Decision Not to Release Bin Laden Photos Sparking Debate

During a briefing today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney repeated and reiterated the President’s decision not to release postmortem photos of Osama bin Laden or his burial at sea.

Carney read the quotes today, taken from President Obama’s upcoming interview with 60 Minutes.

“It is important for us 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. I think that, given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk,” Carney said. Mediaite has the full video with Carney’s statement. Talking Points Memo notes that Carney is working to tone down and correct some of the conflicting details that have been disclosed.

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) disagrees with this decision, as do two other Republican Congressmen, Allen West of Florida and Steve King of Iowa. And Sarah Palin tossed in her two cents, saying on Twitter that the President was “pussy-footing around” by not showing the photos.

Reuters had purchased some photos of the aftermath (none with Osama bin Laden), which have been removed from Yahoo, but are still available for viewing on The Guardian. *Note: The photos on The Guardian website are graphic.