The photo used by numerous mainstream media outlets such as the London Telegraph and the Daily Mail was put forward as genuine proof that Bin Laden had indeed been killed in the operation as described by U.S authorities.
However it was quickly revealed online that the photo was a composite made from images published on the internet years ago and a classic Bin Laden photo.
The mainstream media outlets that published the image have backtracked and are no longer using it; they have not explained the verification process that would have taken place to authenticate the image.
This is not the first time the mainstream press have published media clips of Bin Laden that have been shown to be fake; however this is the first major withdrawal and admission of fakery to occur.
Officials stated today that they were 99.9% certain the target had been Bin Laden. This statistic is apparently based on DNA testing even though DNA identity tests usually take at least 48 hours to complete. According to U.S officials his body has already been buried at sea. So in other words the public will just have to take their word for it.
Given the credible evidence that Bin Laden died in late 2001, it has been assumed that the rogue network that carried out the September 11th attacks has been keeping Bin Laden's death as a strategic trump card to play on the public at a time when ratings are low and/or more terror operations are being fostered or planned to instigate public reaction and support for further and more intensive wars of aggression and dominance.
