Obama Says Bin Laden Death Anniversary Isn’t Being Celebrated

President Barack Obama denied his administration is celebrating the anniversary of the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, saying Americans “rightly remember” what the nation accomplished with his death.

“I hardly think that you’ve seen any excessive celebration taking place,” Obama said in response to a question at a White House news conference today.

The one-year anniversary of bin Laden’s death at the hands of U.S. special operations forces in Pakistan should be a time for “some reflection,” he said.

Republicans, including presidential candidate Mitt Romney, have accused Obama of using the anniversary for political purposes in the election campaign. Vice President Joe Biden last week said the slogan for Obama’s first term could be “Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.” The campaign also has created an advertisement questioning whether Romney would have given the order to kill bin Laden.

Romney today said he “of course” would have given the go- ahead for the raid on bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net; Hans Nichols in Washington at hnichols2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net