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156 Comments
- theone3, on 10/12/2007, -9/+100"That was our plan the whole time... to let him slowly die of natural causes..."
- burke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+50Wow. I can barely read French, but what that comes down to is that some Saudi security agency released information that Osama Bin Laden may be dead. This information apparently came from a source that has been reliable in the past.
According to the source, Osama was taken to a Pakistan hospital on or around the 23rd of August for a severe thyroid problem and died several days later. - burke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+48As Caprica pointed out, the source indicates he had a severe case of typhoid, not a thyroid problem. Sorry for the brain-typo.
- johndi, on 10/12/2007, -5/+52I don't know how convenient it will be for Bush if the Dems spin it the right way. "You promised us you'd capture or kill him, but through your incompetence he has been allowed to die of natural causes 5 years later."
- irie, on 10/12/2007, -3/+41Reported As Accruate?? ( I Hope).
- chasealicious11, on 10/12/2007, -0/+34that one guy that wouldn't shave until osama was caught can shave.
- biffsputnik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+30http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Faelo.fr%2Findex.html&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8
- curtissthompson, on 10/12/2007, -7/+29I am suspicious. Until I see another credible source report this, I wouldn't feel to confident of its accuracy.
It seems that the article's information is still awaiting confirmation or further credibility of the information, as this news seems to just be hitting the wire.
Regardless of it's accuracy all this seems way to coincidental with this news hitting the same day as news hits about the U.S. military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeding the 9/11 death toll:
http://digg.com/world_news/Just_In_U_S_Fatalities_In_War_2_974_Exceed_Those_From_9_11_2_973
No to say that such an event is implausible, or unwarranted. But it seems far too convenient for this news to hit just before the midterm elections. Hopefully this will either be confirmed by other credible sources soon, or disregarded as inaccurate information.
If anyone has seen any other sources, please post them here! - Goosemaster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Monday Night Football? :D
- n0sferatu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-23T081019Z_01_L23801953_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-BINLADEN-FRANCE.xml
PARIS (Reuters) - A French regional newspaper quoted a French secret service report on Saturday as saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.
L'Est Republicain printed what it said was a copy of the report dated September 21 and said it was shown to President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and France's interior and defence ministers on the same day.
"According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead," the document said.
"The information gathered by the Saudis indicates that the head of al Qaeda was a victim while he was in Pakistan on August 23, 2006, of a very serious case of typhoid which led to a partial paralysis of his internal organs."
The report, which was stamped with a "confidential defence" label and the initials of the French secret service, said Saudi Arabia first heard the information on September 4 and that it was waiting for more details before making an official announcement.
Officials contacted by Reuters in Chirac's and Villepin's offices had no immediate comment.
A senior official in Pakistan's interior ministry said: "We have no information about Osama's death."
Saudi-born Bin Laden was based in Afghanistan until the Taliban government there was overthrown by U.S.-backed forces in late 2001. Since then, U.S. and Pakistani officials have regularly said they believe he is hiding somewhere on the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The last videotaped message released by bin Laden was in late 2004, but there have been several low quality audio tapes released this year.
(Additional reporting by Islamabad bureau) - michaelczhang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15If you're tech savvy enough to whois this domain name, why didn't you notice that it was a frame showing Yahoo News?
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/23092006/5/ousama-ben-laden-serait-mort-selon-l-est-republicain.html
That's the actual link of the story.
http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient&hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffr%2Enews%2Eyahoo%2Ecom%2F23092006%2F5%2Fousama%2Dben%2Dladen%2Dserait%2Dmort%2Dselon%2Dl%2Dest%2Drepublicain%2Ehtml
That's a Google translation of the article. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22""You promised us you'd capture or kill him, but through your incompetence he has been allowed to die of natural causes 5 years later."
Thats the truth though isnt it? If this information is true then Bush didnt capture or kill Bin Laden like he promised, he died of natural causes. No spin to that. - Asten77, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Personally, I think a 'natural' death is by far better than the alternatives.
