[Stefan Stackhouse]

While there is a genuine debate inside the government about whether Osama bin Laden is still alive, there is far less argument about what will happen after Washington is able to confirm that he is dead. A U.S. official told TIME last week that it is widely presumed that al-Qaeda sleeper cells will take retaliatory action once the terrorist leader is killed or proven dead.

It doesn't take a special security clearance to figure out that this is likely to happen. The fact that we have sustained another big hit yet is probably the best evidence that Bin Laden is still alive.

[powderhorn]

The fact that we have sustained another big hit yet is probably the best evidence that Bin Laden is still alive.

....or that there never will be any evidence of his death. The idea of him running from hiding place to hiding place and dodging responsibility for his actions is a much better image to broadcast to the arab world than allowing him the status of a martyr.