CIA: OBL alive, keeping fit by dodging missiles
posted at 7:00 pm on November 13, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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CIA Director Michael Hayden says that Osama bin Laden remains alive more than seven years after the 9/11 attacks, but that he’s not enjoying it much. American military and intelligence efforts have largely cut him off from his organization, and most of his focus has been on staying alive. Hayden also said that the US has disrupted his plans to attack America on a grand scale:
Osama bin Laden is alive and “putting a lot of energy into his own security,” the director of the CIA, General Michael Hayden, said today.
He also claimed, without providing details, that the US intelligence community had disrupted an attack “that would have rivaled the destruction of 9/11.” …
Without directly referring to the CIA’s offensive blitz of unmanned missile attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan, the CIA boss said the US had successfully isolated the al Qaeda leader bin Laden, referring to him in the present tense.
“He appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organization he leads,” Hayden said in a speech delivered to the Atlantic Council in Washington.
The plot to which Hayden refers got reported on Monday by a London-based Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds al-Arabi. According to their Yemeni source, described as close to senior AQ leadership, the new AQ attack would have eclipsed the scale of the 9/11 attacks and returned AQ to relevance. Hayden appears to confirm that in this speech, which should remind everyone that al-Qaeda still poses a threat to the US.
According to ABC, a debate has broken out among the Obama transition team about Hayden. They like his performance and his efforts to rescue the CIA, and they want to retain some continuity in the war effort. Others on Team Obama feel that they cannot have Hayden remain, though, because of his connections to the warrantless surveillance and controversial interrogation techniques, even though those haven’t been in play since 2003. Since Obama himself voted to support the surveillance compromise, that doesn’t seem like as big a hurdle as this report paints it.
I’d expect Hayden to be asked to resign within a short period after the inauguration. Who will they tap to replace him? Richard Clarke?
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Bin Laden can’t effectively lead his organization? Maybe he should apply for bailout funds.
jaleach on November 13, 2008 at 7:03 PM
“Everybody look at your hands.”? Sweet.
Abby Adams on November 13, 2008 at 7:04 PM
The only manned missle attack I know of was in Dr. Strangelove.
Tzetzes on November 13, 2008 at 7:04 PM
Osama’s luck will run out when
a Hellfire has his name and address
is on it!!
Or if somebody is lucky enough to lob
a ‘Holy hand grenade into zee cave!
Osama blowin into tiny itzee bitzee pieces!
canopfor on November 13, 2008 at 7:05 PM
Or maybe Barbra Streisand.
whitetop on November 13, 2008 at 7:05 PM
OBL still wants to hit us hard.
Too bad 52% of Americans are more concerned about “feeling good” and whether or not France likes us………..sigh!
omnipotent on November 13, 2008 at 7:05 PM
That’s got my vote for quote of the day.
VanPalin on November 13, 2008 at 7:06 PM
OBAMA = WEAK ON DEFENSE
Remember this promise he made to cut back on defense?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRGru2CPC4E
Scary stuff to us! Excellent news to Putin and other international leaders that want to take advantage of American weakness!
TheMightyQuinn on November 13, 2008 at 7:07 PM
Slim Pickens was the only man ever vaporized while yelling, “YeeHaw!”
whitetop on November 13, 2008 at 7:07 PM
And the Taliban continue their attacks on school age girls.
How long till Obama turns and runs leaving them to die ?
William Amos on November 13, 2008 at 7:08 PM
I’ve got Pepsi in my nasal passages. thnx
thomasaur on November 13, 2008 at 7:09 PM
“You can hide if you want to”
PappaMac on November 13, 2008 at 7:09 PM
AP give us the BYC, I give you Men Without Hats, per Ed’s caption:
Safety Dance
batter on November 13, 2008 at 7:10 PM
There was one in True Lies also.
Mark1971 on November 13, 2008 at 7:11 PM
Doh!
BYCBOC.batter on November 13, 2008 at 7:11 PM
That incompetent jackass???
Zorro on November 13, 2008 at 7:13 PM
How long till Obama turns and runs leaving them to die?
William Amos on Nov 13,2008 at 7:08PM.
William Amos: The Taliban throwing acid into the young
girls faces is awfully nasty!
canopfor on November 13, 2008 at 7:13 PM
This is astounding. Was there any American in 2002 who believed that OBL would be alive six years later?
justfinethanks on November 13, 2008 at 7:15 PM
Ah, of course! How could I have forgotten Arnold’s great line, “you’re fired”?
Tzetzes on November 13, 2008 at 7:18 PM
I just want to know the details of his mobile dialysis setup.
Oh, and a Christmas message on video would be nice too.