The arseholes out there we like to call terrorists cannot claim him as a martyr, as they would if we killed him outright. They also can't try (futile as it might be) to use terror as leverage to get him released, as they would if we caught him. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Rest assured, the Bush admin will wave his dead body in front of you and concoct some outrageous lie to convince you that he is still alive and the number one threat to your well being. Osama Bin Laden is Bush's #1 ally, where would Bush be without the BIG BAD BOOGIE MAN! Bin Laden gives Bush his reason for existence.
- Caprica, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12It actually is typhoid not thyroid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoid ).
From the article :
The information originates from a source that has always been reliable.
Saudis are trying to locate Osama's grave.
Osama died in Pakistan.
Someone at the French intelligence agency (DGSE) leaked the info.
The French government knows about Osama's alleged death since September the 19th. - tracespeck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12If this is true then expect to hear, "He died of and was unable to properly treat an illness that was a result of running from coalition troops"
I brought that up because a couple people were wondering how the republican party will spin this. It's fairly obvious. The democrats spin, "The republicans failed to catch him and instead he died of natural causes" has already been stated, but is equally as funny. - ZylogZ80, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Digg really needs to do away with this "mark as inaccurate" label. People abuse it far to much. They mark things they don't like that are, or very well may be, accurate. The headline is "Bin Laden may be dead". The headline isn't "Bin Laden most assuredly dead", or "Bin Laden is definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, dead." it says he MAY be dead. "May", in this context, means "might", "possibly", or "could" - how is this inaccurate? Is it completely outside the realm of possibility that Osama might be dead? It's completely impossible? He's immortal? He's sickly, being hunted by the most highly trained and professional organizations in the history of the world, and he's out in the middle of ***** nowhere - I'd say that it's completely accurate to suppose that he may be dead. Even if he is alive it is not inaccurate to state that he may be dead. "May" being the operative word here.
Seriously, you can not "vote for reality". The whole concept of accuracy being determined democratically is absurd - as such the Digg model of marking as inaccurate is absurd. We shouldn't be able to mark things as inaccurate (unless Digg allows us to elect a community fact checking or editorial board who have a solid understanding of the English language and can differentiate between a supposition and declared fact.), we should be able to mark things as "contentious" or "controversial", but not inaccurate. - BadassCheese, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Looks like something caught up with a 6'2 Arab an dialysis.
- leadx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Translated article:
The number one of the terrorist network Al-qaeda, Ousama Bin Laden, would be dead, according to of the news of the services Saudi securities transmitted to the general Direction of the exterior services (DGSE), retrieves the newspaper inhabitant of lorraine IS IT republican in his Saturday edition.
"According to a habitually reliable source, the Saudi services of security would have obtained the conviction that oussama Bin Laden is dead", says a grade of the DGSE of September 21 classified one "confidential defense" and published by THE republican EAST in his Saturday edition. The grade, specify the newspaper, nevertheless would have been recorded in the news "no cut again" by the DGSE.
According to the grade published by the republican east, the Saudi services of security "would attain to obtain more details, and notably the place of his inhumation, to announce officially the new one". In this grade, the DGSE specifies that no "site Internet djihadiste is not for the moment does the echo of the ousama death Bin Laden".
According to the even notes, "the al-qaïda boss would have been victim, while it was located to the Pakistan August 23 2006, of a very strong typhoid crisis" and there would have succumbed in the following days.
The French services of the piece of information would have transmitted this grade to the President of the Republic, to the Prime Minister and to the ministers of the interior and Defense September 21, according to regional the newspaper, that added that a first transmitted grade September 19 to the leaders of the French state explained that the Saudi services "tried to confirm the ousama death Bin Laden". AP
gb/
- cryptocom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12see...this is why i don't pay attention to the news anymore here in the US. It's all corrupted and twisted around to fit the needs of whoever has the power. I really don't care anymore wtf is going on....there's nothing that Americans can do any more to stop what the government is doing. The voting process is a joke...money buys votes. I enjoy the economic freedom here, but there's no use pretending that the power still belongs to the people in America. The power belongs to the current administration. The founders of this country are rolling in their graves.
