Do You Care if US Forces Unloaded 100+ Bullets into Bin Laden?

Initial reports claimed two shots were fired to kill bin Laden. While that number climbed in later reports, the claims of "over a hundred bullets" would suggest a level of savagery and, as SOFREP puts it, "self-indulgence" not admitted in prior accounts of the operation. SOFREP notes these actions would violate the Laws of Land Warfare and build on a disturbing trend of alarmingly brutal military behavior that includes graphic evidence of U.S. troops burning and urinating on slain enemy combatants.

But an extreme degree of violence would explain why U.S. President Barack Obama's administration was so resistant to release a set of photos, for fear of a possible backlash against U.S. interests.

Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, sued the administration for access to the photos last year, claiming there was "no apparent nexus" between U.S. intelligence activities and the images of bin Laden's burial or preparation for burial at sea. A federal appeals court ultimately ruled the CIA did not have to release any of the photos.