Maybe it's just me - But is Bin Laden alive?

[LynneSin]

Seriously....

I read where more tapes were produced that have bin Laden threatening more attacks on the US. And it makes me wonder: Is this really bin Laden?

Seriously!

We don't know where he is and we haven't seen any recent photographs of the guy in gosh knows how long. But as long as bin Laden is 'alive' he's a 'threat' to the United States and his being alive is cause for us to continue our War or Terrorism.

bin Laden is the boogie man - if we kill him (or for that matter Hussein who could also be dead) then who can we use to scare the American people. I mean Castro doesn't seem like a threat and Qaddafi has been playing nice. I think this administration needs boogiemen that are actually alive in order to go on having them 'send' threats to us and scare us Americans.

I think he's dead, maybe Hussein is dead too. But they serve more purpose being alive than dead for this current regime in DC.

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. Agent bin Laden (sabbatical) is resting comfortably in Crawford, Texas

awaiting his next assignment. While he is said to be pleased with both the climate and the view of the basketball court from his suite, sources indicate that his fellow guest, Mr Hussein, regularly complains that Agent bin Laden insists on slamdunking, which Mr Hussein believes is "just not fair."

[spinbaby]

2. I doubt he's alive

If he were alive we wouldn't be seeing old footage of Bin Laden traipsing across the moutainside. I'm betting either Al Qaida or the CIA wants us to think he's alive.

[bahrbearian]

3. Just keeping him on Ice incase Chimpy's Poll slip to low next October

[Booberdawg]

4. Yes I think he is alive

[maggrwaggr]

5. haven't you heard we're in a war on terror?

Just in case you forgot, these tapes conveniently pop up from time to time.

It's probably Rich Little, somewhere in a cheap studio in Burbank.

Don't forget to be afraid and buy that duct tape!

[DUreader]

6. The fat, big-nosed Osama or the taller, skinnier Osama?

[DuctapeFatwa]

8. LOL Yours wins the Best Answer Award!

:toast:

[DUreader]

11. Do you have a link to the side by side pics?

for old time sake

[Wonk]

14. side by side pics for comparison

[LynneSin]

17. Come on now! HE has a beard, a white hat and his brown skin

That HAS to be bin Laden in all those pictures.

:shrug:

[maggrwaggr]

20. wow. I'm glad somebody finally did that

I never did believe that videotape for a second. It just seemed very obviously faked. Seeing the pictures side by side proves that's some actor, not OBL whatsoever.

Do you remember the other guy he was talking to? Central casting swarthy "villian".

[baldguy]

7. Big Brother needs Emmanuel Goldstein.

First, it was bin Laden. Then Saddam filled the roll.

They will never be declared dead. Homeland Security needs them too badly.

[peekaloo]

25. Amen! nt

[PATRICK]

9. Dead as the pasta in the back of my fridge.

Wait a second...There, disposed of.

Yes, it is to the advantage of BOTh the CIA and AlQaida to maintain the legend. Although a transition is being hinted at to the son of Bin Laden(Caliphate-style)that too is probably fine with the CIA. The useless figurehead suits the CIA better than an invisible REAl power who might also be a new kind of mastermind. Keep them bound to the past, thinks the CIA. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working in mopping them up or stopping rapid growth in the movement- and the weaning away ever so gradually from the "old" Bin Laden.

Which means in the end the CIAtrategy will only haved served the purposes of terror and Bin Laden will in effect be immortal like other legendary scary guys of the past. (Can we all admit Hitler is really dead by now? Elvis?)

Meanwhile of course, everyone is bending over backwards to excuse the B-Movie material of Bin Laden retreads. He was vaporized in the caves of Afghanistan according to one report along with other invisible leaders. That doesn't exuse what Pakistan is harboring of the leftovers, but that also is a convenience.

We used to call this collusion, although that perspective is probably reserved for the Terror Warriors of the WH. As usual, AlQaida and the WH share way too many facets, goals and bloody mindsets.

[snippy]

10. Well, we know two things for certain.

One is that Whistle Ass promised to get bin Laden "dead or alive."

The second is that Whistle Ass has fucked up every single thing he has ever been involved in.

These facts lead me to think that bin Laden lives.

