Well is Osama Bin Laden dead or not?

[whistle]

French Newspaper: Bin Laden Dead
Leaked intelligence report not confirmed


A French newspaper reported that the most wanted man on earth, Osama bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan on Aug. 23, mainly because the terrorist mastermind's geographical location made all potential medical assistance impossible.

"His geographic isolation, provoked by constant fleeing, is believed to have made medical assistance impossible on Sept. 4, 2006, the Saudi security services received preliminary information of his death," the paper reported.

The French regional daily l'Est Republicain cited a classified defense document from the French DGSE intelligence services as its source of information. The French are said to have obtained the information from the Saudi intelligence service. It added that President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, as well as France's interior and defense ministers were all informed on Thursday.

A copy of the DGSE document was printed in full.

"According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead.

"The information gathered by the Saudis indicates that the head of al-Qaeda fell victim ¡¦ to a very serious case of typhoid that led to a partial paralysis of his internal organs," the document said.

The French defense ministry implicitly confirmed the intelligence in a statement issued shortly after the document's publication.

"The defense minister has asked that an inquiry be carried out to determine the origin of the leak that can be punished by criminal charges," the statement said.

When asked about the report Saturday, Chirac said it was "in no way whatsoever confirmed," according to news reports. The U.S. and other governments have expressed doubts about the report.

Saudi-born bin Laden and his al-Qaida network was based in Afghanistan until a U.S.-led invasion ousted the ruling Taliban regime in 2001 following the attacks on Sept. 11, forcing bin Laden into hiding.

Since going into hiding, bin Laden has communicated mainly through video and audiotapes. The last videotape was released in late 2004, on the eve of the U.S. presidential elections. Several audiotapes were released this year.

http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=319196&rel_no=1

[NYC]

1. Who else died of the same disease around this time?

Was Bin Laden the only one to contract it? Wouldn't that be odd?

[NMDemDist2]

2. there was a typhoid outbreak after the earthquake last fall n/t

[MADem]

5. I imagine entire villages in Waziristan could be afflicted and the US

press wouldn't bother to cover such a story. The only thing that makes it of note at all is the speculation that ole Sama is involved, apparently.

If he's dead, he's already buried. They wouldn't put the guy on ice or stuff him. It's twenty four hours to dig the hole, wrap him up, and pitch him in.

[Patchuli]

12. wow ! You put that together so well

it was almost poetic! I love "pitch him in!!!" :rofl:

[MADem]

13. But I, to my horror, misspelled HOLE!!!

I corrected it, being excessively twitchy, but I had it down as WHOLE...!!!

They are quite particular about getting the dead dudes in the ground in a hurry. It's now religious in nature, but back in the day it had to do with aggressive and voracious wild animals wanting to feast on the carcass in and about their villages! Can't have that, as the fanged beasts could decide to make off with a live baby if the bones of the recently dead don't yield enough 'fast food' to suit them!

[whistle]

3. and Saudi papers say there is no evidence that Bin Laden is dead...

<snip>
Saudi Arabia says no evidence bin Laden dead

7.25am Monday September 25, 2006


WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia has said it has no evidence Osama bin Laden is dead, shedding further doubt on a secret document leaked in France that said Saudi secret services believed he died last month.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that as far as he knew the Saudi-born al Qaeda leader was still alive.

"To my knowledge Osama bin Laden is not dead," he said on LCI Television. But he added he had not seen a French secret service report, printed by a newspaper, which said Saudi Arabia was convinced bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.

France, the United States and Britain all said earlier they were unable to confirm the report in French regional daily L'Est Republicain, which quoted the DGSE foreign intelligence service.

Time magazine separately posted an article on its website quoting an unidentified Saudi source as saying bin Laden was stricken with a water-borne disease and may already be dead.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington issued a statement saying: "The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama bin Laden is dead. Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified."

More at link:


- REUTERS

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/print.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402812

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[CJCRANE]

4. He's the new "Schrodinger's Cat" -

half-dead, half-alive.