Ares on November 13, 2008 at 7:18 PM
I’m one who thinks that bin Laden has been dead for a long time now. It serves the administration and the war effort to keep the legend of him being alive in order to keep support for the war. Many people, and especially in congress will want to cut and run in Afghanistan once his death is confirmed. My B.S. opinion is just that, but if his death is confirmed, there are going to be a whole lot of people who think, wrongly so, that the war is won. Radical Islam is going to be the enemy for many many years, if not an eternity.
simkeith on November 13, 2008 at 7:20 PM
Ugh! What a mad, bad world this is.
Tzetzes on November 13, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Shhhhh. : X
Ares on November 13, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Not the eternity that I believe in.
thomasaur on November 13, 2008 at 7:24 PM
Lets see, if Obama sleeps at the switch like Clinton did, in about 4 years Republicans will have another mess to fix. OBL was to have been dealt with back then. Remember Clinton only set off cruise missles to distract the press during his sexual harassment headlines and impeachment news. Anyone else remember that?
johnnyU on November 13, 2008 at 7:26 PM
He died. Tired.
flipflop on November 13, 2008 at 7:29 PM
What does OBL have to worry about?
Under Mr. Obama’s Administration, Club Gitmo will be closed…….. and if he is caught on the battle field and not provided a lawyer and Mirandized immediately, all charges will be dismissed.
What’s to worry about, hommie, just think, in a couple of months you are home free……..
What did William Ayers say again……… “Guilty as Sin, Free as a Bird………. What a Great Country!”
Seven Percent Solution on November 13, 2008 at 7:33 PM
…set off cruise missiles to distract……..
johnnyU on Nov 13,2008 at 7:26PM.
johnnyU: If my facts are straight,didn’t ‘Slick Willy’
launch a few missles that took out an aspirin
factory?
canopfor on November 13, 2008 at 7:33 PM
They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Special Ops seek him everywhere
If you should see him, please do give a yell!
That demmed elusive OBL
They seek him here, they seek him there
The Special Ops seek him everywhere
Oh, Binny, how the Special Ops do implore you
Simply to come out from your cave or from under your bed
With all your hiding
It’s a chore to smash your head!
They seek him here, they seek him there
The Special Ops seek him everywhere!
He gives the Special Ops nothing but frustration
Sink me! He’s a spoilsport
Each and every demmed capture
He cuts short
They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Special Ops seek him everywhere
Is he in Pakistani or maybe even in Dearbornstani?
One thing we know for sure
Hes going to fry in Hell!
PercyB on November 13, 2008 at 7:35 PM
Osama Bin Hidin!
johnnyU on November 13, 2008 at 7:37 PM
Show me the money, Mr Gates.
Until then I’ll bet on the worms.
Limerick on November 13, 2008 at 7:40 PM
That’s what I’d have done. It’s not like he had a lot of choice.
mr.blacksheep on November 13, 2008 at 7:42 PM
We can’t say if UBL is dead without some DNA from a part of his body that would be missed (pelvis, skull). But the tapes supposedly from him look to be heavily Memorexed.
Sekhmet on November 13, 2008 at 7:42 PM
I believe they found a mild trace of Anthrax(tm) on the ground outside, so they blew the joint up, but the timing was the night before a big release on his shinanagans.
johnnyU on November 13, 2008 at 7:42 PM
PercyB,
Dedicated Follower of Fascism
/Oh, yes he is!
Christien on November 13, 2008 at 7:43 PM
Could be right, I’ma-still hopin’ though that we get to see his sorry dead rear end for ourselves. If he is “Carbon neutral” as another poster on another thread so eliquently put it: I’m cool.
Also, off topic but I just heard Joe Biden’s son is being deployed. Am I being really, really snarky to pray that Sarah Palin’s son is joined at the hip with him? (In order to ensure Sarah’s son’s safety)???? Man, these ugly thoughts I have! I worry, worry worry for that kid. (Remember the Prez. Elect’s “Salute” to John McCain in the final 24 hours of the election. Very, very ugly!
Chewy the Lab on November 13, 2008 at 7:45 PM
Haqqani, Mehsud, Hekmatyar, Omar, etc., those are the ones we’re more concerned with at present.
Christien on November 13, 2008 at 7:46 PM
….,but the timing was the night before a big release on
his shinanagans.
johnnyU on Nov 13,2008 at 7:42PM.
johnnyU: Precisely,and the Clinton’s were good at releasing,
or creating crap on a Friday!:)
canopfor on November 13, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Actually, Matt Damon seems to be extremely knowledgeable about the issues nationally. He said so. Plus, he does run all over the world killing bad guys and rouge CIA operatives.
hawkdriver on November 13, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Probably not too likely as I believe Palin’s son is Infantry and Biden’s son is REMF.
