[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.

[silverleaf]

I think you are too much into conspiracy.

Fact is- after several false alarms about Osama, I no longer think Rummie or anyone else is willing to say Bin Laden is dead or captured until they get DNA to prove it. I do believe the CIA verified Bin Laden's voice on a tape released subsequent to Tora Bora bombing.

[ChicagoRepublican]

What about the taped audio-messages from Osama Bin Laden? A lot of organizations say those were authentic. Bin Laden is a shrewd terrorist leader that easily could be a succesful CEO. He's not just a publicity whore. I think it's dangerous to assume bin Laden is dead. Always assume your enemy is alive, rational and doing the best in his abilities to kill you so as to keep you on your toes.

[KingKongCobra]

Osama bin dead since Tora Bora. Not a peep in nearly 3 years and there has been a LOT of things he would have wanted to comment about. Why don't we announce it? Simple - there's no body. You can't claim he's dead until you can prove it. I remember a month after Tora Bora when one of his men announced in an e-mail that he was dead. The Arab world went nuts and the guy had to retract the story and claim that he meant someone else was dead. I believed him the first time.

[RightMike]

Osama's in the guest room at Kennebunkport. :)

[ASA Vet]

[NetValue]

You write much opinion, but provide no evidence that UBL is dead.

[Tacis]

While I agree that OBL's death will never be ANNOUNCED for fear of making him a martyr, i prefer to believe there is another step in his career. I like to think that OBL bacame a guest of the US at a resort, perhaps on Diego Garcia, where he has been able to enjoy Yankee hospitality. His IV drip has been chock full of healthy stuff and he has learned to love his hosts, even making an occassional tape at their requests.

When OBL died (even if it hasn't, technically, happened yet) he was committed to the eternal deep with all reverence and respect and weighted down with shot an internal quantities of pig fat, entrails and skin. Golly, that man can talk!!

[lawdude]

He was turned into an unperson, room temperature, pile of crispy bits at Tora Bora!

[databoss]

When OBL was vapourised on that moonless night there were not enough parts left of him, his bodyguards and the donkeys they were riding to forensically ID. They simply disappearred in a cloud of red vapour and dust much like the poor inhabitants of the Twin Towers...justice was served....

[AmishDude]

Zawahiri decided that it was better to just pretend that UBL was alive because there was no plausible martyr story to tell.

So, what's Kerry's motivation for doing the same thing?

[TOUGH STOUGH]

I agree. I've had the same thoughts.

[FredZarguna]

I believe Bush is honest, and I believe he would say one way or the other if he knew. Having said that, I believe it's in our best interests not to push to hard to verify for sure that he's dead if we have good reason to suspect it (and I suspect we do).

The War on Terror is a "War on ALL terrorism with global reach." It isn't a war on al Qaeda, and it isn't a manhunt for a single person. Kerry has made clear on all three debating occasions that he will consider the war on terrorism over when he can declare al Qaeda is finished, and he has intimated that he will declare al Qaeda finished as quickly as it's credible to do so. The capture or verified killing of UBL would be such an occasion. Too many Americans share his views. Let this sleeping dog lie--Dead, or Alive. This is a war we need to win, and we can't afford to let the sissies declare victory after just one battle.