{"id":37980,"date":"2011-05-05T12:48:10","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T17:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/?p=37980"},"modified":"2011-09-24T16:52:02","modified_gmt":"2011-09-24T20:52:02","slug":"closure-or-pornography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/fe-911-2\/closure-or-pornography\/","title":{"rendered":"Closure or Pornography?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When asked whether he would make public the pictures showing the dead Usama bin Laden, President Obama\u00a0said\u00a0in a CBS News\u00a0interview: \u00a0“That’s not who we are. We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is that this is someone who is deserving of the justice he received. … We don’t need to spike the football.”<\/p>\n

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I believe all humans have a penchant for morbid curiosity, and\u00a0if there’s one thing we can count on, it’s our almost gleeful hunger for the titillation of\u00a0gawking at pictures of death and violence. After ten years of violent rhetoric, images of war and death in Iraq and Afghanistan, the execution of Saddam Hussein, and now\u00a0bin Laden dead, are we ready to pack that all up and put it away?<\/p>\n

According to CNN, Obama’s choice comes as a poll shows a majority of Americans support making the photographs public. When 700 adults were asked by a CNN\/Opinion Research Corporation whether or not the President should make public the photos proving the death of bin Laden, 56% of those asked said yes, the government should release a photo of bin Laden’s body. Another 39% said no. The poll of 700 adults had a sampling margin of 3.5%.<\/p>\n

Here is a sampling of opinion about the President’s decision:<\/p>\n

“I know bin Laden is dead. But the best way to protect and defend our interests overseas is to prove that fact to the rest of the world,” he said in a written statement. “I’m afraid the decision made today by President Obama will unnecessarily prolong this debate.” – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina).<\/em><\/p>\n

“I want to see them, personally,\u00a0 I did three tours. I’m not talking as a member of the Armed Services Committee — (but) as a Marine who did three tours because of 9\/11. As Americans we deserve to see them.” –\u00a0Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R-California).<\/em><\/p>\n

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“In my opinion, there’s no end served by releasing a picture of someone who has been killed, and I think there is absolute proof that Osama bin Laden was in fact the person … killed,”\u00a0 Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland).<\/em><\/p>\n

“I’d let a little time pass so we that we don’t play into the hands of people who want to retaliate with what obviously will be a sensational picture. I would not want to feed that sensation, so I’d wait days or weeks,” Sen. Carl Levin, (D-Michigan).<\/em><\/p>\n

“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. Osama bin Laden is not a trophy — he is dead and let’s now focus on continuing the fight until al Qaeda has been eliminated,”\u00a0 Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Michigan and Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman)<\/em><\/p>\n

“While I have said that a photo release may be a good way to combat the predictable conspiracy theories about bin Laden’s death, this is a decision for the President to make, and I respect his decision,”\u00a0Rep. Peter King, (R-New York and Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee).<\/em><\/p>\n

“Obama has not got any strong evidence that can prove his claim over killing of the Sheikh Osama bin Laden,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mojahed. <\/em><\/p>\n

“If it is true, then why they are not showing his body?”<\/p>\n

“I believe this is all fake,” one man said. “Wherever he is, he’s alive.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You know by the article’s title what I think about all of this. What do you think the debate about disclosure\u00a0is really about?\u00a0\u00a0Is it about vengeance? Political maneuvering? Would making the pictures public provide closure, more violence\u00a0or is it just more pornography?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When asked whether he would make public the pictures showing the dead Usama bin Laden, President Obama\u00a0said\u00a0in a CBS News\u00a0interview: \u00a0“That’s not who we are. We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is that this is someone who is deserving of the justice he received. … We don’t need … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":""},"categories":[1740],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37980\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planetwaves.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}