A conservative legal watchdog group says the deadline is up and is suing the CIA and Defense Department to release photos and videos of the May raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
"The American people by law have a right to know basic information about the killing of Osama bin Laden," Tom Fitton, president of Washington-based Judicial Watch, said in a statement. "President Obama's personal reluctance to release the documents is not a lawful basis for withholding them. The Obama administration will now need to justify its lack of compliance in federal court. This historic lawsuit should remind the administration that it is not above the law."
The al Qaeda mastermind was killed when U.S. Navy SEALs stormed his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2. He was later buried at sea. Though some members of Congress have been allowed to see photos and CIA Director Leon Panetta initially said it was "important" that the photos be released, President Barack Obama said his administration would not release photos of the slain terrorist leader or his burial.
The photos - which have been described as gruesome and reportedly show brains hanging out of bin Laden's eye socket - could be used as a propaganda tool and could result in additional violence against American interests, Obama told "60 Minutes" last month, comparing the release of the photos to an unnecessary end-zone celebration.
"We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Obama told the news show. "We don't need to spike the football."
Judicial Watch, which describes itself as a "conservative, non-partisan educational foundation" pursuing transparency and integrity in government, filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Defense Department and CIA last month.
The CIA acknowledged receiving the request May 4, according to court papers. On May 9, the Defense Department replied that it would not be able to comply with the request within the statutory 20-day period. Nor would a 10-day extension provide sufficient time, the department said.
Both departments had 20 business days to respond: June 2 for the CIA, this past Tuesday for the Defense Department, according to Judicial Watch. The group now says the government is "unlawfully withholding records," causing irreparable harm to the watchdog organization.
The suit, Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency (No.11-00890) (PDF), seeks access "to all photographs and/or video recordings of Osama (Usama) bin Laden taken during and/or after the U.S. military operation in Pakistan on or about May 1, 2011."
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Right to know and need to know are two different things and they dont need to know or see.....
their are some very sick people out their
Some may deserve double taps themselves....But I guess some would need photo's of that to insure the stupid gene ended there.
there*
Ah, just a bunch of fundamentalist Republican hard-ons. Pick your battles, GOP'ers. You look really desperate.
Why must you and others like you (both republican and democrat) group everyone together? A group that claims to be conservative says they want the photos released. What does that have to do with the majority of Republicans? I will never understand that mentality. Honestly, it seems failry week minded for people to just block people up into groups. And it seems a bit old fashioned doesn't it?
These wazoos need to be tried for disturbing the peace and fined, heavily. For once we get a chance to one-up the terrorists in the media and some right-wing crackpot group wants to join al-queda in calling for these photos out of some obsessive political manifest. You want a photo? Here, look at this my watchdog friends.
I'm Republican, conservative and really have no use for the current administration and congress. BUT, there is no purpose served whatsoever by releasing these or any photo's of that operation. Even the enemy terrorist say he's dead, long buried at the bottom of the ocean. These photo's should stay out of the public domain, period. For the safety of our troops and to deny the enemy any propoganda, the should be forever sealed. We've got an economy on the ropes and Americans wanting to work....let's keep our eye on what really matters...these photos don't.
Funny how the conservatives opposed the release of the photos of abused prisoners at Abu Ghraib when Bush was president, yet they've completely changed their tune now. I'd love to hear one of their apologists explain how this isn't a huge double standard. I'm waiting...
use one of these idiots to portray bin laden and have the SEALs re-enact the raid. .let everyone watch him get blasted
So, you think that releasing the photo is somehow worse than killing the people that want it released? You are a twisted POS!
I remember when Obama and Hillary were campaigning in '08 and I was shocked at the things they were saying about our country Pres. Bush, our troops, if anyone endangered our citizens it was the leftist, progressive socialists.talk about not spiking the football, my hero.
You really are an idiot. You definitely have drunk too much koolaid.
I believe Obama made the right choice and it should still be upheld. There is a risk of creating even more enemies by releasing the photos. They may be interesting to see and we are all curious but it isn't worth ANOTHER 10+ years fighting in a war defending our nation from attacks. Sure some attacks will still occur but why not avoid what we can and NOT influence hatred?
It took forty years for us to see the information regarding the deaths of the Kennedy's, Dr. King and Malcolm X. Further this group didn't seek proof of WMD's from Bush or pictures of dead American soldiers. The pertinent information was shown to Senators and Congressmen and if they want to make this a birther issue so be it. Soon the Republicans will want a weiner shot to prover Obama is black. IDIOTS!!!
Where was this conservative legal watchdog group during the Bush/Cheney administration?
I like to think that we are a nation that has some standards and ethics on which most of us can agree. And I hope this is one of them; we do not put on display a person's body that we executed. It is barbaric! If not, then we're far worst off than I thought. What's next public hangings?
And the right is always complaining about the ALCU.
No wonder the complaints are ineffective. I think they would get more traction if they complained about the ACLU.
Forget the videos.
The SEALS use special, classified tactics which should never be publicly released, even partially, IMHO.
And who cares if he was killed without posing an immediate threat at that time?
Relevant international authorites have long given the "green light" for his assassination.
And the still photos would serve absolutely no purpose. None at all.
The conservatives are nuts. What is wrong with these fools. They endanger people's lives and make our country look like fools.