Mass. Sen. Scott Brown on The Early Show on Feb. 21, 2011.
(Credit: CBS) Three Republican senators who claimed to have seen images of Osama bin Laden after he was killed may have been duped. Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts said Wednesday that he had been fooled by a fake photograph ostensibly showing an image of bin Laden post-mortem.
"I have seen the pictures. I've received the briefings. I've spoken to the operational leaders and I can tell you for a fact that he is dead," Brown said in an interview with WBZ Wednesday morning.
He repeated that point to other news outlets as part of his argument that the images should not be released.
"Listen, I've seen the picture," he told Fox-25 TV, according to the Boston Globe. "He's definitely dead. And if there's any conspiracy theories out there, you should put them to rest."
But Brown is now telling media outlets that "the photo that I saw and that a lot of other people saw is not authentic." His office would not say who showed the senator the fake photographs.
Two other Senate Republicans, Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, told reporters Wednesday morning they had viewed post-mortem images of bin Laden.
"I saw a photo of him deceased, obviously he had been wounded....when you see the picture it clearly has his features," said Ayotte.
But Ayotte released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying that she's not sure the picture was real.
"While I was shown a photo by another senator of what appeared to be a deceased Osama bin Laden, I do not know if it was authentic," she said. "However, I do believe a photo of the dead al Qaeda leader should be released. Although some may be upset by the image of someone who has been shot in the head, releasing a photo is important to put to rest any conspiracy theories that may arise around the world and to provide for closure."
And Chambliss - the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee - released an oblique statement Wednesday afternoon saying in part, "when I see the photos, I can make a judgment about the potential damage they may do."
"Apparently there was some misunderstanding about that," Chambliss told reporters as he left a vote, speaking of the image he had claimed to have seen. "I have no idea where it came from."
When asked how he, a high-ranking member of the Intelligence committee, could have fallen for photos that might not be authentic, Chambliss replied, "I was shown a photo by an individual that was represented to me as a picture of bin Laden after he's been shot that appeared to be an accurate photo. It was not an official photo." He said the person who shared the electronic photo with him was not an administration official.
The senators' initial claims seemed odd, since Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the chair of the Intelligence Committee, insisted she had not been shown the closely guarded photos of bin Laden.
President Obama told CBS News Wednesday that he would not release the images, saying "It is important 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."
Fake, photoshopped pictures of bin Laden have been appearing on the internet in the days since he was killed. It is not clear whether these are the pictures that the three senators - and perhaps others - believed were real.
House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-MI) who visited the CIA this week, says he has seen the authentic pictures. How does he describe them?
"If you've ever seen a crime scene photo, there's lot of those out there with gunshots -- gunshots to the head. It's clearly what it is -- face still recognizable, but there's clear damage from a gunshot wound," he said.Comments
- So what, most Americans actually thought Obama was a real man and president. He fooled all those Liberals on Welfare.
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- Beautifully and comprehensively demonstrating why stills or footage would never be accepted as final proof. As I said, Were Obama to release the genuine pictures, immediate response; "their fakes!!!!!!!!!!!!" Does anyone else get the distinct feeling of deja vu. BTW, love all those lib haters who were also fooled and then posted the fact.
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- The photo may be faked? Well, if anyone knows about passing off fake documents as real, it would be CBS News! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!
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- No one has seen the pictures. Why? There are none! Just like one minute the President watched the mission in real time and the next "he never saw a thing". One minute there is video, the next there is not. One minute there is a woman held hostage in front of Obama, then there is not. One minute there is a firefight with Osama, the next he's unarmed. One minute there is only him and a wife in the room, then there's a child. One minute it's a heavily guarded compound, then there's just a couple of couriers and a son. And the most disturbing of all is the official government statement that "Osama could offer no new intelligience about his terror organization".
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- "uH hUH!" Now the waters have been muddied. Obama has "worried and wavered" us into doiubt and "fakes" appearing. Thank you. Being me, I will most of me satisfied with News Venders I've had the most truth brought to me. "Drudge" presented a ssmall photo of the dead face of Bin Lauden shortly the Media lit on the story. . My Guess. The later photos were doctered to support the explainations of Obama. dictated from the WH News stories that supported Obama like The three Senators receiving "FAKE" photos which will become g"enuine" at some point since they fit His remplet. Now comes the classic struggle that has been pre=planned by those in contril of the Agennda.... You see you see they have an agenda and not one dfor truth.
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- Could this be the actual reason that Bush and the Republicans did not capture Bin Laden? They could NOT tell fake intelligence (propaganda) from actual factual intelligence? Are the Republican national security credentials solely based on their willingness to wage war at the drop of a hat, even when all the hat contains are fabrications where some of them have made up and others puffed up beyond recognition by members of their own party.
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- Obama: I won't release bin Laden death photos - Translation: This is a very sensitive issue. Some documents, as well as some photos may take awhile to reproduce to appear authentic. It took almost 3 years and millions of dollars to come up with my BC. My staff has been working, 24 - 7, on this behind closed doors and have had many back room discussions on how to best handle this. The truth is not important in this case but how we spin it to get the majority of The Foolks to buy in. Time is of the essence. We have to work fast before the truth comes out.
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- And the previous Governor of Hawaii (until Dec 6, 2010), a REPUBLICAN and her Administration are all co-conspirators in the elaborate fantasy (delusion) that is your world, klb6? Sounds like you are claiming there is a subversive element in the Republican Party that generated multiple allegedly fake document (according to you) while they controlled the "levers of power" in Hawaii! Clearly The Republican Administration in Hawaii publicly acknowledged they had verified the existence of the original birth certificate and also claim to have prepared the COLB so the Republicans in fact can be proven to have prepared one of your alleged fake documents and furthermore claimed to be in possession of the other of your alleged fake documents. Based on your alleged "evidence" I guess it's about time to start criminal fraud proceedings against the Republicans in Hawaii that have been perpetrating your alleged frauds. In the mean time we should be voting Republicans out of office for based on birther allegations of their inability or unwillingness to deal with criminal fraud activities by their own party members that hold elected or appointed positions of power, Right?
- Three Republican senators who claimed to have seen images of Osama bin Laden after he was killed may have been duped." LOLROTFLAMAO!!! doesn't take much to fool those idiot rePUBIC-CONS huh? a few amateurishly doctored photos and they fall for it hook line and underwear, er sinker.
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- "Listen, I've seen the picture." Hilarious. "Listen" yes, I'm listening nitwit. I don't mean this as a political commentary, but some people (elected mostly) who use the word "listen" to start a sentence, is the first indication that they are going to blow smoke. LISTEN, I was in a UFO! I flew it!
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- "I've seen him dead...". He's talking about Biden, right?
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