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Morbid curiosity

3 min read

To the editor:

On Saturday, May 7, there was an article in The Breeze called Another Bad Decision by Mr. Bob Tonetti in which he expressed his disappointment that the President had decided not to release the pictures of Osama Bin Laden’s fatal wounds. I appreciate Mr. Tonetti’s opinion and his service to America that gives all of us the right to express ourselves.

I agree that the 9/11 was a tragedy and I feel sorry for the many that lost their lives because of those terrorist attacks. I could not find a single number but I understand that between 2,985 and 3,497 people were killed. At that time we pursued Bin Laden to Afghanistan. Then for some unknown reason President Bush and his cronies decided to go after Saddam Hussein in Iraq supposedly because of the nuclear weapons they didn’t have. Did he write then and say that Bush had made a bad decision? Does he realize that we have given the lives of 4,420 U.S. troops, 316 non-U.S. troops, 141 journalist? Have we forgotten that Osama Bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian? Have we forgotten that he took refuge in Pakistan? Don’t we realize that to produce those pictures would be allowing al-Qaida to materialize Bin Laden. How can Mr. Tonetti refer to our President saying it was a gutless slap to many Americans not to release the pictures? Is he unaware that it was the courage and intestinal fortitude of our President to give the orders to the Navy Seals to kill this man?

Mr. Tonetti then states he feels that if we show the horrible pictures to other terrorists, it could cause them to give up their beliefs. Would seeing a picture of someone who was killed because they believed the same way you do change your mind? Not mine. My husband served 4 1/2 years in the U. S. Navy and is a proud member of the VFW. He tells me that he has seen enough deaths to last a lifetime. He does not need to see a picture of a man with part of his skull missing caused by a bullet. Has Mr. Tonetti forgotten how many were recently killed only because the Florida preacher burned the Koran? Will he consider that this decision was made to avoid putting other Americans in harm’s way? Does he really believe that it is worth all that just to satisfy a morbid curiosity?

Mary West

Cape Coral