Why The Photos Were Nixed

Ambinder reports on the Obama administration's decision-making process:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton consulted with allies in the Middle East and reported back that none thought the release of the photos would be in their interests. She and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also worried that the images would provoke anti-American violence at embassies, consulates, and military bases overseas. … Accounting for the morbid curiosity of human beings, there is little appetite, outside the media and some political elites, for the photos.

Really? Let's say that that doesn't jibe with my view of human nature. A reader writes:

Weren't the SEALS wearing audio visual equipment on their helmets? Would it be possible for the administration to release a still photo from this set showing an alive bin Laden? I don't think that anyone really doubts that whoever was there was killed, so seeing that he was actually there would be enough.

Another writes:

There has to be a middle ground between trotting out the photo as a trophy, and demonstrating that there is nothing to hide, because the deathers and other conspiracy theorists need to be put to rest. Why not make the photo publicly available for a short period in a secure location – in the archives, in the DOJ, at the Pentagon – somewhere where media and policymakers can see it but not release it to the public?

Another:

In the era of Wikileaks, the photos are bound to leak eventually.