OSAMA DEAD - WHO REALLY KNOWS?

There have been rumors for years that Osama bin Laden was already dead - either by kidney failure or U.S. strikes early on in Tora Bora. Then there were the reports of multiple variations of Osama. So who knows for sure what just happened in Pakistan?

One interesting twist is the interview with former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto who maintains in the video below that Osama was killed years ago. See that bit at 6:05 in the interview with David Frost. I would think she knew what she was talking about.

I found it interesting that "spontaneous" crowds gathered at the White House last night with flags and red, white, and blue hats to cheer the news that Osama had been killed. I can't imagine that they just had the flags and hats lying around. It all has that weird feel of a staged event.

I remember years ago, during the time of the Soviet Union, that the people there used to say you had to learn to read between the lines of the Pravda newspaper. That's how I felt when I was reading the Washington Post this morning about the killing of Osama.

Some speculate that the Obama team has created this spectacle of Osama being killed as the opening to justify the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Others wonder if this event is more about building Obama's case for reelection.

The government claims that DNA was taken to prove it was Osama before he was buried at sea. Dumped at sea? The government claims they wanted to get rid of his body in order to ensure no "shrine" was ever established.

I read that Osama's $1 million compound in Pakistan was heavily reenforced and a secure hideout. It seems remarkable to me that only three people were killed in the attack. You mean Osama only had 2-3 guards? Hard to imagine.

We are already being told that Al-Qaeda is still a threat even though high level U.S. military personnel have said that there are less than 100 of the network actually operating in Afghanistan today. This quick restatement by "world leaders" that the war on terror is not over gives me the strong sense that we won't be leaving Afghanistan anytime soon.

Let's see where things head in the coming days. It's really going to get interesting now.