In the “interest of national security,” the Obama administration this week said pictures of a deceased Osama bin Laden must not be released.
To release the images, the U.S. government said late Monday, could “inflame anti-American sentiments and provoke violent attacks on the United States or its citizens abroad.”
The statements are a response to a lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch. In May, not long after the news broke that bin Laden had been killed, the conservative watchdog group filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to obtain pictures of bin Laden.
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement that the U.S. was making a “political decision” to keep the images private, the Associated Press reports.
“We shouldn’t throw out our transparency laws because complying with them might offend terrorists,” he said in the statement. “The historical record of Osama bin Laden’s death should be released to the American people as the law requires.”
As the AP reports, the CIA located dozens of photos and videos, but is withholding them because they are classified material.
Read the rest here.
Read the court documents below:
Judicial Watch Pentagon
[9/28/11 3:05:36 PM] David Taintor: tx
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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