Rubio to ‘deathers’: If Osama bin Laden isn’t dead, let him produce a video
“What people need to know is that Osama bin Laden is dead. There is no doubt about it…If he’s not dead, let him produce another video,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
After Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of US Navy SEALs and the subsequent controversial decision to quickly bury him at sea, ‘deathers’ have emerged to challenge the validity of his demise.
These conspiracy theorists are mainly harping on the allegedly suspicious circumstances of bin Laden’s sea burial and how it conveniently eliminates the burden of having to produce his physical body.
Many of the ‘deathers’ demanded the physical body as evidence. At a minimum, they wanted photo and video proof, which the US government has so far decided to withhold.
However, the US government explained their decision for the sea burial. One, it respected the Muslim practice of burying a body within 24 hours. Two, it eliminated a land ‘shrine’ at bin Laden’s grave that could have been used as a site for Al-Qaeda recruitment.
Their reasons for not releasing video and photo evidence may be related to their desire to not provide any materials to fuel more hatred towards America.
Of course, the US government’s experience with ‘birthers’ and ‘truthers’ show that for some people, no amount of evidence is enough to convince them. In fact, they’ll immediately claim any released evidence as fraudulent and use it as further 'proof' of conspiracy.
However, the ultimate proof of Osama’s death is, as Rubio suggested, the cessation of his video and audio materials.
After bin Laden was ousted from Afghanistan by US forces, he has continuously produced video and audio materials. He is believed to have made at least one in 2011 and at least six in 2010.
The last publicly shown video footage of his person (versus just a still photo of him, which is the norm for most of the videos he produces) was released in 2007.
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