I'll be right up front with you. I honestly do not know, and neither do you.   
   I have read a number of the news releases over the past two days, and quite   
   frankly, I am simply not convinced. Just because the news media says that it   
   is so, does not mean that it is really so. In fact, even though President   
   Obama himself officially announced the death of Osama bin Laden, I still   
   remain unconvinced.   
      
   While I can understand the nod to Muslim sensitivities -- according to   
   Muslim tradition, the deceased must be buried within twenty-four hours --   
   when I first read that Osama bin Laden had been shot in the head in an   
   immense compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and that his body had then been   
   disposed of in the North Arabian Sea, my jaw just about dropped to the   
   floor.   
      
   What? No evidence for the world to see? Truly odd! The needle on my   
   conspiracy theory meter jumped all the way to the far right into the red   
   zone!   
      
   Considering everything that Osama bin Laden allegedly planned, did, or   
   inspired others to do in the way of extreme violence, one would think that   
   the world would demand clear, physical, unquestionable evidence of his   
   demise. Certainly the US Government realizes this; yet there will be no   
   evidence, other than the US Government's claims, and the claims of the mass   
   media.   
      
   Call me crazy, or just an extreme skeptic, but it seems to me that if there   
   was any chance of capturing Osama bin Laden alive, the American Navy Seals   
   and the CIA operatives who were commissioned to do the job would have   
   certainly found a way to achieve this objective, in order to bring Osama bin   
   Laden to justice in the United States. Taking this action would certainly   
   give a lot more people some degree of closure, I would think. It would have   
   allowed a lot of people to finally let go of their hostility, and the   
   bitterness which has poisoned their lives.   
      
   In short, it is very hard for me to believe that the CIA and the Navy Seals   
   would just kill Osama bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and   
   then dump his body into the Arabian Sea. Furthermore, as I noted earlier,   
   the Muslims have very specific burial rites, and I don't think that it   
   includes dumping a body into the sea. Regardless of what some of them think   
   of Osama bin Laden, as Muslims, I still think that they would find this   
   action offensive and very disrespectful.   
      
   Let's be honest here. If Osama bin Laden was killed, whether his body was   
   dumped into the Arabian Sea, or brought back to the United States as proof   
   of "mission accomplished", either way, it is still going to result in some   
   kind of retaliatory actions being taken by al-Qaeda and their operatives   
   sooner or later. It may take days, weeks, months or years, but it is bound   
   to happen. In other words, I honestly do not believe that being sensitive to   
   Muslim burial rites would make any difference. Just the fact that Osama bin   
   Laden has allegedly been killed will be sufficient motivation to inspire   
   revenge attacks by Muslim extremists, in my view. A disregard for Muslim   
   burial rites may possibly contribute to that, but by how much?   
      
   So, being the conspiracy theorist that I tend to be at times, I have   
   entertained a few possibilities at this time. First, assuming that it is   
   true that Osama bin Laden was cornered in his compound at Abbottabad,   
   Pakistan, is it possible that they so mutilated his body -- due to weapons   
   fire, or worse -- that they had no choice but to quickly dispose of it,   
   instead of taking it back to the United States?   
      
   And here is the really big one . . .   
      
   Anyone who understands these things will realize that Osama bin Laden could   
   be a much more valuable intelligence asset alive, rather than dead. Just   
   think of what the United States Government could learn about al-Qaeda -- and   
   similar Muslim extremist organizations -- by interrogating Osama bin Laden.   
   In fact, he could lead them to other al-Qaeda leaders and operatives, such   
   as al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In light of this fact,   
   killing bin Laden would seem like a very major blunder, in my opinion. That   
   is why I personally believe that the American Navy Seals and the CIA would   
   take every precaution to try to capture Osama bin Laden alive.   
      
   So -- yes, it is time to theorize now; I don't want to disappoint you -- is   
   it possible that Osama bin Laden has actually been captured alive, and that   
   he has been secreted away to some remote location where he will be tortured   
   and interrogated, beyond the eyes of the world and the American public?   
      
   It certainly doesn't seem so far-fetched to me in light of George W. Bush's   
   fondness for so-called extraordinary rendition and foreign torture labs   
   where American laws have no legal reach.   
      
   Another question: Why now?   
      
   I can think of two reasons. First, President Obama wants to scale back   
   operations in Afghanistan, just as he has been doing in Iraq; although to be   
   honest, I believe that a large degree of deception has been used against the   
   American public. In other words, I sense that if we clear away all of the   
   smoke and mirrors, as well as the political and military jargon, we will   
   realize that a lot more military personnel will be remaining in both Iraq   
   and Afghanistan, than we have been led to believe. At any rate, with the   
   announcement of Osama bin Laden's alleged death, the United States   
   Government can now convince the American public that there is even more of a   
   reason to pull out of Afghanistan and Pakistan.   
      
   And then there is the upcoming presidential election. Don't think for a   
   minute that President Obama hasn't considered this factor. The man is no   
   doubt walking around with the symbolic feather in his cap, to the fury of   
   George W. Bush and the Republicans who were never able to get Osama bin   
   Laden "dead or alive". The Republicans may be congratulating Obama publicly,   
   as is demanded by political correctness, but underneath, who knows what the   
   real sentiments may be, being as he achieved, where they failed for so many   
   years.   
      
   There is a final point that I would like to mention which further explains   
   why I am so incredulous regarding the announcement of the death of Osama bin   
   Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Not only did my jaw drop when I read that   
   American operatives allegedly disposed of his body in the Arabian Sea, but   
   when I learned that this compound -- which clearly stood out from other   
   buildings in the area due to its huge size and extensive layout which was   
   specifically designed for personal security -- was located only a third of a   
   mile from a Pakistani military installation, I couldn't believe what I was   
   reading. According to news reports, Abbottabad is a wealthy hamlet that is   
   located only thirty five miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.   
      
   What? Osama bin Laden was right under their noses all this time, and they   
   didn't even know it? Give me a break! I think that there is a lot of   
   intentional deception going around right now. I suspect that either the   
   Pakistani government, the Pakistani military, or the Pakistani intelligence   
   service -- the Inter-Services Intelligence -- has been protecting Osama bin   
   Laden this entire time, and I know that I am not alone in this assessment.   
      
   So is Osama bin Laden really dead? I don't know. Maybe he is, and maybe he   
   isn't. Was Osama bin Laden really buried at sea? Again, maybe he was, and   
   maybe he wasn't. Who knows? I don't, and neither do you; unless you believe   
   everything that the mass media tells you, and what your government tells   
   you. I don't. For all we know, this announcement by the United States   
   Government could be a farce on a grand scale. On the other hand, maybe it   
   isn't. We will never be told the full truth.   
      
   That is the way of governments of the world. We -- the common citizens --   
   are treated on a need-to-know basis, and there are a lot of things that   
   secular governments believe that their people simply do not need to know,   
   and should not find out. Thank God that we Christians have a Government in   
   Heaven which operates according to more righteous principles.   
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------   
   Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files.  We Use Hermes II   
      
      
   --- Hermes Web Tosser 1.1   
    * Origin: Armageddon BBS -- Guam, Mariana Islands (1:345/3777.0)