A newly-released email, the the Guardian, revealed that the top special operations officer of the US military issued an order of the destruction or turnover of all photographs of the corpse of the al-Qaida founder Osama Bin Laden to the Central Intelligence Agency. The email was reportedly obtained by conservative legal group Judicial Watch under a freedom of information request.
The document released on Monday by the group revealed that US Special Operations Command head Admiral William McRaven told officers in the military in May 2011 that any photos showing the remains of Bin Laden should have been destroyed or sent to the CIA. A special operations team of the US killed the terrorist group leader in Pakistan on May 2 that year, the Guardian said.
The office of the Pentagon's response to Judicial Watch's request under the freedom of information legislation said it could only locate the only document pertaining to McRaven's order, which was McRaven's redacted email.
The UK newspaper noted that the order McRaven gave followed the request by Associate Press to acquire photos and other related documents of Bin Laden's death under the US Freedom of Information Act. The Guardian explained that a government agency has to comply to a freedom of information request of an individual, group or entity, even though the government agency does not like to grant the said request.
The email in question was reportedly blacked out heavily. Addressed to anonymous gentlemen and referring Bin Laden as UBL, McRaven said to his subordinates, "One particular item that I want to emphasis 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."
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said, referring to the email containing McRaven's orders, "(The email) is a smoking gun, revealing both contempt for the rule of law and the American people's right to know."
