A stream of rumors are (again) circulating that Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden may no longer be among the living, though the stories aren’t quite adding up to anything resembling a conclusive announcement. According to an article that appeared today in the French newspaper L’Est Republicain, Saudi intelligence officers have confirmation that Bin Laden fell victim to typhoid fever on August 23. L’Est Republicain allegedly gained access to confidential French foreign intelligence files, which cited these reports of Bin Laden’s death. However, CNN now claims they have received word from a Saudi intelligence operative that Bin Laden has contracted a “water-borne illness,” but is still alive. TIME magazine reports that they, too, have inside sources confirming the water-borne illness, but they are suggesting that Bin Laden may already have died….Reuters reports that neither the French nor the U.S. government can confirm any reports at this point.
Now, the blogosphere is teeming with speculation: Is Osama Bin Laden really dead this time? If he is dead, are we safer? Or should we watch our backs for acts of vengeance? Or, is this just the Bush administrations latest scheme to win the trust of the American people?
