Is Osama Bin Laden dead?

I mentioned earlier today that Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri sent out an audio tape criticizing Barack Obama. After I thought about it some more today, I have to ask: why isn't Osama Bin Laden the one sending out the audio? After all he's the leader of Al-Qaeda, right? The answer seems simple enough to me: it's because he's dead.

Of course, I have no proof of this, and CIA director-general Michael Hayden did say Osama bin Laden is alive recently, so who am I to argue with someone whose agency is monitoring Al-Qaeda 24/7.

So I decided to do some internet research of my own to see what I could find out. It seems the last reliable sighting of Osama Bin Laden was in late 2001, nearly 7 years ago. But what about the video and audio that's been released since then? Robert Baer, a former CIA operative himself, points out:

A video that he apparently appeared in last year shows him with a dyed beard. More than a few Pakistani intelligence operatives who knew bin Laden scoff at the idea he would ever dye his beard. They think the tape was manipulated from old footage, and that bin Laden is in fact dead. But then again, they would have an interest in making Americans believe bin Laden is dead, since it would relieve U.S. pressure to find him by any means necessary, including going into Pakistani territory.

A video that he apparently appeared in last year shows him with a dyed beard. More than a few Pakistani intelligence operatives who knew bin Laden scoff at the idea he would ever dye his beard. They think the tape was manipulated from old footage, and that bin Laden is in fact dead. But then again, they would have an interest in making Americans believe bin Laden is dead, since it would relieve U.S. pressure to find him by any means necessary, including going into Pakistani territory.

And what about all the other audiotapes bin Laden has put out since 9/11? Experts will tell you that off-the-shelf digital-editing software could manipulate old bin Laden voice recordings to make it sound as if he were discussing current events. Finally, there's the mystery as to why bin Laden didn't pop up during the U.S. election. You would think a narcissistic mass murderer who believes he has a place in history would find it impossible to pass up an opportunity to give his opinion at such a momentous time, at least by dropping off a DVD at the al-Jazeera office in Islamabad.

Anyway, after looking it over more, I really do think he's dead, but I may very well be wrong. But the funny thing is that if he is dead, he has more power and creates more fear than most people do alive.

Al-Qaeda No. 2 Insults Obama in Audio Message

I had a good laugh over this:

Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri is criticizing Barack Obama in a new message, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

Al-Zawahri says in an audio message, which appeared on militant Web sites Wednesday, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X. He calls Obama a "house negro."

The audio plays over still pictures of al-Zawahri, Malcolm X praying, and Obama with Jewish leaders.

As Andrew Sullivan points out, this doesn't make any sense. Hasn't Al-Qaeda been paying attention? Half the right-wing news media has accused Barack Obama of being a radical who is just short of Malcolm X. And one even accused Barack Obama of being Malcolm X's son.

There's a reason why none of these labels actually really stuck. Just think about it. How many contradictions are there in the labels... a liberal, socialist, communist, terrorist, secret Muslim, Israel-hating, radical who hates America. Then compare what we all see on TV at the debates or in his speeches. None of those labels matched what we saw. What we saw instead was a man with a conservative temperament who could give a great speech, but when he was talking about his plan for the country, could be a wonkish and boring politician.