In the wake of the execution of Osama bin Laden, the Obama administration is having an internal debate over whether to release pictures and videos of the dead body of the terrorist leader.
While the White House will likely publish the death picture of bin Laden, which will clearly show a bullet hole just above his left eye, there are concerns that displaying such an image will inflame Islamo Fascists who regard the terrorist chieftain as a hero, making more likely a revenge terrorist attack.
On the other hand, publishing the death photo will help to quiet conspiracy theories that bin Laden is not, in fact, dead. This story is not only spreading across the Middle East, where conspiracy theories are as prevalent as the heat, but also in some quarters in the United States.
The "bin Laden is Alive" conspiracy will not be entirely put to rest. Conspiracy nuts tend to believe what they believe because, in the words of the X-Files' Fox Muldeur, they want to believe. Evidence to the contrary can always be explained away as being faked or misleading.
One other bin Laden conspiracy theory that has been around since the early days after 9/11 is that idea that bin Laden is already dead, killed in the Battle of Tora Bora. Bin Laden had given coalition forces the slip in the late 2001 battle and had ever since been living in Pakistan, at first in caves in the tribal regions, and then in the mansion where the SEALs found and killed him.
The "bin Laden Has Been Dead For Years" theory had as its premise that the terrorist chieftain would be pronounced dead at some politically opportune moment. This idea was somewhat refuted when President George W. Bush failed to follow this plan, either in 2004 to pad his own victory margin, or in 2008 to help John McCain.
President Barack Obama put even more cold water on the theory by having bin Laden killed in the spring of 2011 and not the fall of 2012. That either means that in fact bin Laden met his end in the early morning hours of May 2 or else President Obama is an incompetent conspirator.
While the White House will likely publish the death picture of bin Laden, which will clearly show a bullet hole just above his left eye, there are concerns that displaying such an image will inflame Islamo Fascists who regard the terrorist chieftain as a hero, making more likely a revenge terrorist attack.
On the other hand, publishing the death photo will help to quiet conspiracy theories that bin Laden is not, in fact, dead. This story is not only spreading across the Middle East, where conspiracy theories are as prevalent as the heat, but also in some quarters in the United States.
The "bin Laden is Alive" conspiracy will not be entirely put to rest. Conspiracy nuts tend to believe what they believe because, in the words of the X-Files' Fox Muldeur, they want to believe. Evidence to the contrary can always be explained away as being faked or misleading.
One other bin Laden conspiracy theory that has been around since the early days after 9/11 is that idea that bin Laden is already dead, killed in the Battle of Tora Bora. Bin Laden had given coalition forces the slip in the late 2001 battle and had ever since been living in Pakistan, at first in caves in the tribal regions, and then in the mansion where the SEALs found and killed him.
The "bin Laden Has Been Dead For Years" theory had as its premise that the terrorist chieftain would be pronounced dead at some politically opportune moment. This idea was somewhat refuted when President George W. Bush failed to follow this plan, either in 2004 to pad his own victory margin, or in 2008 to help John McCain.
President Barack Obama put even more cold water on the theory by having bin Laden killed in the spring of 2011 and not the fall of 2012. That either means that in fact bin Laden met his end in the early morning hours of May 2 or else President Obama is an incompetent conspirator.
