massacred thousands using hijacked planes as weapons of mass destruction in the United states of America.

Last night, almost a decade later, the American people as well as those across the world were informed that Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid on a compound in Pakistan.

Osama bin Laden became the figurehead, the objective for intelligence agencies, his capture or death the goal for perceived justice on behalf of the thousands that died on 9/11 and the families and friends they left behind.

News is full of the heroic actions of our American military for reaching that goal. For the intelligence agencies who worked tirelessly to sift through information and find bin Laden and bring him to justice.

"From the time that we first recognized bin Laden as a threat, the U.S. gathered information on people in bin Laden's circle, including his personal couriers," a senior official in the Obama administration said in a background briefing from the White House.

After the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "detainees gave us information on couriers. One courier in particular had our constant attention. Detainees gave us his nom de guerre, his pseudonym, and also identified this man as one of the few couriers trusted by bin Laden."

In 2007, the U.S. learned the man's name.

In 2009, "we identified areas in Pakistan where the courier and his brother operated. They were very careful, reinforcing belief we were on the right track."

In August 2010, "we found their home in Abbottabad," not in a cave, not right along the Afghanistan border, but in an affluent suburb less than 40 miles from the capital.

Video of Obama's speech was posted here at WuA last night when news first broke.

George Bush was notified by Obama and issued a statement as well:

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001.

I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude.

This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.

Obama Preempted

News spread fast last night with word of bin Laden's death coming from sources to media outlets before Barack Obama could finish writing his speech and inform the public himself.

NYT's Media Decoder explains how Obama was preempted:

The nation’s television anchors and newspaper editors did not know, at first, that President Obama would be announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, an extraordinary development in the nearly 10-year-long war against terrorism waged by the United States and its allies. But reporters in Washington suspected almost immediately that the announcement could be about bin Laden.

That speculation was not aired out on television immediately, but it did erupt on Twitter and other social networking sites. Wishful thinking about bin Laden’s death ricocheted across the Web — and then, at 10:25 p.m., while Mr. Obama was writing his speech, one particular tweet seemed to confirm it. Keith Urbahn, the chief of staff for the former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, wrote at that time, “So I’m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.”

Mr. Urbahn quickly added, “Don’t know if it’s true, but let’s pray it is.” He was credited by many on the Web with breaking the news, though he did not have first-hand confirmation.

Within minutes, anonymous sources at the Pentagon and the White House started to tell reporters the same information. ABC, CBS and NBC interrupted programming across the country at almost the same minute, 10:45 p.m., with the news. “We’re hearing absolute jubilation throughout government,” the ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz reported.

Brian Williams on NBC told viewers, “This story started to leak out in the public domain largely when some Congressional staffers started to make phone calls.”

Additional Information

Information is coming out fast, from the initial intelligence to the raid itself and bin Laden's body disposal.

The Star Tribune reports that "CIA interrogators at secret prisons developed first strands that led to bin Laden"

The Politico reports that Osama bin Laden's body was buried at sea in accordance with "Islamic practice and tradition."


Reactions

Impromptu celebrations at ground zero, crowds gathering at the White House are just a couple examples of reactions within the US.

Other reactions around the world are more ambiguous.

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is accusing the U.S. of violating his country’s sovereignty:

“American troops coming across the border and taking action in one of our towns, that is Abbottabad, is not acceptable to the people of Pakistan. It is a violation of our sovereignty,” Mr. Musharraf told CNN-IBN, an Indian news channel.

He added that it would have been “far better if Pakistani Special Services Group had operated and conducted the mission. To that extent, the modality of handling it and executing the operation is not correct.”

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is condemning the killing and calling bin Laden a "holy warrior":

"We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood," Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters.

Though he noted doctrinal differences between bin Laden's al Qaeda and Hamas, Haniyeh said: "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs."

It is being reported that inside of Pakistan the sense of mood is "stunned silence."


Political Reactions

Political posturing has already started but with politics what it is, that was to be expected.

What is surprising is that while many are praising Obama, others in the media and blogosphere giving Bush his due for his decisions which ultimately led to the information on the courier that ultimately led to bin Laden's fall, realism about how Obama will "exploit" this for political gain, comes from progressive leftist Glenn Greenwald:

In sum, a murderous religious extremist was killed. The U.S. has erupted in a collective orgy of national pride and renewed faith in the efficacy and righteousness of military force. Other than that, the repercussions are likely to be far greater in terms of domestic politics -- it's going to be a huge boost to Obama's re-election prospects and will be exploited for that end -- than anything else.

Nate Silver from FiveThirtyEight delves into how this will help Obama, short term and perhaps give him a ratings bounce but ultimately will not be predictive of "how much the residue of this news might produce for him 19 months from now."

The media, bloggers and political pundits across the Internet are weighing in, staking positions and writing about the reactions across the world as well as the political ramifications.

This blogger has but one reaction at the moment.

May Osama bin Laden burn in hell. No virgins for you bin Laden!!!

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BREAKING: Bin Laden Is Dead

Televisions shows across the board on prime time have been preempted in preparation for Barack Obama to make an announcement, but the reporters are saying Bin Laden is dead, killed by US military action and that we are in possession of his body.

Bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaeda, claimed the responsibility of the horrendous attack against the United states of America on 9/11/01 which killed nearly 3,000 people after planes were hijacked and two were flown directly into the world trade center, one flown into the Pentagon. and one, due to the heroics of the passengers, was brought down before being able to used as a weapon, killing all on board.

More on this tomorrow.

Initial news stories here, here, and here.

[Update] Initial reports said Bin Laden was killed a week ago, but Obama's speech clearly said he was killed today.

Follow up news stories from ABC News, BBC, MSNBC, AP, CNN, and CBS News.

Obama's speech, unedited, below:



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