Close to 19 months after the Osama Bin Laden death photo that rocked the world, new details have emerged regarding this terrorist's burial at sea.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, The Associated Press obtained numerous emails yesterday that - though heavily blacked out - indicated no sailors watched the water-based ceremony from the USS Carl Vinson and Islamic procedures were followed throughout.
Bin Laden, of course, was gunned down on May 1, 2011, by a Navy SEAL team at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
According to one message from the aforementioned ship's public affairs officer, only a few crew members were informed of the burial.
"Traditional procedures for Islamic burial was followed," the May 2nd email from Rear Adm. Charles Gaouette said. "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."
It's also interesting to note how those in the know referred to bin Laden's corpse as the "package" over emails. For security purposes, of course.
The Associated Press also asked for photographs of videos taken during the raid that killed this evil leader, but the Defense Department has said nothing of that sort can be located.