- Osmanthus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Sadly, I'm in the same boat.
I remember when we studied Nazi Germany and WW2, and I always thought that if I was in the German people's position, I would done something about it. I would have been able to do something about it.
Now I know exactly how the good german people felt. Doomed. - burke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Haha... oops. Not sure why I read that as thyroid ;)
Sorry about that. - rabbott, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9i don't know what to believe anymore.
- elroy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11however, if i recall correctly, that lawyer did make a public apology to cheney FOR GETTING SHOT IN THE FACE.
masters of spin, they are! - maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8INACURATE???
How can "MAY BE DEAD" be inacurate????!
*****, I >MIGHT< be dead by the time you read this! Is that an inacurate statement? NO!
Good god and heaven, digg is full of ***** IDIOTS - irie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10This needs to go Front Page -Bam!!!
- lordbal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Even if he is dead, it wont stop global terrorism. It used to be so that you could cut off the main guy and the whole network collapsed, but they have millions of followers now.
- greenspans, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7My attept at a HUMAN translation from french to english
PARIS (AP) - Le numéro un du réseau terroriste Al-Qaïda, Ousama Ben Laden, serait mort, selon des informations des services de sécurité saoudiens transmis à la Direction générale des services extérieurs (DGSE), rapporte le quotidien lorrain L'Est républicain dans son édition de samedi.
The leader of the Al-Qaida Network, Osama Bin Laden, is dead, according to Saudi DGSE. It was reported in Sundays edition of "le quotidien lorrain".
"Selon une source habituellement fiable, les services saoudiens de sécurité auraient acquis la conviction qu'Oussama Ben Laden est mort", dit une note de la DGSE du 21 septembre classée "confidentiel défense" et publiée par L'Est républicain dans son édition de samedi. La note, précise le quotidien, aurait toutefois été enregistrée dans les informations "non recoupées" par la DGSE.
"According to a constantly reliable source, the Saudi Security said Osama Bin Laden is dead", says a note of the DGSE of September 21 classified "confidential defense" which was published by The republican East in its Saturday edition. The report, says the newspaper, would have been recorded uneditted by the DGSE.
Selon la note publiée par l'Est républicain, les services saoudiens de sécurité "atteindraient d'obtenir davantage de détails, et notamment le lieu de son inhumation, pour annoncer officiellement la nouvelle". Dans cette note, la DGSE précise qu'aucun "site Internet djihadiste n'est pour l'instant fait l'écho de la mort d'Ousama Ben Laden".
According to the report published by blah newspaper, Saudi Security "will try to get more details, most notably the burial site, then announce the news officially. In that letter, the DGSE has said "No jihadist websites have echoed the news about his death".
D'après la même note, "le chef d'Al-Qaïda aurait été victime, alors qu'il se trouvait au Pakistan le 23 août 2006, d'une très forte crise de typhoïde" et y aurait succombé dans les jours suivants.
After the same letter, "The cheif of Al-qaeda is a victim, after he traveled to pakiston in blan, of a very strong case of typhoid fever" and he had died in the next few days.
Les services français du renseignement auraient transmis cette note au Président de la République, au Premier ministre et aux ministres de l'Intérieur et de la Défense le 21 septembre, selon le quotidien régional, qui ajouté qu'une première note transmise le 19 septembre aux dirigeants de l'Etat français expliquait que les services saoudiens "cherchaient à confirmer la mort d'Ousama Ben Laden". AP
The French Services of information have transmitted this note to the President of Republic, to the Prime minister and to the secretaries of the Interior and the Defense September 21, according to the regional daily, that added that a letter transmitted September 19 to the leaders of the French state explained that the Saudi services "tried to confirm the death of Osama Bin Laden". AP - JFetch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Has anyone heard this from any other source? We need some confirmation if it's real or not.
