It doesn't look like the CIA's photos of a dead Osama bin Laden will ever see the light of day. A federal appeals court today ruled that the Obama administration's argument that releasing them would incite riots and anti-US violence makes sense, reports Reuters. A conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, has been waging a legal battle to have the photos made public, and it's not clear whether today's ruling will be the end of it.
"It is undisputed that the government is withholding the images not to shield wrongdoing or avoid embarrassment, but rather to prevent the killing of Americans and violence against American interests," said the ruling from the US Court of Appeals in DC. (Images that turned up shortly after the raid in Pakistan turned out to be hoaxes, much to the embarrassment of some lawmakers.)