Top story: The White House announced on Wednesday that it would not release pictures of a dead Osama bin Laden that the U.S. commando team took during the raid on his compound. President Barack Obama said that the decision to withhold the photos was in order to prevent from being used "as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool."
The decision to not release the photographs comes as the administration's account of the raid was called into question on several fronts. In addition to questions over whether bin Laden was killed during a firefight or used his wife as a human shield, the White House's claim that the compound was worth $1 million was challenged by accounts showing that the land was purchased in 2004 and 2005 for $48,000. The administration stood by its estimate of the compound's value.
New details also suggest the U.S. commando team faced less resistance than the White House initially implied. The 20-man Navy Seal team that raided the compound were only fired upon by bin Laden's courier. After shooting and killing him, the Seals were not shot at again during the raid. This account differs from White House spokesman Jay Carney's statement that the commandos "were engaged in a firefight throughout the operation."
The White House said its initial errors were caused due to haste, as it tried to gather the facts from the debriefing of the Seal team that was occurring thousands of miles away.
Presidential visit to Ground Zero: Obama will travel to the site where the World Trade Centers used to stand in downtown Manhattan today, to lay a wreath commemorating the nearly 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks.
The decision to not release the photographs comes as the administration's account of the raid was called into question on several fronts. In addition to questions over whether bin Laden was killed during a firefight or used his wife as a human shield, the White House's claim that the compound was worth $1 million was challenged by accounts showing that the land was purchased in 2004 and 2005 for $48,000. The administration stood by its estimate of the compound's value.
New details also suggest the U.S. commando team faced less resistance than the White House initially implied. The 20-man Navy Seal team that raided the compound were only fired upon by bin Laden's courier. After shooting and killing him, the Seals were not shot at again during the raid. This account differs from White House spokesman Jay Carney's statement that the commandos "were engaged in a firefight throughout the operation."
The White House said its initial errors were caused due to haste, as it tried to gather the facts from the debriefing of the Seal team that was occurring thousands of miles away.
Presidential visit to Ground Zero: Obama will travel to the site where the World Trade Centers used to stand in downtown Manhattan today, to lay a wreath commemorating the nearly 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks.
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-By David Kenner
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
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