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Internal Emails Shed Light on Secretive Bin Laden Burial: ‘Traditional Procedures for Islamic Burial Was Followed’

Nov. 21, 2012 6:51pm Jason Howerton

Internal Emails Shed Light on Secretive Osama Bin Laden Burial

FILE – This is an undated file photo of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. (Credit: AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Internal emails among U.S. military officers indicate that no sailors watched Osama bin Laden’s burial at sea from the USS Carl Vinson and traditional Islamic procedures were followed during the ceremony.

The emails, obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, are heavily blacked out, but are the first public disclosure of government information about the al-Qaida leader’s death. The emails were released Wednesday by the Defense Department.

Bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011, by a Navy SEAL team that assaulted his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

One email stamped secret and sent on May 2 by a senior Navy officer briefly describes how bin Laden’s body was washed, wrapped in a white sheet, and then placed in a weighted bag.

According to another message from the Vinson’s public affairs officer, only a small group of the ship’s leadership was informed of the burial.

“Traditional procedures for Islamic burial was followed,” the May 2 email from Rear Adm. Charles Gaouette reads. “The deceased’s body was washed (ablution) then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag. A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased’s body slid into the sea.”

The email also included a cryptic reference to the intense secrecy surrounding the mission. “The paucity of documentary evidence in our possession is a reflection of the emphasis placed on operational security during the execution of this phase of the operation,” Gaouette’s message reads. Recipients of the email included Adm. Mike Mullen, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. James Mattis, the top officer at U.S. Central Command. Mullen retired from the military in September 2011.

Earlier, Gaouette, then the deputy commander of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and another officer used code words to discuss whether the helicopters carrying the SEALs and bin Laden’s body had arrived on the Vinson.

“Any news on the package for us?” he asked Rear Adm. Samuel Perez, commander of the carrier strike group that included the Vinson.

“FEDEX delivered the package,” Perez responded. “Both trucks are safely enroute home base.”

Although the Obama administration has pledged to be the most transparent in American history, it is keeping a tight hold on materials related to the bin Laden raid. In a response to separate requests from the AP for information about the mission, the Defense Department said in March that it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing bin Laden’s body. It also said it could not find any images of bin Laden’s body on the Vinson.

The Pentagon also said it could not find any death certificate, autopsy report or results of DNA identification tests for bin Laden, or any pre-raid materials discussing how the government planned to dispose of bin Laden’s body if he were killed.

The Defense Department also refused to confirm or deny the existence of helicopter maintenance logs and reports about the performance of military gear used in the raid. One of the stealth helicopters that carried the SEALs to Abbottabad crashed during the mission and its wreckage was left behind. People who lived near bin Laden’s compound took photos of the disabled chopper.

The AP is appealing the Defense Department’s decision. The CIA, which ran the bin Laden raid and has special legal authority to keep information from ever being made public, has not responded to AP’s request for records about the mission.

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Comments (56)

afellowpatriot
Posted on November 22, 2012 at 12:36am
I don’t suppose the fact that he’d been dead for years have influenced the decision to invite just a few “close friends” to the funeral?

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- afellowpatriot
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 12:40am
  What really ****** me off about the whole situation was the ambush and assassination of those Navy Seals.
  
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- banjarmon
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 1:00am
  WHO do I believe?? The WH or a NAVY SEAL…..hummmm….THE SEAL!!!!!
  
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- Jesse_J
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 6:06am
  Who cares if he was buried according to cusoms and traditions of hi “faith”. Read fresh political commentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
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- RamonPreston
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 8:09pm
  He’s not dead,m he’s sitting in the WH. Bin Laden was a CIA creation and Obama played the part. Go to Youtube.com and search: Obama is Osama
  
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- G-WHIZ
  Posted on November 23, 2012 at 11:27am
  Bein DEAD for years so WETHEPEOPLE couldn’t “see” the body cause it was severely DECAYED before it was”washed and uber-quickly disposed of after the NEW KILLING was faked!!
  
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drs1969
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:20pm
Gen. Mattis at ‘Central Command’. Ring a bell, anyone. Isn’t this where Jill Kelley has been plying her trade? Mullin’s already retired, how ’bout Mattis? Will he move up the ranks for being a loyal scout?

