Excerpt:
As President Obama prepares to escalate the war in Afganistan, staff members for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Democratic majority prepared a report at the request of the chairman, Sen. John Kerry.
The only thing in the report that has ever been replicated in the media and other intelligence reports is that Osama bin Laden was cornered at Tora Bora in Dec. 2001. The rest is speculation.
The report, however, seems to overlook the fact that bin Laden was suffering from diabetes, Hepatitus C, and an “untreated lung complication” and would have had to have “walked unmolested” out of the rugged mountains of Afghanistan under the surveillance of “thousands” of special operations troops with at least one kidney dialysis machine in tow.
The latest report also ignores numerous reports in both mainstream U.S. media and international media that bin Laden is probably dead. In Jan. 2002, Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Mushharraf said in an interview with CNN, “I think now, frankly, he is dead for the reason he is a … kidney patient.” The BBC reported on July 18, 2002 that the FBI’s counter-terrorism chief, Dale Watson, says he thinks Osama bin Laden is “probably” dead. Afghan president Harmad Karzai concurred when he said on CNN’s Late Edition on Oct. 8, 2002, “I would come to believe that [bin Laden] probably is dead.” Before Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, she also said bin Laden is dead.
With our economy in shambles, our deficit and national debt skyrocketing, our infrastructure crumbling and our military stretched to the limits, Americans must ask themselves: Is this one man really worth it? Especially considering the real possibility that he may already be dead?
One thing is certain, if Osama bin Laden’s intent was to destroy this nation, he did a nice job of it – thanks to shortsighted leaders in this country that failed, and continue to fail to see the long term implications of a perpetual war chasing what may amount to be nothing more than a long-dead boogeyman.
Read more here: http://www.examiner.com/x-23316-Madison-Independent-Examiner~y2009m11d30-Is-Osama-bin-Laden-dead
Many, many links to articles from 2001-2002 in this one. I did a lot of digging!