CIA, Pentagon fight to keep Osama bin Laden death photos secret

Josh Gerstein
Politico
September 27, 2011

Photos and videos of Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden after he was killed in May in a U.S. military/Central Intelligence Agency raid in Pakistan should not be released publicly because they would reveal military and intelligence secrets and could lead to violence against U.S. personnel, the Obama administration argued in papers filed in federal court in Washington late Monday night.

The new filings from the Justice Department provide scant details about the imagery, but CIA National Clandestine Service Director John Bennett wrote that the CIA has “52 unique….photographs and/or videorecordings” depicting bin Laden during or after the May operation. Bennett did not break down the tally further, but said all the imagery is classified “TOP SECRET,” meaning that disclosure of the material could lead to “exceptionally grave damage” to U.S. national security.

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This article was posted: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 12:41 pm

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