[LS]

I have thought for a couple of weeks now that something besides diplomacy and/or military "staging" was holding up the Iraq invasion, and this appears to be it. I don't think they want to confuse the situation with OBL with all the "fog of war" that an invastion will bring, and that the U.S. government apparently thinks it can get him.

Personally, I have a big "I was wrong," because I was certain OBL was dead at Tora Bora. But Ijaz is pretty bright, and very well connected.

[The Wizard]

bttt

[RightOnline]

If OBL is taken down, one wonders what the effect would be on the Iraqi military. I think it would be devastating to their morale.......and Saddam would panic. Would the Iraqi military stage a coup?? Going to be very interesting to watch.

[theDentist]

Torture, eh? Must be forcing him to listen to "It Takes a Village" as read by Al Sharpton.

[thegreatbeast]

It is dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket. Ijaz is just one ubiquitous source.
UBL is dead. I will remain convinced of that until I have a chance to desecrate his body myself.

[dawn53]

I just finished reading an article from a link off Drudge that said they had intercepted "hand written letters" from Bin Laden.

This form of communication makes sense since they know we are monitoring electronic forms of communication.

I, too, was convinced he was dead, but maybe not.

I noticed in another article posted on FR this AM, GWB said we are making strides in the war against terror. Wonder if he's referring to the imminent capture of OBL?

Boy, wouldn't that shut the Dems mouths. How many have said on national TV that we don't need to be in Iraq until we capture OBL?

[xJones]

Personally, I have a big "I was wrong," because I was certain OBL was dead at Tora Bora. But Ijaz is pretty bright, and very well connected.

Um, me too. The old bugger has been awfully quiet for someone who always loved to grandstand on videos. We were promised by al-Queda leaders that OBL would speak last July 4th, but that was another non-event. At this point, I wouldn't take a bet if OBL is dead or alive.

[MEG33]

You are not alone on Osama being dead! I'll believe Osama's capture when it's done .The hype is a bit much!

[maquiladora]

Sounds interesting.

[mhking]

Fascinating...

[Coop]

I wish the media would quit focusing on how close we may be to Bin Laden. Everyone's just setting themselves up for a letdown. Hey, hopefully we'll get him and Al Zawahiri. But personally I'm rejoicing over the capture of KSM, al-Hasawi, and Abdel-Rahmen. And the fear and chaos these captures have undoubtedly caused for the cowardly terrorists.

[mhking]

Ijaz is 'the Man'...

[MichiganMan]

Perhaps, but I'll believe it when I see it, we've heard this kind of good news before. I've no doubt that the administration is doing everything possible to find him in case he is alive, but I am still of the opinion that he is an unidentifiable smear of dusty red paste under a few tons of rock in a cave some where. I mean a guy who couldn't stay away from a video camera for more than a few weeks suddenly can only make written (LOL) and audio statements. The only alternative explanation is that he was disfigured/blinded etc. in the Tora Bora attack and would therefore not be an effective rallying force on video. Its in our interest to not officially speculate that he's dead in case he does pop up somewhere, and because his continued pursuit does keep a few of the weak-kneed on board with the war.

I'd be thrilled to be wrong though.

[smith288]

I dont believe physical torture will be used. I think it will be a mix of sedation, mental torture with a little confusion on time of day and day of the week... Hell, I wouldnt put it past our guys to have a women laugh at him naked and throwing pig fat at him...

I think the physical torture isnt productive and more of the style of cruel regimes to entertain themselves.

The show "24" had a good example of it by putting his family on tv and "shooting" his firstborn (they actually didnt) and moving on down the line. If he had kids, grabbing them and staging a fake torture on them would do wonders i bet...would for me.

[ez]

I personally believe that OBL is in "heaven" with 72 Hillaries. I also think that for our purposes it is OK if most people think he's still alive.

If it were announced that OBL was dead, Dems would use it to force most of the air out of the War on Terror.

[Semper911]

Mansoor Ijaz

I really like that guy, but I can't imagine how he would know something like this.

[George W. Bush]

Watch and see. I'll be very surprised if we get OBL in the next few days.

Despite all his fans here, Mansoor has been wrong a number of times. I'm not sure his information is all that reliable.

I don't believe for a second that we're torturing any suspects. Especially not a high profile suspect. But I wouldn't be surprised if Khalid is blabbing his head off. He's the type.

[Revelation 911]

IMO - hes on ice in a gubmint freezer - to be thawed hours after the UN vote (pre-invasion) - at which time we claim capture and demoralize the Republican guard into a coup

[Petronski]

I doubt very much he'd allow himself to be taken alive.

[Aquinasfan]

What are we going to do with OBL when we catch him? Is he going to get a trial?

[rintense]

Ijaz is awesome -I put a lot of trust in what he says. Can you imagine the celebrations Americans will have when we get UBL??? What a feather in the cap for GWB- and a great catalyst to begin the bombing in Iraq.