Osama Dead?
It’s in very, very poor taste to play God and wish for the death of another individual, but I’m only human, and sin or not, for this individual, I do most fervently wish it so. However, the report is not confirmed. Obviously, more on this if warranted…
UPDATE: 11:13 a.m.: This certainly sounds promising:
Fugitive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, believed to be on the run in rugged terrain in the Afghan-Pakistani border region since the September 11 attacks five years ago, has become seriously ill and may have already died, a Saudi source tells TIME, echoing earlier reports in the French media.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that Saudi officials have received multiple credible reports over the last several weeks that Bin Laden has been suffering from a water-borne illness. The source believes that there is a “high probability” that Bin Laden has already died from the disease, but stressed that Saudi officials have thus far received no concrete evidence of Bin Laden’s death.
“This is not a rumor,” says the source. “He is very ill. He got a water-related sickness and it could be terminal. There are a lot of serious facts about things that have actually happened. There is a lot to it. But we don’t have any concrete information to say that he is dead.”
On Saturday, the French newspaper L’Est Republicain cited a report by the French intelligence service, Direction Generale des Services Exteriors (DGSE), saying that Saudi intelligence officials “seem to have become convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead.” The report quoted by the newspaper said the Saudis believe bin Laden “might have succumbed to a very serious case of typhoid fever resulting in partial paralysis of his lower limbs while in Pakistan on August 23, 2006.”
The DGSE report quoted by L’Est Republicain said that its information on the Saudi findings came from a “usually reliable source,” indicating that it did not necessarily come directly from Saudi intelligence officials. The DGSE report cited by the newspaper said that Bin Laden’s geographic isolation made it difficult for him to receive proper medical assistance for his ailment. The report said that Saudi intelligence picked up the first news of bin Laden’s alleged demise on September 4. The DGSE says that Saudi authorities are waiting to get more details, “notably the exact place of his burial, before officially announcing the news,” the newspaper said, citing what it called verbatim text from the report.
Confirmation may be hard to come be, and it may not be true, but it seems like at least a 50/50 proposition…
I’d tend not to believe it. First, it’s always dangerous to believe what you were hoping for, without any proof. And second, where is the uproar in the enemy camp? There should be all sorts of personality conflicts, denunciations, power struggles etc., plus I’d expect to see multiple speeches of praise and calls for days of rage, not to mention various conspiracy theories explaining how Bush, the Pope, the CIA, Martians and time-travel were all the real cause. It just doesn’t sound right.
Yeah; I remember a report in October 2001 that bin-Laden was killed in an airstrike. Last year I recall something in the National Review online that the editor (Medved?) had heard from “sources in Iran that he trusts” that bin-Laden died of kidney failure (his condition requires dialysis). Until I see a dead body or at least a severed limb on which DNA testing has been done, I’ll assume he’s still alive.
Reports of Osama’s Death Investigated
Is Osama Bin Laden dead? We’ve heard rumors like this before, especially when there have been long periods of time when he has not appeared in a video or audio tape. Yet, this report seems to be different. French intel services have been trying to co…
where is the uproar in the enemy camp?
Excellent point, but… is that news that would circulate (AL Qaeda is quite de-centralized), and would we know if there was an uproar?
Actually, I hope the report ISN’T true. I want Osama dead as much as the next guy, but I think his death would discourage more putative murder-martyrs if it was by an American bullet.
Dead or not…Im sure hes made enough videos to keep everybody on their toes for the next couple months.
Don’t miss our major capture in Iraq, while you wait for the latest report of OBL’s death to prove accurate or greatly exaggerated. The rumor will likely drive the more substantiated news from the headlines — though deservedly, if it proves accurate.
Sean P — if reports are true (a very big IF), I think we can make reasonable propaganda out of the image of OBL hiding in a cave, so afraid to stick his head out that he dies of an easily cured (and even more easily prevented) third world ailment, despite his vast wealth.
the kidney thing makes him extremely susceptible to a serious condition…just for having the condition he is 100 times more likely to develop complications from any infection that a healthy person.
Surprised that he hasn’t had a family member bail him out with one of theirs-he has a bajillion siblings.
If it isn’t the case now-that he is ill and dying, it soon will be.