The U.S. faces a quandary trying to prove Bin Laden's death without inflaming the world so it may or may not release alleged photos of his irretrievable body. Skeptics include the mother of a 9/11 victim.
Sea burial fuels conspiracy theories
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles -- Within hours of the raid on Osama bin Laden's Pakistani compound, the CIA [claims it] had used 21st century technology to get "a virtually 100% DNA match" on the [executed] man. But something out of another century may come back to haunt Washington: the All Qaeda leader's burial at sea.Conspiracy theorists on both the left and right were quick to insist that Bin Laden was either still alive or had been dead for years, pouncing on the government's decision to slide the body of the world's most wanted man off a board into the Arabian Sea.
As blogs hummed with allegations that the Obama administration had faked the middle-of-the-night raid, the Bin Laden "death hoax" threatened to replace questions about President Obama's citizenship as the latest Internet rumor to go viral.
- Osama was unarmed when killed, White House says
- Pakistan's double-dealing game bothers U.S.
- Photos: Osama bin Laden's death
- Videogame Explanation: How Bin Laden was killed
- Obama's poker face was sorely tested
- Timeline: The life of Osama bin Laden
- Obituary: Born to privilege to die as pariah
"I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid," antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan posted on her Facebook page. "Just think to yourself -- they paraded Saddam's dead sons around to prove they were dead -- why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea?"
Infowars.com, the website of Libertarian radio host Alex Jones, was crammed with stories charging that the U.S. government had concocted the killing to justify a security crackdown. The Tea Party Nation website brimmed with indignant posts questioning the timing of Obama's announcement.
"Don't you think OBAMA needs something to assure his reelection," one commenter wrote.
Even a relative of one of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks voiced skepticism, citing the burial at sea.
"Is it true or false? I don't know," said Stella Olender of Chicago, whose daughter Christine died at the World Trade Center. "To me that seems strange, that they disposed of it and no one [besides] whoever was right there knows what happened." More
Infowars.com, the website of Libertarian radio host Alex Jones, was crammed with stories charging that the U.S. government had concocted the killing to justify a security crackdown. The Tea Party Nation website brimmed with indignant posts questioning the timing of Obama's announcement.
"Don't you think OBAMA needs something to assure his reelection," one commenter wrote.
Even a relative of one of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks voiced skepticism, citing the burial at sea.
"Is it true or false? I don't know," said Stella Olender of Chicago, whose daughter Christine died at the World Trade Center. "To me that seems strange, that they disposed of it and no one [besides] whoever was right there knows what happened." More