Osama photo decision fuels conspiracy theories
Almost immediately after the United States said it had killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the conspiracy theories started.
Where is the body? Why was it dumped into the ocean so quickly? And most importantly, where are the photos?
The U.S. government said Bin Laden was shot in the head when elite Navy SEALS stormed his compound Sunday in Pakistan. But these conspiracy theories are being further fueled by today's decision from the Obama administration not to release pictures of his corpse.
Some GOP leaders in particular are calling for stronger action from the President.
Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No pussy-footing around, no politicking, no drama; it's part of the mission, Sarah Palin wrote on her Twitter account.
Palin had company in Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has been calling for the release of the photos.
I respectfully disagree with President Obama's decision not to release the photos. It's a mistake, Graham said in a statement.
The whole purpose of sending our soldiers into the compound, rather than an aerial bombardment, was to obtain indisputable proof of Bin Laden's death. I know Bin Laden is dead. But the best way to protect and defend our interests overseas is to prove that fact to the rest of the world.
I'm afraid the decision made today by President Obama will unnecessarily prolong this debate, he added.
One assertion is that bin Laden was in fact a CIA stooge who had been dead for years, but the evidence was never released so as to justify the wars in the Middle East.
U.S. anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and other doubters chimed in as well.
If you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid, Sheehan wrote on her Facebook page.
Sheehan, who set up an anti-war camp at President George W. Bush's Texas ranch in 2005, disputes the facts given by the government, asking how the United States could get such fast DNA results, why the burial was hasty and why no video had been released.
And, she noted, the late Pakistani President Benazir Bhutto claimed in 2007 that bin Laden was already dead.
But the decision found support from Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary under President George W. Bush.
If you doubt he's dead, no photo will satisfy. For the rest of us, Navy SEALs don't miss, Fleischer wrote on Twitter.
No reason to feed this debate, Fleischer said.
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