Bin Laden Quiet, Bush Silent

Power Line ^ | Hindrocket

[JessieHelmsJr]

We've gone back and forth on the question whether Osama bin Laden is dead. Today, Matthew Heidt of Froggy Ruminations argues that bin Laden is an ex-terrorist:

[JessieHelmsJr]

We've gone back and forth on the question whether Osama bin Laden is dead. Today, Matthew Heidt of Froggy Ruminations argues that bin Laden is an ex-terrorist:

You hadn't heard? Well, I'm not breaking news, President Bush knows damn well that UBL has been dead for quite some time. But why would Bush keep it to himself? If he were to disclose his knowledge that UBL is dead he would blow John Kerry's doors off in the election, and yet he remains silent. Why?

Maybe you're wondering how I know he's dead. Perhaps one of my SEAL buddies let me in on the secret? NO. I know because a publicity whore and grandstanding scumbag like UBL could not possibly resist the multitude of opportunites to inspire his cult members. His number 1, Zwahiri, has appeared on video or audio broadcasts every few months since 9/11. UBL has not been heard from since Tora Bora despite developments in the GWOT in Afghanistan and Iraq that make it unthinkable for him to have remained silent.

Zawahiri decided that it was better to just pretend that UBL was alive because there was no plausible martyr story to tell. UBL went out running for his life like a coward. He is dead.

By why not make it public? After all, this is the one thing that could ensure the President's re-election. Because the President knows that making UBL a martyr would serve to further inspire his minions, and he realizes that preventing this from happening is more important than his re-election. Instead, UBL remains forever silent even as his recruits yearn to hear his voice. Eventually these cultists will realize themselves that UBL went out like a punk, not a martyr and that the AQ head shed has been lying to them for years. That realization combined with US combat boots knocking their teeth down their throats will go a long way to beating this cult into submission. But it is important to recognize that the President's committment to killing terrorists supercedes his committment to his own re-election.

It is hard to see any other explanation for bin Laden's three-year silence.

[LOC1]

If Kerry should happen to win, we will face an increased probability of terrorist attacks here in the US.

Kerry is Osama’s man, Bush is mine.

[diamond6]

Very interesting take.

[rang1995]

i am sure during the first debate,there were plenty of things he could not say as commander in chief.Like when the subject of IRAN came up..He already promised they would not be allowed to go nuclear,when the question was asked he can't say Bombs away nov 3rd

[Dick Vomer]

I disagree... he's alive and well..... in a parallel dimension,

However in THIS dimension he's buried under a couple of hundred tons of rock and the man is a messy carbon accumulation of hate. Too bad.. so sad.. it sucked to be him.

I'm just sitting back and praying that we let the Marines loose on Falluja one more time... this time we delay the sniper pull back..... I've heard it's like a prairie dog hunt.... so many targets, so little time.

[blackie]

When we dropped that daisy cutter in Tora Bora I believe we got the creep ~ he hasn't made a video since.

Death to all Islamofascist terrorists!

Be Ever Vigilant ~ Bump!

[Boundless]

> ... the President knows that making UBL a martyr
> would serve to further inspire his minions ...

There's a lot to be said for keeping him "undead".

Instead of rallying the cells, we catch them sitting by
the phone waiting for orders that will never come.

[trashcanbred]

I think a more telling sign is Kerry doesn't talk all that much about Osama. He has made some comments but um... he seems a little scared to talk about it.

[blackie]

Roghr that ~ a target rich environment ~ Bump!

A sniper's (with a .308) dream! :)

[WildTurkey]

Bush can't say anything because Teresa has OBL holed up in their Nantucket mansion just waiting for Bush to "declare" OBL dead.

[GSlob]

IMHO, if OBL pegging out could be disclosed and presented as having happened under inglorious and demeaning circumstances (like him at the time wearing a turdban made of panties, or drowning in a septic tank, or whatever), then he would not be made looking a martyr, nor would his followers be seriously energized. Organizing such a presentation should not be too challenging technically, on condition there was any substance to present.
Thus I'd say that the argument about the merits of keeping his demise under wraps does not hold much water.