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Aldo
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:16pm
Intersting ways he should have been disposed of. To combine a few…”deserves to have been wrapped in bacon, pissed on by all the sailors, and then thrown in a hog pen. All on you tube in graphic detail!”

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taintso
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:53pm
If I was on that ship I would have tried to put a pound of bacon in the sheet with him, so he would have something to share with his virgins that look like Pigloski and Janet Nappy.

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independentvoteril
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:23pm
are we sure he’s even dead?? could be one of his look a like’s .. can’t believe anything coming out of D.C. .. are we SURE who’s running EGYPT???

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- betterpart
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 6:03am
  Ditto that. We’re not even sure who (or what) is running the USA.
  
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ALL4FREEDOM
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:22pm
Is it just me, or is anyone else bothered by the fact that the CIA has “special legal authority” to hide their nefarious plots from the public? Who else? And WHY do we put up with it?

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- drs1969
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:04pm
  The CIA has been behind the Afghanistan war since the beginning. It’s about the drug trade.
  Bin Laden was NEVER on the USS Vincent! He was most likely killed at Tora Bora in 2003, but was kept ‘alive’ to justify the war, thereby keeping the CIA’s drug business going. That’s why they hide behind legalities. That’s also why many of those Seals were killed in that chopper crash last year. Our government is despotic.
  
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- drs1969
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:13pm
  Vincent=Vinson.
  
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- Vast_Right_Wing_Meltdown
  Posted on November 22, 2012 at 4:33am
  Yeah that makes a lot of sense. You think if he were killed in Tora Bora the republicans would not have been talking non-stop about it this election? Is everyone on this site as dimwitted? If so it will make great content for my tumbr – rightwingmeltdown.
  
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24iconoclast24
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:04pm
In an unusual move, the Navy replaced an admiral commanding an aircraft carrier strike group while it is deployed to the Middle East. On October 27th, Rear Adm. Charles M. Gaouette, the commander of the USS John C. Stennis strike group, was returned to the United States for temporary reassignment. It involved allegations of “inappropriate leadership judgment” and was not related to personal conduct.

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- drs1969
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:11pm
  Gaouette better watch out. A fatal accident may be in his near future!
  
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pwatkins
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:00pm
I think Bin Laden was already dead. I believe nothing the WH says about anything.

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- rickc34
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 8:33pm
  I agree ..we have been lied to so much that it is hard to believe anything coming out of DC.
  
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ares338
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:55pm
I don’t believe this at all….but that’s just ole skeptical me ya know.

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spfoam1
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:52pm
If this is true then Obama is a commie POS who shows more respect for our enemy than our own troops. If it’s not true, then Obama is a lying commie POS. I thought I’d keep that short and sweet.

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eddie333
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:43pm
I don’t believe anything that comes out of the WH or from the Obama media. How exactly did they know how to perform a “traditional” burial? Did they look it up on wikipedia?

Hopefully, they just dumped his body in the ocean after all the men on the ship got to poop or pee on the corpse.

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Dushman Kush
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:39pm
Our Commander-in-Chief handled honorably the burial of an Esteemed Brother of the Muslim Ummah. Our Leader is to be commended for exhibiting Good Form at all times.

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- eddie333
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:45pm
  I heard the body was dumped in the ocean after the men on the ship pooped and peed on the corpse. Then they wrapped it in bacon and threw the corpse overboard.
  
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- DadRocked
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:31pm
  Up yours Dush
  
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- honkytonkman
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 9:57pm
  Assuming that this was even OBL, To give any respect to human debris such as this is giving aid and comfort to the enemy……………………TREASON.
  
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Thornyrose13
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:37pm
Bin Ladin was entitled to a burial. Not an Islamic one. His body should not have been desecrated, but he certainly didn’t deserve in death what he denied others while he lived. Wrapping his body and dumping it was appropriate. The rest, well, what is the point? Does he not go to Muslim heaven if the rites were not carried out?