MB4 on November 13, 2008 at 7:50 PM
Not to mention getting a whole squad of Rangers killed in Normandy.
Limerick on November 13, 2008 at 7:51 PM
I find it really hard to believe that the guy really is still alive, considering the condition of his health as of 2001 and how many years he’s been at large, the fact that our forces and those of our allies have been all over the areas he would likely to be and the fact that there’s a huge reward for his head. How hard would it be for a seven-foot-tall, Internationally known guy hooked up to a dialysis machine to hide out so effectively?
But at least they’re telling the public that he’s still alive so that Obama’s ridiculous claim that he’ll capture and kill Osama can be added to the list of failed campaign promises in 2012.
Sign of the Dollar on November 13, 2008 at 7:58 PM
I’m pretty sure I saw his name and address on the list of Obama’s credit card donors.
Sign of the Dollar on November 13, 2008 at 7:59 PM
Epic title Ed!! Lol.
nickj116 on November 13, 2008 at 7:59 PM
Tell Manbearpig to make Osama carbon neutral. He’ll take care of it.
I wish the CIA would stop toying with my fantasy of a long deceased bin Laden. C’mon, Hayden, it’s bad for morale.
tuffy on November 13, 2008 at 8:01 PM
If Bush doesn’t take Osama out in the next 60 days, Obama will appoint him Sec Def.
katy on November 13, 2008 at 8:08 PM
It is going to be really really interesting to see what The One keeps in place now that he has a better idea what this country faces day in and day out.
Cindy Munford on November 13, 2008 at 8:09 PM
If Osama were “caught” or “killed”, some other wild goose would be necessary to shield and divert responsibility from Saudi Arabia and Islam.
Osama is a useful bogey man for the appeasing west. He will remain a free radical and a false focus.
Islam is awesome!!1!
BL@KBIRD on November 13, 2008 at 8:21 PM
That’s a keeper!
I don’t know why, but picturing bin-Laden dodging missles made me think of THIS classic…
JetBoy on November 13, 2008 at 8:26 PM
OBL will be for another 4-8 years… ad a lot less fit… missiles soon to be outlawed in peacekeeping effort by Obama administration…
pinkelephants on November 13, 2008 at 8:33 PM
thanks, that’s the funniest thing I’ve read today
scalleywag on November 13, 2008 at 8:34 PM
“Who will they tap to replace him? Richard Clarke?”
Joe Wilson, probably.
crosspatch on November 13, 2008 at 8:34 PM
I’m just saying…Chicago style politics? God I hope I’m wrong.
Chewy the Lab on November 13, 2008 at 8:39 PM
I’d expect Hayden to be asked to resign within a short period after the inauguration. Who will they tap to replace him? Richard Clarke?
Jamie Gorelick
Bill_M on November 13, 2008 at 8:42 PM
CIA is either being scammed again, or is scamming us.
Or both.
LegendHasIt on November 13, 2008 at 8:47 PM
pfft, ABC news is all about talking about this friggin pregnant woman on male hormones who thinks she’s a pregnant man. Priorities I tell ya….
I pretty much have come to realize we have no MSM any more. The false stories of Palin are now being labeled as such by the MSM saying ‘oh sorry’. Hell it altered an election people.
In summary, I am just waiting for God to plink this planet with his finger and knock some sense into some people who friggin need it.
johnnyU on November 13, 2008 at 8:55 PM
sorry sometimes the disgust gets the better of me
johnnyU on November 13, 2008 at 8:59 PM
OBL is dead and has been for 14 months. You heard it first here. He died from complications in September, 2007.
Jdripper on November 13, 2008 at 9:01 PM
Yikes!
Richard Romano on November 13, 2008 at 9:15 PM
…why not the target himself…old OBL….
…he’d surely be able to tell the Company where he is…he’d be there….
…and he’d dovetail with Obama’s administration nicely…CIA or Homeland Security…either/or…same result….
Puritan1648 on November 13, 2008 at 9:18 PM
Either Ayers or “Renaissance”.
Hening on November 13, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Maybe the Messiah can slip OBL a butt-rocket and they can bond as only lonely muslim men can when lying out in the dark desert, meeting with “no preconditions” and what not!
GlocknRoll on November 13, 2008 at 10:11 PM
Thought a big release was what got him in trouble to start with.
/Sorry, somebody had to say it
AZfederalist on November 13, 2008 at 10:13 PM
Our Predators and Raptors will eventually find him, and more of his leadership…unless he is at a wedding which are BS lies given their tarket tasking and rules of engagement that Obama nor our media ever heard of.
