Obama Refuses to Release bin Laden Death Photo, Reactions Mixed, Pakistani Government Under Fire

For nearly two decades, Osama bin Laden has been one of the most wanted men on the planet. Ever since late 2001, bin Laden has been public enemy number one in the United States and essentially throughout the western world.

After spending an estimated one trillion dollars and countless hours trying to capture the al Qaeda leader, the United States government finally caught him this week.

The moment helped bring about a sense of patriotism throughout the nation as it was bin Laden who killed over three thousand Americans in New York one decade ago and now revenge was finally attained.

Many Americans were eager to see the death photo to make sure it really was bin Laden who was murdered. Others felt that the release of the pictures would be in bad taste and was not necessary. The fact that he was buried at sea leaves some skeptical if the reported death is a fact in itself.

President Barack Obama thought about his options and in the end decided to not release the photo of bin Laden’s dead body. Obama did not want to seem arrogant about the accomplishment and he did not want to anger those who felt that murder was not necessary and that bin Laden should have been captured and sent to prison instead. Obama also cited that conspiracy theorists would come out claiming the death did not happen even if he released the photo.

Now the attention is turned to how the Pakistani government could possibly be unaware that bin Laden was not only living in their state, but also living so close to a military school in Abbottabad.

American officials are now looking over information collected from the location bin Laden was living in. One hundred electronic storage devices, five computers, and ten hard drives are being analyzed. Other information being investigated are the phone numbers sewn in bin Laden’s outfit when he was caught and why he had $745 in Euros on his person.

Now the government is essentially done with bin Laden’s death. The focus now moves to the information collected. Through the electronics, they hope to find out if any al Qaeda attacks are being planned so that they can be stopped.

While Osama bin Laden is dead, al Qaeda is still quite alive. Most likely demoralized and shaken up, terrorists associated with al Qaeda are not going to simply give up their ways because bin Laden is dead and they still present a major threat to the free world.