[charleston1]

"I've heard it's like a prairie dog hunt.... so many targets, so little time."

I will never forget the time the Fallujah terror cells claimed that the Marine snipers were indiscriminately killing innocent people. It was during our first attack before the Iraqi police were ready. The Marine General, I don't recall his name, said that his snipers are the best weapon we have have because they all control one *precision* guided missile at a time. The terrorists just don't like seeing their buddies get their brains splattered on walls by these special missiles--50 caliber missiles.

[stockpirate]

I for one liked the plan of going in and pulling back, than going in and pulling back.

As you said, "Target rich"

[LiberalBassTurds]

President Bush knows damn well that UBL has been dead for quite some time. But why would Bush keep it to himself? If he were to disclose his knowledge that UBL is dead he would blow John Kerry's doors off in the election, and yet he remains silent. Why?

Because he has bigger fish to fry. he knows the WOT is bigger than one figurehead. Everyone needs a "boogeyman" to focus upon and bin laden is ours. Heck, even with one he hasn't been able to keep 50% of the country interested in the fight. With the poster child of terror dead they'd just dust off their hands and say job done, bring everyone home and stop the war. Clearly this is not what we want to happen. We have the geographic center of "terrorland" and he have many more bad players to deal with.

Zawahiri decided that it was better to just pretend that UBL was alive because there was no plausible martyr story to tell. UBL went out running for his life like a coward. He is dead.

True, hard to spin the head guy's death less than two months into the war. Here's a few more reasons they have been quiet about it...

Zarqawi, once aware of Bin Laden's death, had three primary worries...personal survival, terrorist morale/recruitment, and finances.

Personal survival becomes easier if you can have your enemy chasing a ghost. Feints and strategically planted (Pakistani Intelligence) false sightings of the #1 "most wanted" target would buy some breathing room.

From a morale/recruiting perspective being routed from Afghanistan and having your head guy vaporized in a matter of weeks doesn't do wonders for either. He needed to keep spirits up because at that point they were in the fight of their collective lives. Since most everyone around Bin laden in Tora Bora shared his fate it probably wasn't too difficult to keep his demise a secret. They likely had enough "canned" PR crap from him already to keep what little momentum they had at that point going.

Finances were probably his biggest concern. With Bin laden gone it's possible many of their sources would dry up. Zarqawi is an Egyptian and did not have the depth of relationships in Saudi that Bin laden had. Additionally, given the nature of their financial network (Hawala) he certainly would have wanted to assure that all existing funds were secure and accessible by him before any word got out about "The Sheik's" death. If not a lot of it might have simply disappeared.

It's pretty easy to understand what would drive Al Quaeda to keep the death a secret. What intrigues me now is how long they'll try to get away with it, and when they'll finally admit Bin Laden's in Hell.

And last but not least, I agree...bin laden's worm food...

[Toespi]

A secretly dead UBL is terrific bait. Maybe W has had UBL's head in a box all along, just waiting for the current #1, to be captured.

[AntiKev]

I for one liked the plan of going in and pulling back, than going in and pulling back.

Wait...we're still talking about military operations right?

[hyperpoly8]

It's plausible, but I don't believe it. I don't think President Bush would hide that, if he knew it for a fact. There are too many pro's to go against the con's. After all, what kind of martyr is remembered for getting killed hiding in a cave, or running away from a fight?

[Galroc]

I thought there was one more video post Toro-Bora...

[charleston1]

Excellent graphics and timeline. What many people fail to appreciate is the blast effects a large bomb has on human beings in a cave near the detonation.

Kerry mode on: You have a tremendous overpressure which can literally and instantly kill from acute barotrauma, otherwise known as pulmonary hemorraghic edema,

Kerry mode off: How about acute lung overinflation:-)

[Normal4me]

Boy, that's some conclusive evidence there. If he hasn't made him self public, he must be dead. I'll wait for something a little more concrete before I make up my mind.