Osama bin-Laden
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It?s known that Osama bin-Laden has a serious case of kidney
disease and has had dialysis machines shipped to his various
hideouts. Now in his article ?Dust Bin? in the June 29, 2002
issue of the English magazine ?The Spectator,? Mark Steyn, a
Brit living in New Hampshire, says Osama is dead but it?s
better for both sides to pretend he?s alive.
Pakistan television regularly releases videos of bin-Laden,
but none of them have any information that gives a clue
about the date they were taken. Al-Qaeda officials make
announcements, like the one by Suleiman Abu Ghaith, who
said, ??Sheikh Osama bin Laden ...is in good and prosperous
health and all what is being rumored about his illness and
injury in Tora Bora has no truth.?
Steyn says, ?I think I?d want something a little more
date-specific if a new Osama video turned up. You can?t
expect him to hold up that morning?s paper as it would give
a little too much away?but at the very least I?d expect him
to cite not just his usual ancient grievances (Andalucia in
1492, etc.) but also some more recent ones?say, the Saudi
World Cup team?s Mossad-engineered 8?0 humiliation.?
Steyn believes bin-Laden must be dead because otherwise his
terrorist team would give us plenty of information to prove
he?s alive, since it would make the U.S. war in Afghanistan
look like a failure. If he?s not dead already, he may be
dying in some secret hideaway. It?s known that he had
several doubles, in order to deceive his enemies. He may
have used healthy lookalikes because it would have been
obvious to anyone who saw the real Osama that he was near
death.
Steyn writes, ?Where did he go? The alleged experts seem
inclined to favor either the Greater Kandahar area or the
Pakistani tribal lands. Supposedly, he?s trimmed his beard,
and is receiving dialysis from machines supplied by rogue
elements of the ISI, Pakistan?s intelligence services, while
waiting for a doctor to be flown in to perform a kidney
transplant. I doubt it.?
Steyn has noticed that his followers seem to disagree on
where he?s hiding. ?Hamid Karzai says he?s in Pakistan.
General Musharraf says he?s in Afghanistan. From this we can
deduce the general rule that, whatever country you happen to
be in charge of, you?d rather Osama were in someone else?s.?
Steyn points out that, after we toppled the Taliban in
Afghanistan, no political leader wants us to think that
bin-Laden is living in his country. If he was in a nearby
Arab state, it?s likely he would be ejected, so as to avoid
U.S. retaliation. No one has forgotten what happened in Iran
after we allowed the Shah to enter the U.S. for medical
treatment, so it?s unlikely he?s being treated in a foreign
hospital.
Since most of the 911 terrorists were Saudis, yet the U.S.
still considers Saudi Arabia our friend, Steyn believes
that, ? If Osama is alive, Saudi Arabia?s his most likely
location. That would explain why the Americans haven?t found
him in any of the places they?ve looked for him: they?re
choosing not to look in Saudi.?
He adds, ?In any case, Washington is in no hurry to
pronounce him dead. In a celebrity culture, it?s useful to
be able to put a face to what would otherwise be a shadowy
menace.? He thinks that if it was known that bin-Laden is
dead, the U.S. would get much less European support for our
fight against al-Qaeda. ?Thus, for Bush, at home and abroad,
it is politically necessary for Osama to remain alive until
the invasion of Iraq is underway.?
Steyn isn?t impressed by the bin-Laden videos. ?Your average
run-of-the-mill schoolgirl suicide bomber can make a
farewell video.? He reminds us that the killers of Wall
Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl were able to make a
video of his murder and release it to the media. ?If Daniel
Pearl?s murderers can get access to a professional studio
and editing facilities, surely?al-Qaeda?s leadership can. If
they could have, they would have?if not Osama, then
al-Zawahiri or Mullah Omar or any of the other hotshots
who?ve been silent these last six months. They can?t all be
recuperating from kidney transplants. One or other would
have turned up to crow on 11 March (the semi-anniversary) or
some other significant date.?
Steyn thinks it?s to the advantage of both the U.S. and
al-Qaeda to maintain the fiction that bin-Laden is still
alive. It makes the terrorists look like they?ve beaten the
Goliath of the West. The remnants of al-Qaeda, scattered and
weakened, are probably delighted that the U.S. hasn?t seen
through their undated videos and exaggerated pronouncements.
If Osama bin-Laden is still alive, then al-Qaeda is still
organized and still threatens the West. This gives the U.S.
an excuse to take out Saddam Hussein.
But until he sees some clear evidence, Steyn isn?t buying
it. He?s sure bin-Laden is dead.
Let?s hope the FBI knows it too. Why did they fail to
predict 911? To find out, read ?The Bureau: The Secret
History of the FBI? by Ronald Kessler,
click here.
For more information, click here.