On the other hand Whistle Ass does need terrorists. So maybe we have captured bin Laden and are keeping him alive for future political use. But this would contradict the second known fact.

My conclusion is that bin Laden probably is alive, but I really don't see it as important. Whistle Ass has made sure that there will be millions of future terrorists willing to die in order to harm the United States.

[Uzybone]

12. My bet is that he is alive

and so is Hussien. Why? Because like you said, they server more purpose being alive than dead for the current regime.

[LynneSin]

18. They could be "alive" but the question is are they really ALIVE

I mean just because we hear messages from our government and see pictures in the news that doesn't mean they really are ALIVE.

I mean, we're dealing with the 'Ministry of Truth' in the United States - who knows who is really alive or dead

:shrug:

[Warren Stuart]

13. To answer that question

You'd have to step inside the guys head.

What was he involved in? Who was he hanging out with? What drove him?

He was in the Martyr business.



What could he do to inflict the most damage?

Disappear completely, without a trace. He dosn't have to be alive in order to impact our society. As long as we have no idea where he is, he remains a threat.


This is why I think he killed himslef, then had his remains disposed of.

[NNN0LHI]

15. Kim Jong Il doesn't fit the scary evil terrorist with his looks either

Kim Jong Il Enters California Governor's Race

[caledesi]

16. I think so bec last time he "did a tape" Bali got bombed.

I think he is still alive.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. I remember an article, from "Time," I think, that argues that if

Bin Laden didn't exist, we'd have had to invent him. This was pre-9/11, maybe pre-Bush*. I'm sure someone here has the link.

I don't think we'll ever see Osama or Saddam dead but I suspect we won't see them alive again, either.

[leesa]

21. Doubtful, he was very ill. Also, his being alive would be very

discomforting to the Bush Crime Family since he knows all the secrets...he just might get tired of being their stooge and spill the beans. I suspect the reason Bush and friends employed him was because he was on death's door and an easy scapegoat for their planned war on Afghanistan and the bogus 'war on terrorism'.

[weepy_and_liberal]

22. He is in a secure, undisclosed location.

[newyawker99]

23. Hi weepy_and_liberal!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[davsand]

24. He's either with Unca Dick

In an undisclosed location, trotted out on occasion to distract from really bad press...

or else he's hanging with Elvis and Nessy only to be spotted on rare occasions in Seven Elevens.

Either way, we won't ever see him in the light of day again.

Laura

[Pale Blue Dot]

26. "Maybe it's just me"...????

Wait... YOU'RE Bin Laden!!!??? HIT ALERT! HIT ALERT! :evilgrin:

[starroute]

27. Can we even be sure bin Laden was alive in 2001?

I just found a listing of bin Laden tapes, interviews, and statements at http://www.eclipsereview.org/resources/binladenandalqaida.htm

A number of the links are no longer current, which makes the list less useful than it might be. But it's readily apparent that there was a steady stream of interviews from 1996 to 1999. Then nothing -- for more than two years after June 1999, there does not appear to be a single word from bin Laden on record.

It's only after September 11 that a steady stream of items starts coming out again, most of them by way of al-Jazeera. Some of these, like the fat bin Laden tape, seem clearly bogus. Others appear more plausible -- but I'm starting to wonder if any of them are genuine.

Is it possible that bin Laden was extremely ill by 1999 and may even have died before the September 11 attacks?

[rasputin1952]

28. Without an identifiable body...

(or the passing of time, like 50 years), I have to go with the probability he is alive. If he truly is on dialysis, he doesn't have long to go anyway, (I find it interesting that if he is on dialysis, he can't be found, the machines are heavy and bulky, and you need a source of power. It takes a long time to cleanse the blood, and your mobility is severly restricted).

In any case, Osama will live on in "spirit", and there will always be detractors of his demise. There would be an immense vaccuum of power in his death, and it seems to me, the power struggle to become the next 'bin-Laden' would be intense, therefore it would spill out into the general knowledge pool.

I am sure this admin had at least a few opportunities to capture him, but he is, in a political sense, far better off being left out on the run. If captured and tried, the bag of beans he would spill, would crush the bushites in an instant. Same with Saddam.

:kick: