Obama Declines to Release Dead bin Laden Photos

It was just a little too much in-your-face for President Obama, as he explained his reasons today behind declining to release a photo of a dead Osama bin Laden.

Obama handed down his decision on whether the picture should go public in an interview this afternoon with  Steve Kroft CBS' "60 Minutes." White House press secretary Jay Carney read part of the transcript from that interview at his daily briefing. Here is a transcript of that segment of the briefing:

Carney: The President was asked about how they knew it was him. And he said:

The President: When they landed, we had very strong confirmation at that point that it was him.  Photographs had been taken. Facial analysis indicated that, in fact, it was him. We hadn't yet done DNA testing, but at that point we were 95-percent sure.

Question: Did you see the pictures?

 The President: Yes.

 Question: What was your reaction when you saw them?

 The President: It was him.

 Question: Why didn't you release them?

 The President: We discussed this internally. Keep in mind that 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. It is important for us 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. That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is, this was somebody who was deserving of the -- of the justice that he received, and I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he is gone. But we don't need to spike the football. And I think that given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk. And I've discussed this with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams, and they all agree.

Question: There are people in Pakistan for example, who say, look, this is all a lie.  Obama, this is another American trick. Osama is not dead. 

The President: The truth is that we were monitoring world -- that we are monitoring world -- that we are monitoring -- we were monitoring, rather, worldwide reaction. There is no doubt that Osama bin Laden is dead. Certainly there is doubt -- no doubt among al Qaeda members that he is dead. And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. 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.

Unarmed Osama Watched Wife Storm SEAL

White House spokesman Jay Carney today read a statement setting the record straight on details on the secret raid by the Special Operations Command's SEAL Team Six on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Here are Carney's own words, correcting some earlier information that turned out to be erroneous:

"What is true is that we provided a great deal of information with great haste in order to inform you, and through you the American public, about the operation and how it transpired and the events that took place there in Pakistan. And obviously some of the information came in piece by piece and is being reviewed and updated and elaborated on. So what I can tell you, I have a narrative that I can provide to you on the raid itself on the bin Laden compound in Pakistan:

"On orders of the President, a small U.S. team assaulted a secure compound in an affluent suburb of Islamabad to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. The raid was conducted with U.S. military personnel assaulting on two helicopters. The team methodically cleared the compound, moving from room to room, in an operation lasting nearly 40 minutes. They were engaged in a firefight throughout the operation, and Osama bin Laden was killed by the assaulting force.

"In addition to the bin Laden family, two other families resided in the compound, one family on the first floor of the bin Laden building and one family in a second building. One team began the operation on the first floor of the bin Laden house and worked their way to the third floor. A second team cleared the separate building.

"On the first floor of bin Laden's building, two al Qaeda couriers were killed, along with a woman who was killed in crossfire. Bin Laden and his family were found on the second and third floor of the building. There was concern that bin Laden would oppose the capture operation, rather, and indeed he did resist. In the room with bin Laden, a woman, bin Laden's -- a woman, rather, bin Laden's wife, rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg, but not killed. Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed.

"Following the firefight, the non-combatants were moved to a safe location as the damaged helicopter was detonated. The team departed the scene via helicopter to the USS Carl Vinson in the north Arabian Sea.

"Aboard the USS Carl Vinson, the burial of bin Laden was done in conformance with Islamic precepts and practices. The deceased's body was washed and then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, and the deceased body eased into the sea.

"That's the narrative that I can provide to you today."