Yesterday, a US District Judge refused to release death photos of Osama bin Laden. Conservative watchdog organization Judicial Watch had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the photos, but Judge James Boasberg denied their request, saying:

A picture may be worth a thousand words. And perhaps moving pictures bear an even higher value. Yet, in this case, verbal descriptions of the death and burial of Osama bin Laden will have to suffice, for this court will not order the release of anything more.

The photos, which were taken nearly a year ago after the successful raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, reportedly show the dead Al Qaeda leader with bullet wounds to his face and chest. President Obama refused to release the photos on grounds that their publication might incite bin Laden's followers to attempt retaliatory attacks against the US.

The media was far less concerned about potential incitement of our enemies in 2004 when 60 Minutes II and the New Yorker published the Abu Ghraib photos. Salon returned to publish more photos in 2006 on the grounds that they were too important to be forgotten. If they were concerned about a potential backlash against the US, their self-justification for publishing the photos forgot to mention it.