- bornhj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"Wednesday, December 26, 2001"
It's a different story. - rritterson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Here is a reuters feed from the actual french yahoo site. Looks to be much less fake to me now. http://fr.news.yahoo.com/23092006/290/une-note-de-la-dgse-evoque-la-possible-mort-d.html
- rodrigo74, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I think it's unfair to label this post as innacurate, the submitter was careful enough to use the word MAY, not IS...
- MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Let's imagine that he really IS dead. What now?
- Caprica, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Proof that YOU don't read what's under the title. It clearly states that there is no translation yet for this French AP news. The comments are full of interesting links and translations, I don't think that people wasted their time with this piece of information.
When I submitted this story there wasn't one single website in English that was mentioning Osama's alleged death and I figured that someone would quickly post a home-made translation in the comments. And that's what happened.
This news was on Digg hours before it hit the US TV networks, should I apologize for that? - robbclark, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Two things:
1. How can something be marked as inaccurate if it "may" have happened? Some people are idiots.
2. Even if he is dead, do you think we will ever know the truth? Then who will be the poster boy for the war on terror? The administration needs to keep him alive to have an excuse. - westhoustondem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Wow, we managed to wait until he checked into a hospital and died of illness. Way to smoke him out.
Watch out Castro! - superalamar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10oh good that theory again....this administration couldn't cover up dick chenny shooting a lawyer in the woods....come on....
- blackjack75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Enjoying the death of Bin Laden is patriotic. On the other hand believing the french is officially considered treason. Though choice.
- woxidu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5your concerns are addressed a few comments up:
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/23092006/5/ousama-ben-laden-serait-mort-selon-l-est-republicain.html
This seems to have a connection with yahoo. - Forma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5English version is now up
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-23T075508Z_01_L23801953_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-BINLADEN-FRANCE.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C3-worldNews-2
Interesting news if true - mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6They're working on it as we speak. (if he is indeed dead)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I have often wondered if bin Laden wasn't a greasy smear on a cave wall in Afghanistan and is being kept alive by using his decoy doubles as a figurehead.
Such a strategy would be very useful for whoever really is Al Qaeda. It would keep the US and its allies looking for a ghost and take the heat off the real players.
There was some speculation that after the fall of the Soviet Union, people like bin Laden hired Soviet trained KGB and GRU operatives to help them learn field-craft.
This reminds me a lot of an operation the GRU pulled on Imperial Japan during WWII. Soviet intelligence kept a known agent "alive" in Tokyo by trickery while their real agent worked unimpeded. - garyh84, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/01/18/gen.war.against.terror/
"I think now, frankly, he is dead," Musharraf said in an interview with CNN
From January 2002 - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5OBL would be useful to Al Qaeda alive or dead.
Alive, he is able to rally jihadi without regard to their sect or national origin.
Dead, he is a useful figurehead that would keep the West chasing shadows while taking the heat off of the real leaders of of Al Qaeda.
The US needs to know one way or another. - grimfandango, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5do you think you're clever spouting rubbish like that you little w*nker?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Rot in hell BL.
- porkstacker, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8How many times has he feigned death now? I sure wish that the original plan of hunting down and neutralising him had been carried out back in 2002. But noooooooo---- instead we were told that Iraq and Osama bin Laden were linked, and well.... you know the rest of the sad sad sad story.
- malorkus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It's on Reuters now too:
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-23T075358Z_01_L23801953_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-BINLADEN-FRANCE.xml - RyanJohnston, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9Come on this would be easy to spin as a victory for the Bush administration. If Bin Laden really did die of typhoid it is likely because of the squalor he has had to live in to avoid being picked up by the US. It isn't likely that he has been living well the past 5 years.
I personally don't care how the politicians try to spin this. The world will be a better place if he is truly dead. This might even be the best of all possible ways for him to go. It is hard to be a martyr when you die of natural causes. - bendy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Wait, he died in March
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/17/64243.shtml?s=lh
nope...wait...it was in January
http://www.nationalreview.com/ledeen/ledeen200601090808.asp
Three years ago, he was alive AND dead
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/south/03/06/bin.laden.alive/index.html
He will be dead someday, of course. And maybe that day was four days ago, but I wouldn't get too excited. -
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