Revealed: US Admiral ordered all photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse destroyed

Washington: A conservative activist group Judicial Watch has revealed that the then head of US Special Forces Vice Admiral William McRaven in an e-mail all naval staff on May 13, 2011, eleven days after the Abbottabad raid, ordered that all photos of Osama bin Laden's body be either turned in or destroyed. The e-mail says: ""One particular item that I want to emphasize is photos; particularly UBLs remains. At this point -- all photos should have been turned over to the CIA; if you still have them destroy them immediately or get them to the [redacted.]" Soon after the Abbottabad raid, US President Barack Obama said he would not authorize release of any images of Osama bin Laden's corpse, saying it would create a security risk. In a midnight raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, US Navy Seals killed the Al Qaeda chief and several others, before leaving in helicopters carrying bin Laden's corpse, which was later thrown into the Arabian Sea from a US naval ship at an unknown location. The e-mail, which was almost entirely redacted, was released under a Freedom of Information Act request. Vice Admiral William McRaven refused to comment. Judicial Watch had called for the public release of the photos of the US Navy Seals raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden. Retired Gen. James "Spider" Marks, a CNN military analyst, says if McRaven ordered photos deleted, he may have been trying to protect operational secrets, sources and methods and trying to make sure no commandos kept any photos or video of the covert raid that they were not authorized to keep."It wouldn't be surprising if they shook them down, and they said 'OK, I want to make sure you don't have something that's hidden away someplace,' " he said. Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes said he would have similar concerns if photos of the terrorist's body were made public. "You would see those images forever on television," he said. "That could lead to more recruitment of future al Qaeda members, making him a martyr."