"Osama bin Laden is dead. The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information. The remnants of Osama's gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama's ghost alive or because they have no means of communication.
With an ego the size of Mount Everest, Osama bin Laden would not have, could not have, remained silent for so long if he were still alive. He always liked to take credit even for things he had nothing to do with. Would he remain silent for nine months and not trumpet his own survival?
Even if he is still in the world, bin Ladenism has left for good. Mr. bin Laden was the public face of a brand of politics that committed suicide in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, killing thousands of innocent people in the process." (Reference: click here)
How Sick was bin Laden in 2001?
What gives further credence to bin Laden's demise in December, 2001 was his failing state of health. We know with very little doubt that he had severe kidney problems. At the very least, according to a London Times Nov 1, 2007 report, he had "back" problems:
"There have been persistent rumours about the frailty of bin Laden's health. In recent videos he is generally not seen moving about. When he does take a few steps it is with the aid of a cane. Aides blame an (sic) back injury." (Source: click here)Add to this, by mid-December, all the severe tension, exhaustion and stress of being chased, bombed and retreating out of the Tora Bora Caves in Afghanistan where U.S. forces had finally tracked him to, and it would be no surprise that he could have croaked after all that ordeal. He apparently had also been wounded in the foot. Here is a photo, taken from his last alleged video tape released before the end of December, 2001, although it could have been shot in November, which experts are relatively certain is his face and voice:
This is not the photo of a man in the prime of his health. His beard has apparently whitened considerably compared to earlier photos.
Peter Bergen, CNN's terrorism expert, had this to say about the video from which this still shot was taken:
"He's actually quite similar. I mean, in terms of his demeanor and his voice -- these kinds of things are quite similar. The big difference is that he's aged enormously between '97 and October of last year.
This is a man who was clearly not well. I mean, as you see from these pictures here, he's really, by December he's looking pretty terrible. But by December, of course, that tape that was aired then, he's barely moving the left side of his body. So he's clearly got diabetes. He has low blood pressure. He's got a wound in his foot. He's apparently got dialysis ... for kidney problems.
I mean, this is a man who has a number of health problems, apart from the fact that anybody running around the Afghan mountains is not going to be in great shape." (Reference: click here)Exactly what were his health problems? American government sources contradict each other. On the one hand, CNN could report an anonymous senior American official saying that:
[U.S. intelligence is that bin Laden needs (kidney) dialysis every three days and "it is fairly obvious that that could be an issue when you are running from place to place, and facing the idea of needing to generate electricity in a mountain hideout."
Other U.S. officials contradicted the reports of bin Laden's health problems, saying there is "no evidence" the suspected terrorist mastermind has ever suffered kidney failure or required kidney dialysis. The officials called such suggestions a "recurrent rumor."] (Source: click here)General Musharaff, with the Pakistani Military Intelligence Service (ISI) at his disposal, definitely believed that bin Laden was suffering from kidney failure, as noted in the same article:"I think now, frankly, he is dead for the reason he is a ... kidney patient," Gen. Pervez Musharraf said on Friday in an interview with CNN. Musharraf said Pakistan knew bin Laden took two dialysis machines into Afghanistan. "One was specifically for his own personal use," he said.] (ibid, Jan 18, 2002)
Meanwhile, French Intelligence was reported to have this to say in this following excerpt:
CIA agent alleged to have met Bin Laden in July
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