Obama: Will not release Osama Photos

Obama on bin Laden pics: ‘We don’t trot out this stuff out as trophies’

In an interview that will air on CBS' 60 Minutes Sunday, President Barack Obama said that he will not release post-mortem photos of Osama bin Laden to dispel conspiracy theories.

CNN and Fox News confirmed the decision Wednesday.

"It is very important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of someone who was shot in the head are not floating around as incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool," the president told CBS' Steve Kroft. "That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff out as trophies."

"The fact of the matter is that this is somebody who was deserving of the justice he received, and I think that 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 have discussed this with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams, and they all agree."

Within the administration, Defense Secretary Robert Gates opposed publication of the photos, while CIA director Leon Panetta was for it.

"I just think it's important, they know we have it, to release it," Panetta told PBS.

Opinions about whether to release the photos did not break down along the usual party lines in Congress.

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