But even if your hypothesis were true, photos of OBL's dead body wouldn't make the case one way or another. So there's still no equivalent with Abu Ghraib.
Why is releasing the photo so important? With all the tools available today, none of us could verify its authenticity anyway. (And you KNOW there'd be a sudden rash of bloggers claiming the photo was a fake.)
Given the hard feelings from the previous decade, what is so wrong about a little sensitivity toward feelings in Muslim countries? We can't go to war with a billion Muslims, so would it be so bad if we got a few on our side?
Obviously, "sensitivity" didn't keep Barack Obama from invading Pakistan (technically an act of war, BTW) and killing bin Laden.
We rightly complain bitterly when Arabs celebrate American deaths (civilian or military); so why not take the high road and refrain from the high tech equivalent of dragging Osama Bin Laden's corpse through the streets and sticking his head on a pike at the castle gate?