If You Had a Chance to View the bin Laden Photos, Would You?
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They're both Republicans, they both represent districts in Colorado and they both serve on the House Armed Services Committee. But on the issue of seeing photos taken after Usama bin Laden's death, Congressmen Mike Coffman and Doug Lamborn couldn't be more different.
Members of the Senate and House Intelligence and Armed Services committees were given an opportunity to see the pictures at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va.
Congressman Lamborn was one of the lawmakers who chose to view the images. "It brought me some closure," he said during a Sunday interview with Fox News. "It was more emotional than I thought it would be."
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Congressman Coffman, a Marine Corps combat veteran, said he had no interest in seeing the gory images, adding "I've been around war all my life."
Coffman went on to say that traveling to the CIA Headquarters "would not have been a good use of my time."
Lamborn argues that select members of Congress shouldn't be the only ones who see the photos, telling Fox News, "I think for Americans who were traumatized, I think there is some closure involved. Also, it shows that America is victorious."
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Lamborn added he thought the photos would send a powerful message to "the bad guys out there."
That message is what worries Coffman, who told Fox News the pictures could be used by America's enemies.
"I don't think we should release the images and allow them to be a rallying point for opposition against the United States," Coffman argued.
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Lamborn says the issue of incitement is a "valid concern" and offered a compromise.
"Don't take the most graphic ones," proposed Lamborn. "Let's take one of the least graphic ones and this will prove he's dead."