Obama: We Won't Release bin Laden Photos as ‘Trophies’

President explains why he won't release Osama bin Laden Images
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 4, 2011 2:41 PM CDT
Osama bin Laden Photos: President Obama Says US Won't Release Them as Trophies'
A 2010 photo of Steve Kroft interviewing the president for 60 Minutes.   (AP Photo/CBS)

CBS has new details on President Obama's decision not to release photos of a dead Osama bin Laden. It comes down to not inciting violence or gloating, he tells 60 Minutes. Read a partial transcript here from the interview that airs Sunday. Excerpts:

  • "It is important 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 or as a propaganda tool."
  • "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies."

  • "We don't need to spike the football."
  • "Keep in mind, we are absolutely certain that this was him. We've done DNA sampling and testing. And so there is no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden."
  • "There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again."
(More Osama bin Laden death photos stories.)

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