Politico ^ | Ben Smith
Posted on Monday, May 02, 2011 3:17:09 PM by OldDeckHand
The decision to drop terror chieftain Osama bin Laden’s corpse into the Arabian Sea was the final meticulous step in a raid whose details were calculated to exert deadly force but also to achieve maximum effect in the propaganda war: the White House was careful to say bin Laden’s body had been treated according to Islamic tradition, but also to deny his followers a shrine.
But while the watery grave may help diminish bin Laden’s status as a martyr to his followers, it was already fueling conspiracy theories; as the administration resisted releasing even photographs of the slain terrorist leader on Monday, a predictable haze of myth and rumor had already, inevitably, begun to rise around him.
The White House said Monday morning that it is running DNA tests on some element of Bin Laden’s remains, and that it’s debating releasing a photograph taken of him after the lethal U.S. raid on his Pakistani compound.
“The United States Government has not yet been made a decision on whether there will be a photo release,” White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in an email.
-snip-
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan wrote her supporters, “I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you’re stupid. Just think to yourself—they paraded Saddam’s dead sons around to prove they were dead—why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea? This lying, murderous Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent—just put your flags away and THINK!”
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
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