Steve Clemons makes an excellent point. We should release the photo of Osama dead, but also release the photos of his body being prepared, by Muslim rites, for burial at sea. If we're willing to be that civilized with our mortal enemies... It's a good point.
Here's Steve on MSNBC making the argument.
CBS says Obama is now saying he won't release the death photo (though that doesn't mean he can't or won't change his mind - "no" rarely means "no" with this President). I tend to agree with Steve. I think people need closure. I think I do. I think it's important to show the world that the "terrorist who was 10 feet tall" really wasn't. As for the notion that this will put the troops in danger, newsflash: the troops already are in danger. Al Qaeda already wants to kill both them and us. More generally, do I think a photo of Osama dead might enrage a few extreme Muslims, sure. And might it show a lot of other Muslims that the guy wasn't all that, you bet. I'm just not sure we can game this that well.
NYT is writing about this now as well, saying Obama won't release the photos. If he won't release the gruesome photos he should at least release the ones of Osama's body being prepared for burial under Muslim rites, and make sure you include a photo where you can see Osama himself, and avoid a gory one. There's a huge PR benefit to that.
Now here's an interesting ditty, from the CBS article, where a House Republican committee chair seems to be equating our troops with Osama:
Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Wednesday that the Obama administration should not release the gruesome post-mortem images, saying it could complicate the job for American troops overseas. Rogers told CBS News he has seen a post-mortem photo.
"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet," he continued. "Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaida has been eliminated."First thing, Osama bin Laden is not the moral equivalent of an American soldier, thank you very much. Second, I'm not convinced that Al Qaeda will base its future actions on how we treat Osama's photo. I think they're going to treat our troops like garbage, regardless. They're terrorists who blow up innocent children in airplanes, and Congressman Rogers thinks they're going to suddenly act like gentlemen if only we return the favor?