[MADem]

7. There will be a sale on Where's Osama books if this is the case...

[sweetheart]

17. a little bit here a little bit there

There's a nonzero probability that osama bin laden is in the room with you.

[Robbien]

6. BushCo needs time to put the dead body in a building

in Afghanistan and then send in the bombing raids. An old man dying of disease doesn't make good film. A blown up building with dead bodies, on the other hand, can be milked for days and days on cable news.

[whistle]

8. and also Time magazine has weighed in...

<snip>
Saturday, Sep. 23, 2006
Is Bin Laden Dead?
Saudi sources tell TIME that credible reports suggest the fugitive Qaeda leader has contracted a serious 'water-borne illness,' and may have already died
By SCOTT MACLEOD/CAIRO AND TALA SKARI/PARIS
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.

L'est Republicain, based in Metz in eastern France covering the Lorraine region, says the French secret services considered the DGSE report reliable enough to transmit it last Thursday to the highest levels of the French government, specifically to French President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie. Alliot-Marie has reportedly demanded an investigation into the leak of the DGSE report to L'Est Republicain.

http://www.time.com/time/world/printout/0,8816,1538569,00.html

[whistle]

9. CBS did their story on Sept 23rd

<snip>
Rumors Swirl About Bin Laden's Health

KARACHI, Pakistan, Sept. 23, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(CBS) Osama bin Laden's health has deteriorated in the past year, forcing him to curtail his movements, according to Arab diplomats in Pakistan who routinely track reports of his movements.

A senior source with an intelligence service friendly to the United States told CBS News that Saudi Intelligence has collected what it considers to be "very credible information" that bin Laden has been very seriously ill, and that the Saudi services are now suggesting, though not confirming, that they "have a pretty high certainty" that he is dead.

The source added that if he has died as a result of typhoid fever, which comes from exposure to contaminated water and food, it would confirm reports that he has been hiding in a remote area, under very harsh conditions with limited access to medical care.

While Pakistani officials and diplomats stationed in the country on Saturday did not confirm a report in a French regional newspaper that claimed the world's most wanted terrorist had died of typhoid earlier this month, some spoke of reports in the past year suggesting that bin Laden's health had rapidly deteriorated, prompting speculation over his remaining life expectancy.

Time Magazine also reported that bin Laden "has become seriously ill and may have already died" from a "water-borne illness."

But U.S. sources are skeptical of the reports. A senior White house official tells CBS News White House correspondent Jim Axelrod, "I wouldn't hold your breath."

More at link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/23/terror/printable2035766.shtml

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[savemefromdumbya]

10. Osama dead thing just a smokescreen for something else

[SoCalDem]

11. Stingray??

:spank:

[hlthe2b]

14. only Dr. Frankenstein...er, ROVENSTEIN.... can say

for sure....

My guess is they will be trying to resurrect Bin Laden for their own ends more often than Christ...

:eyes:

[NOLADEM]

15. Mostly dead.

[elocs]

16. Check out: The Health and Mental History of Osama bin Laden

http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/a_binladen.htm

It appears that even if he is not getting dialysis somewhere, that he does have some kind of kidney problem. It is also speculated that he has diabetes, hypotension (low blood pressure), an enlarged heart, and possibly suffering from Marfan's syndrome. If he is alive, bin Laden is approaching 50 years of age and the stressful lifestyle he is leading and has led does not exactly cause one to live long and prosper.

Anyway this is looked at, Bush does not come across as looking good. If bin Laden has been dead for some time, then why wasn't that known and why was he continually still held up as a bogeyman? For Bush, the bin Laden question is one like, "So when did you stop beating your wife?" Bush loses either way. If Bush somehow manages to pull bin Laden out of a hat before November, there may be a limit to the gullibility of the American public. The Republican American public will believe whatever Bush tells them, but there is a large chunk of the American public in the middle who swing both ways just might think that would be beyond belief.