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- drs1969
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:15pm
  During a Muslim uprising in the Philipines a 100 years ago, the bodies of dead muslims were wrapped in ‘full body’ pig skins to prevent their ascention to heaven. Rebellion stopped.
  
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ECOMCON
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:28pm
I would’ve paid good money to see that sand n whoops, that towel he whoops again. that muslim extre whoops a third time, that fine example of peaceful muslim coexistence and brotherhood with all nations and religions fed to the sharks.

Good riddance.

But what’s up with the pentagon having no records of anything? Was Valerie Jarrett secretly going on dates with an alive Osama rather than dancing and dining with the mullahs over in Iran? Hopefully there’ll be an insane amount of muslim honor killing and they’ll all wipe themselves out, and Jarrett too. Hah!!! That would leave Barry with only wife wife back at home.

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- ECOMCON
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:32pm
  Typo alert. Meant to say it would leave Barry with only one wife back at home.
  
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- drs1969
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:18pm
  The whole thing was an impromptu ‘production’ to deflect attention from Trump’s Birth Certificate controversy. Worked well, the fools bought it!
  
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ARealCharliesAngel
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:19pm
This is sickening!!!! Were the innocent people killed on 9/11 given a “traditional” burial?

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neverending
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:18pm
BS – don’t believe a word of it and I believe he is still alive. Not only is barry a pathological liar but it is unbelievable what lengths he would go to to win re-election and I think he did his dog and pony show for that reason and that reason alone and sadly more ignorant people believed it. I cannot stand the thought of listening to and reading about this commie for another four years!

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- truthnstuff
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:30pm
  Exactly! I don’t believe the story either. Nothing makes sense. At best it was someone resembling him.
  
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- drs1969
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 10:25pm
  He had failing kidneys 10 years ago. Had to have dialysis. He was already dead on 5/1/11.
  
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Alex
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:18pm
He should have been wrapped in bacon and stuffed with pork and then fed to the vultures.

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jpschaeffer
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:06pm
Bin Laden is alive……

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- GBTVFan_Non_American_Overseas
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:15pm
  Yep, Elvis spotted him last week in Las Vegas….
  
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- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:17pm
  Brits said he died back in 2002 or so. LOL.
  
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- db321
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:20pm
  Who cares about Bin Laden?
  
  I WANT TO KNOW WHO GAVE THE STAND DOWN ORDER IN BENGHAZI. I would like to know for the sake of the Family members that lost their loved ones. Especially the two brave SEALS that defied the “Stand Down Order” and ran to their own HEROIC DEATH! I want to know who called it, before I sit down to watch the Movie one day. I don’t want Susan Rice to tell me, I want the person that ordered it to have a fraction of the guts that those two Marines had to come out and tell me.
  
  God Bless the Families of each of the 4 killed in Benghazi, may God comfort everyone of you this Holiday Season.
  
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progressiveslayer
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:05pm
Should’ve dipped it in bacon grease and fed it to some ows freaks,they’ll be eating soon enough so no worries.

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- neverending
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 11:49pm
  Hey they could have fed him to barry – he eats dogs so there you go.
  
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greggor
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:05pm
I believe not one word that comes out of obastard’s mouth.. even if they aren’t his own.

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- neverending
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:14pm
  Amen to that!
  
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doomytram
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:03pm
If Obozo had to have that Florida Pastor buried, then he would have thrown the body in a trash dump.

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denkat56
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:03pm
Why? What are they going to do try an kill us , start a war, burn down embassies. Again why?

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MrKnowItAll
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:03pm
I Do Not Believe For One Second That He Is DEAD!

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- mercenary4freedom
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:14pm
  Tend to agree with you. This has been a big show by the lying obastard regime.
  
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LeadNotFollow
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 6:58pm
.
Bin Laden’s body should have been thrown into a hog pen.

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- meisterman41
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:07pm
  Well Said my friend!
  
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- mercenary4freedom
  Posted on November 21, 2012 at 7:10pm
  I would think they’d have bled whoever it was out good before loading him on the chopper to the ship. A double tap to the head is quite messy and stinks to high heaven
  
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Psychosis
Posted on November 21, 2012 at 6:55pm
yep sure uhhh huhhhh

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