Australia; Offering proof to marginalize conspiracy theorists

The Sydney Morning Herald

US deliberates over releasing Osama pics
May 3, 2011 - 5:26PM

Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, the Obama administration may need to prove it by showing photos of the world's most infamous terrorist after he was shot in the head.

"They need to release some verifiable information that it was bin Laden," said Brian Katulis, a Middle East and South Asia scholar at the Centre for American Progress in Washington, who visited Pakistan in February.

"You won't convince everybody, but you need to marginalise the conspiracy theorists."

President Barack Obama is weighing up whether to release a photo of bin Laden's body, which US forces identified through photo comparisons, DNA, and other means.

Bin Laden's body, weighted down, was released into the Arabian Sea following an Islamic funeral ritual performed aboard a ship by US military officers, according to the administration.

"We are going to do everything we can to make sure that nobody has any basis to try to deny that we got Osama bin Laden," John Brennan, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, said.

"So, therefore, the releasing of information, and whether that includes photographs, this is something to be determined."

Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said photos of bin Laden "should be released" at some point, though a release may be delayed to let reaction to the killing "cool down".

Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said a release of photos may be needed "to quell any doubts that this somehow is a ruse that the American government has carried out".

Maine Senator Susan Collins, the panel's senior Republican, said she agreed that the release of photos or DNA evidence may be needed to counter "those who will try to generate this myth that he's alive and that we missed him somehow".

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said releasing photos of bin Laden may do little to convince al-Qaeda sympathisers the US was being truthful.

"Even if you show the picture, there'll be sceptics," Powell said on CNN.

Asked if he would recommend releasing photos, Powell said, "I'll leave that up to the administration to decide. I don't need to see it. He's dead."

Matthew Levitt, director of the counterterrorism and intelligence program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said sceptics would remain regardless of whether the government released the phots.

"Let's not pretend that releasing these pictures will convince the conspiracy theorists," he said.

After the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in late 2003, the Bush administration released photos of him in custody.

Brennan said the administration must carefully review how any material is released to ensure that it did not compromise any future intelligence-gathering operations.

"You want to make sure that you're not doing anything to expose something that will limit your ability to use those same intelligence sources and capabilities in the future," he said.

Bloomberg

http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-deliberates-over-releasing-osama-pics-20110503-1e6b8.html