Bin Laden photographs: an inflammatory archive

The cover of a Time Magazine special report, above, is the fourth in a series that includes Adolf Hitler (1945), Saddam Hussein (2003 and Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi (2006).

On the one hand, US President Barak Obama has decided not to release photographs of the body of Osama Bin Laden for fear that these will incite violence. On the other, people are calling for the release of the photographs as ‘proof’ that Bin Laden is dead.

What’s at stake here I think is a bigger ethical question that relates to the right to dignity and privacy and the use to which archival material may be put. See the Media Monitoring Africa statement in the piece on Andries Tatane featured on this website.

Obama ‘won’t release Bin Laden death photo’

US president Obama has decided not to release a photograph showing the body of Osama bin Laden after he was killed by US commandos. The White House confirmed that the photograph would not be released, as President Obama did not want it to be used as a “propaganda tool”.  In an interview with CBS, Obama stressed it was important to keep photographic evidence from “floating around as incitement or propaganda tool,”
“That is not who we are. We don’t trot this stuff out as trophies,” Obama added. United States officials who have seen the pictures of Bin Laden’s body have described them as “gruesome”. There are fears that if the photos are released they could provoke anger and trigger a backlash against US personnel in the Muslim world. White House Intelligence Committee Chairperson Mike Rogers said he had seen the photo and was reluctant for it to be released, saying he was concerned for the security of American troops abroad.“The risks of release outweigh the benefits,” Rogers said, saying conspiracy theorists would just claim it was doctored anyway.“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.

Source: Mail and Guardian Online website

Without photo proof, is bin Laden really dead?

The official United States version of Osama bin Laden’s killing is being questioned around the world, with doubters asking why they have not yet seen stills or video footage of the raid, his corpse or his burial at sea

Zabiullah Mujaid, a Taliban spokesperson in Afghanistan, said in a statement to journalists: “This news is only coming from one side, from Obama’s office, and America has not shown any evidence or proof to support this claim.”.

“We are looking at releasing additional information, details about the raid as well as any other types of material, possibly including photos,” White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said on ABC News’s Good Morning America show. “We want to understand exactly what the possible reaction might be to the release of this information.”

In July 2003, the US faced criticism but succeeding in silencing most conspiracy theorists by releasing graphic photos of the corpses of Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay to prove that US forces had killed them.

Source: Mail & Guardian Online website

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