U.S. military denies "bin Laden ill" report

[cal04]

The U.S. military in Afghanistan denied on Wednesday that one of its officers had told reporters Osama bin Laden was seeking medical attention.

The London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat, citing U.S. Colonel Don McGraw in a briefing with reporters in Kabul, said on Wednesday that the al Qaeda leader was in poor health and was trying to obtain medical attention. But a U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul said McGraw had not said that. "Colonel McGraw did not say Osama bin Laden was trying to get medical attention," said the spokeswoman, Lieutenant Cindy Moore. "We're working with the editor to correct the record," she said of the al Hayat report.

McGraw had been asked by a reporter about an Arabic Web site report several weeks ago saying bin Laden had been wounded. McGraw said he had seen the report, which security experts said lacked credibility, but had no information, Moore said. He was then asked about old reports that bin Laden had suffered from a kidney ailment and McGraw had said bin Laden might have, in the past, sought treatment but he didn't know about now, Moore said. Moore said McGraw had presented the reporters with no new report about bin Laden.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050914/ts_nm/security_binladen_dc_2

Bin Laden ill: report
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16609271%255E1702,00.html

[Newsjock]

1. Oh, I had forgotten all about that ...

... the poll numbers are tanking so bad now, would they be so brazen as to pull Osama out of his underground, fully stocked recreation room on the Crawford ranch?

[daleo]

3. They checked with Cheney, Bin Laden's ok.

He could use a fresh bag of cheesies though.

[NV Whino]

2. if "ill" equals dead, it's probably correct.

[Syncronaut Seven]

4. Check for freezer burn.

Sometimes the 40 gallon freezer bags don't seal correctly.

[plasticsundance]

5. What will the Administration do?

I guess bin Laden's no longer the number one boogey man anyways, but the Bush Administration might want to pull him out of the closet one day, brush him off, and use Laden when they need a back up scare. You never know. Perhaps, the Administration can have a morning prayer service and pray for bin Laden's good health. After all, Zarqawi doesn't appear to be in the best of health either.

[Peace Patriot]

6. Oh, THOSE guys!

"McGraw said he had seen the report, which security experts said lacked credibility...."

You mean the ones who couldn't see a HURRICANE coming, for the life of them, if Rumsfeld said to look the other way?

THOSE "security experts"?

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Another gem: "'We're working with the editor to correct the record,' she said of the al Hayat report."

"Working with." Does that mean no waterboarding?

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Reading between the lines (some more). Yup. Trial and execution of a very sickened stand-in. That's what we're in for.

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There was another report today/yesterday (and a thread here) about Afghan commanders having permitted bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora, with large money payments having been involved.

The thing's cooking, for sure. But I do think that the Cartel has a lot of schemes they're playing with, and who knows which one(s) they'll use? (It reminds me of the election, where they had Plan A--Diebold & ES&S, Plan B--Ohio, and Plan C--phony terrorist alerts/selective vote counting shutdowns, but didn't need Plan C (except in Warren County, Ohio--though they had it set up for the west coast).

(It's too bad Kerry didn't win bigger, because they would have had to show their hands with Plan C--it might have brought things to a head.)

Note: While Katrina was happening, Rumsfeld was busy bombing the crap out of some Iraqi village on the Syrian border. "Gulf of Tonkin" scenario in the works, is my guess. And they've all been quite busy taking the brakes off our nuke policies. That has gone pretty much under the radar--like Bush's '02 speech at West Point, declaring his new policy of preemptive war. (I remember thinking: Huh? Nobody's COMMENTING on this??!!) Scary. But which of their diabolical schemes they're actually going to use, to get us--or rather the war profiteering corporate news monopolies--to forget all the dead Democrats in New Orleans--is anybody's guess.

[txaslftist]

7. GWB: Osama? Hey buddy, I need you to make another video...

...need ya ta scare my base back to me, if you don't mind.

Could ya make it a little more specific this time? None of this "your security is in your hands bidniss, kay?"

somethin' more like, "If you like terrorists like me, vote for the democrats, cause I'm only scared of Bush!"

"That'd be a real solid, hombre. Ya do that for me and I'll give you another four years of being "not a priority", get it?

Thanks, ole buddy.

[NinetySix]

8. Imagine the heat Bush would take if he DID die...

So there are hundreds of bits of footage from 2001 of Bush saying "smoke 'em out" and "dead or alive," and it's now four years later. Will it be a PR coup for Bush to recover bin Laden's body after he dies peacefully, surrounded by family, friends, and supporters?

Bush's only hope (similar to the hopes of any leader in his underground bunker awaiting the end) is that some improbable miracle will deliver the enemy into his hands. Providence never comes through with such a flourish though, particularly not for the bad guys.