[cpdiii]

If Bin Ladin were alive he would want his followers to know it so as to give them inspiration. Iron clad proof would be easy for him to arrange. A high quality video shot with sound and Bin Ladin reading a current newspaper and a DNA sample. That would give absolute poof he was alive and his followers would redouble their efforts to kill us. This has not been done. There has been a very elaborate scheme of releasing tapes (some of which have been bits of old authentic tapes) to give the impression he is alive and well.

Bin Ladin is either severely injured or 'HE IS DEAD, JIM."

[Grampa Dave]

A speaker who was purportedly Osama bin Laden said on an audiotape that the U.S.-led war in Iraq was the beginning of the "occupation" of Gulf states for their oil and called on Muslims to keep fighting a holy war in the Middle East. The tape is likely authentic, U.S. officials said Monday.

Ho Humm! The Key word in this pile of BS is "purportedly"!

As you pointed out: "He is Dead JIM!"

"Jim, what part of Dead, don't you understand!"

[Conservative_Nationalist]

"If Bin Ladin were alive he would want his followers to know it so as to give them inspiration"

If Bin Laden was proven dead the majority of these people would still believe he was alive. A lot of people in that part of the world are so ignorant you can't deal with them rationally.

[Smogger]

If Bin Ladin were alive he would want his followers to know it so as to give them inspiration. Iron clad proof would be easy for him to arrange. A high quality video shot with sound and Bin Ladin reading a current newspaper and a DNA sample. That would give absolute poof he was alive and his followers would redouble their efforts to kill us. This has not been done. There has been a very elaborate scheme of releasing tapes (some of which have been bits of old authentic tapes) to give the impression he is alive and well.

His followers ALREADY believe he's alive so what would be the point of such a tape? To convince you? Since Bin Laden has almost certainly changed his appearance since he became the most wanted man in the world I doubt releasing a video tape would serve him well. Were you aware that cave experts were brought in to view the videotape he released after 9-11 in an attempt to determine exactly what cave he was in? I'm sure he's aware. It was on CNN. Releasing a videotape would be an incredibly stupid thing for him or Ayman al-Zawahri to do.

Or do you think that Ayman al-Zawahri is dead too? He hasn't released any videotapes either.

[M1Tanker]

...under the deceptions of the road map and the Geneva initiative...

Umm.... were not both of these accords very damaging to Isreal and gave the Palistinians (Palistine being a Latin word, not Arabic) everything they, supposidly, wanted? So why the "anger" at them 'Bin Lyin'? In truth, the only "roadblock" currently for "peace" in the Middle East is living, breathing Jewish people (and the next roadblock will be living, free Christians). The Arabs will not stop until Isreal is destroyed. All these "negotiations" are just buying them time.

As for why I replied. It is strange that there are no video tapes, even of the inside of tents or caves. Bin Laden (or Bin Lyin) may be severly injured, or sick (he has a kidney problem) and not want to be seen on tape.

This is strange in that he loves to make video tapes. This does make the lack of video important. In the Arab world, looks are important for men. Scars are good, but missing limbs/lameness are bad. This seems stange to us, but Americans and Arabs see heros different.

In America, we root for the underdog, or the hero who has unlimited power, but is compassionate. We like Seabiscut and Superman. In the Arabic world, these notions are "for the weak". Their heros are men who are strong (physically, or through leading great armies), merciless, and, what most Americans would consider, barabric. Salidan and the larger than life views they have of Hitler are examples. Thus for Bin Laden to show injury or weakness on video would damn him to ridicule and loathing.

Just look what happened when Saddam was caught and shown as a dirtly little coward. The Arabic world was in shock and then said the Western Media was cruel to show the video of him. These are same arabs that rejoiced in seeing the WTC collapse and repeatedly watched the videos of American women and children crying and covered in dust.

[finnman69]

In retrospect the nebulous writings of Nostradamus were open to all kinds of potential interpretation. This allows for him to have predicted anything.

[COBOL2Java]

My guess is that if still alive, post Tora Bora he probably looks more like the crypt-keeper, and hence isn't too keen on a video appearance...

[Hollywoodghost]

I think he was almost killed in Tora-Bora. He now has half a face or something--that's why its just audio tapes now. Too bad we didn't get the crumb-bum in the battle. I must give him points for just staying alive with the whole USA and UK looking for him and a price on his head to boot. In the end it will be his own people who do him in.

[gaspar]

Yes, OBL is dead. The CIA is almost assuredly evaluating a tape cobbled from those prepared by OBL for distribution in Saudi Arabian mosques sometime during or just after Operation Desert Storm. Just as OBL authored scores of tapes on Afghanistan in the nineteen eighties, so too did he prepare tapes in the nineteen nineties in which he exhorted his countrymen to throw the Crusaders out of Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi.