FACT CHECK: Photo Of George Bush Edited To Include Osama Bin Laden
A post shared on social media purportedly shows an image of then-President George W. Bush sitting at a table with his advisors and Osama bin Laden.
Verdict: False
The image has been digitally altered.
Fact Check:
Two US Navy SEALs are not presumed dead after going missing during an anti-Houthi operation, according to BBC News. The SEALs went missing off the coast of Somalia during a mission to seize Iranian weapons that were in route to the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
A post shared on Facebook purports to show Bush sitting with Al-Qaeda leader bin Laden. The photo allegedly shows the two at a table with several other people present.
The caption reads, “Familiar faces. I wonder when Osama bin Laden, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and Condoleeza Rice were all in the same room for this photo.? Before 9/11 or after? Probably before since bin Laden was holed up in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan after the attack,,,,,,,,,,,,,,or was he?”
The claim is inaccurate. The original image can be found on U.S. Department of Defense website the photo was taken on Sept. 12, 2001 and does not include bin Laden. The photo was taken at the Pentagon.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was digitally removed and replaced with an image of bin Laden. The DOD also shared another photo from a different angle of the same event. (Did Times Square Billboards Call Ceasefire Anti-Semitic?)
This is not the first time misinformation was shared online. Check Your Fact debunked a claim Saudi Arabia and Qatar supported strikes on Houthis.