Dans une entrevue à l'émission 60 Minutes de CBS, Barack Obama a déclaré qu'il ne publiera pas de photos de la dépouille d'Oussama ben Laden. Selon lui, la diffusion de tels documents ne ferait pas changer d'avis à un seul amateur de théorie de conspiration mais risquerait de servir d'outil de propagande contre les États-Unis. Il a également fait valoir que les États-Unis n'avaient pas besoin de brandir ces photos «comme des trophées».

Je cite dans le texte un extrait de l'entrevue :

"Question: Did you see the pictures?

"The president: Yes.

"Question: What was your reaction when you saw them?

"The president: It was him.

"Question: Why didn't you release them?

"The president: We discussed this internally. Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him. We've done DNA sampling and testing, and so there is no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden. It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is, this was somebody who was deserving of the -- of the justice that he received, and I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he is gone. But we don't need to spike the football. And I think that given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk. And I've discussed this with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams, and they all agree.

"Question: There are people in Pakistan for example, who say, look, this is all a lie. Obama, this is another American trick. Osama is not dead.

"The president: The truth is that we were monitoring world -- that we are monitoring world -- that we are monitoring -- we were monitoring, rather, worldwide reaction. There is no doubt that Osama bin Laden is dead. Certainly there is doubt -- no doubt among al-Qaeda members that he is dead. And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not seen bin Laden walking on this Earth again."

P.S. : On trouve ici des photos obtenues par Reuters et prises par un responsable pakistanais de trois cadavres ensanglantés retrouvés dans la résidence d'Oussama ben Laden après l'opération d'un commando américain dimanche.

Cyberpresse montre également les photos dans cette vidéo :