Ruppersberger views bin Laden pictures
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, one of a handful of lawmakers in Congress with oversight on intelligence issues, traveled to the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Virginia Thursday to view about a half dozen photographs of Osama bin Laden’s body, the Baltimore County lawmaker said.
“My first thought was, this was Osama bin Laden,” said Ruppersberger, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on Intelligence. “It wasn't really gruesome… There was some blood but his face was not distorted to the point where you couldn’t really determine who he was.”
Ruppersberger viewed the pictures in a fourth-floor conference room at CIA headquarters for about 30 minutes, he said. Analysts presented several pictures of bin Laden alive alongside the photographs of his body and highlighted matching facial features with arrows.
One of the pictures shows bin Laden wrapped in a white robe before he was buried at sea, Ruppersberger said. No one else is in the picture and the sea can be seen in the background, he said. Other pictures show bin Laden’s face and body.
President Barack Obama said this past weekend that he would not release photos to prove that bin Laden had been killed. “We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Obama said during an interview with CBS. "The fact of the matter is, this is somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received."
Since then several members of Congress, including those who sit on armed services and intelligence committees, have said they have been invited by the CIA to come to the agency's headquarters in Virginia to see the photographs.
Ruppersberger described the pictures as “respectful,” but said he nevertheless agrees with the administration’s decision not to release them for now. “We don't want to inflame people who support bin Laden. We don't want to put Americans at risk.”
Comments
and we are supposed to take obama at his word?
Posted by: Anonymous | May 12, 2011 1:18 PM
No. Nor Dutch. Nor Al Qaeda. Nor Bin Laden's family. Etc etc etc.
The tinfoil hat - it's working.
Posted by: sean | May 12, 2011 1:27 PM
don't want to put america at risk..hey
dummy did you just wake up from a long
sleep or being old are you just plain
diluted
Posted by: sylvan finkelstein | May 12, 2011 1:29 PM
uhhhh, in a white robe before he was dumped in the sea? No, he was in a weighted bag., was what we were told. Who is messing up here? "Dutch" dunce, the Sun? Or Obama? How can so many conflicting reports come out about snuffing off the most wanted man in the world? Gees so peets.
Posted by: R. Scott Grimes | May 12, 2011 1:36 PM
Was Ruppersberger also shown (with ample explanation) the results of the DNA testing that supposedly was done to confirm OBL's identity?
Posted by: Nick | May 12, 2011 1:38 PM
THE ONLY COMMENT I WILL MAKE
IS THAT YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE MR
BLOGGER
Posted by: sillyman michaels | May 12, 2011 1:38 PM
The word is 'delude'. As in: You've deluded yourself into believing your comments are clever.
Posted by: R.Farva | May 12, 2011 1:51 PM
I love Sylvan's comment. A condescending insult about "dilution." Look up that word. I think you've been deluded.
Posted by: Tyler | May 12, 2011 2:01 PM
Bin Laden is dead. It's that simple. Instead of blasting each other on a blog, worry about more important things, like whether or not catching Bin Laden proves to have the kind of impact we need it to have to wrap up these wars and bring our men and women home from overseas. They've been gone long enough.
Posted by: Fletcher McGee | May 12, 2011 3:07 PM
Sean is wearing a tinfoil hat. why? guess what Sean thrre is no Santa Claus either
Posted by: Anonymous | May 12, 2011 3:12 PM
Parading Congressmen and others into CIA HQs to view OBL's photos reminds me of the parade of celebrities who made their way to the WTC site after 9/11 alongside Giuliani for the "tour".
Posted by: lenny | May 12, 2011 3:14 PM
Yep. It is the "Hip" thing to do right now.
"Ruppersberger described the pictures as “respectful,” but said he nevertheless agrees with the administration’s decision not to release them for now."
What, they gonna wait til just the right time before the next election?
Like they are honestly worried about 'catastrophic' results from OBLs friends?
Same old, same old. Just another dog andpony show!
Posted by: htMac | May 12, 2011 3:33 PM
"and we are supposed to take obama at his word?"
No ... take his family at their words ... "they killed him in front of us".
You are a dope!
Posted by: Anonymous | May 12, 2011 3:38 PM
Dutch is Deep. Like a deep dish pie he devoured as a snack(or three). He doesn't want to inflame the Muslims? The Muslims are inflamed. Their religion is absolutist. One religion. Theirs.If you dont belong, they kill you or applaud those who do. Dutch is on the "Intelligence" Committee? Another Congressional Oxymoron.
Posted by: didactic1 | May 12, 2011 4:06 PM
Amazing to see you deniers/disbelievers/conspiracy theorists running as fast as you can from the mounting evidence that Bin Laden was in fact killed as stated, by our Navy Seals, in Abbattobad. You must really be miserable if you believe that so many from all sides are liars, supporting the same lie, or gullible, or whatever you think. You must live in a terrifying, paranoid world. Most of us thankfully live in the real world, and have been enjoying the sense of relief that has come with the removal of this avowed enemy of your and my existence, and the sense of pride that comes with a job well done by our own US intelligence, military, and president, doing it right for a change. I feel sorry for you.
Posted by: Mike | May 12, 2011 4:15 PM
dope is someone who takes Obama at his word
Posted by: Anonymous | May 12, 2011 4:20 PM
Taxpayers deserve to see it, since they, their children and grandchildren will be paying for OBL's death for years to come.
Posted by: MIke | May 12, 2011 4:36 PM