Richard Clarke, Joe Wilson, and Sandy Berger, the triumvirate returns. Whith what’s her name as their covert secretary.
rlwo2008 on November 13, 2008 at 10:47 PM
I had that dream in 2002 that OBL would be captured alive. He was flown back to NYC and marched to Ground Zero. The route was lined entirely with victims’ families, firefighters and cops. Mayor Giuliani (God Bless Him) is waiting for him. He punches him in the face. Then OBL is whisked off to Florence, Colorado where he’ll spend the rest of his life in a small cell with only a “Where’s Waldo” Book (that would probably kill the first 10 minutes or so.) Not even the Koran would be allowed. I hope that Allah comes for him in the form of bowel cancer.
The other part of the dream was that it was a Canadian unit which captured him. As a reward, the unit was allowed to march in New York, and receive the Presidential Unit Citation from the President, and the title “City of New York’s Own” from the Mayor. How fitting.
KillerKane on November 13, 2008 at 11:24 PM
The protocol when a new president is elected is that everyone submits their resignation.
Some resignations are accepted and some are not accepted.
slp on November 13, 2008 at 11:40 PM
For all we know Bin Laden could be sipping mint juleps in Saudi Arabia.
LevStrauss on November 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Werner Klemperer, he’s the only person that could replace Hayden.
LevStrauss on November 14, 2008 at 12:03 AM
I wish Hayden could stay on. I like him.
CP on November 14, 2008 at 12:39 AM
Yeah, from the complications of a fuel-air bomb or a bunker buster.
Johan Klaus on November 14, 2008 at 1:07 AM
I read once it takes 6-7 years to catch a really smart fugitive. The radicals of the 60s said it took two people on the inside to support one outside, and eventually you run out of them, so I think his time has just about run out.
OBL is going to come in from the cold, or somebody’s going to squeal. I just hope it happens on W’s watch–he deserves the catch.
PattyJ on November 14, 2008 at 1:11 AM
“According to ABC, a debate has broken out among the Obama transition team about Hayden. They like his performance and his efforts to rescue the CIA,”
From Whom?
davod on November 14, 2008 at 6:02 AM
I still think Osama might be dead. But I would like to see that confirmed before Bush leaves office.
Terrye on November 14, 2008 at 6:54 AM
LevStrauss:
For all we know, Obama could have been dead for years. I think that is more likely than the sipping mint juleps thing. After all OBL does not drink.
Terrye on November 14, 2008 at 6:56 AM
‘cringing’
johnnyU on November 14, 2008 at 7:54 AM
Not at the time, no. However, after seeing reports come out over the years and all the efforts within our own agencies to undermine the POTUS it becomes less surprising.
I still think the CIA needs to be gutted and restructured, it is a mere shadow if it’s former self.
It ever fully recovered from the Church Hearings, and any progress made in the 80s and early 90s was undone by Billy Jeff.
One of my biggest gripes with Bush was his lack of cleaning house at the CIA, State Department, etc… I don’t think it’s going to get any better now.
reaganaut on November 14, 2008 at 8:26 AM
Monas on November 14, 2008 at 8:49 AM
President Bush has done a lot of things that I disagree with, but I really appreciate his success in keeping me (and you) safe since 9/11.
FuriousAmerican on November 14, 2008 at 9:12 AM
Sign of the Dollar: +10
Of course, most US merchant accounts could screen for that. Just not the ultra-technological Team Obama.
hawksruleva on November 14, 2008 at 9:34 AM
He better stay out of Ohio too, or he’ll be dodging a 22 and/or anything that isn’t bolted down.
Glenn Jericho on November 14, 2008 at 10:02 AM
I’ll wait to hear all the details in the next New York Times Sunday edition.
Amendment X on November 14, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Osama bin Laden will probably hole up in Pakistan’s Wild West until January 20, 2009, after which he will be invited to Camp David, where President Obama will ask him, pretty please with sugar and cherries and 72 virgins on top, to discontinue training suicide bombers because they are an embarrassment to his Muslim faith, and as a good-faith gesture, President Obama will send Osama’s “brothers” home from Guantanamo.
Steve Z on November 14, 2008 at 1:01 PM
The radicals of the 60s will soon have one inside…the White House. The others will come crawling out of the shadows like an army of cockroaches ready to wreak havoc.
Steve Z on November 14, 2008 at 1:05 PM
The CIA hasn’t done its job for years. They didn’t see 9/11 coming, they blew it with the WMD’s in Iraq, and Valerie Plame spent two years undermining the Bush Administration while she paraded around in Vanity Fair. It will probably continue its downhill spiral under Obama.
If a Republican is elected President in 2012, it will be time for a full-scale overhaul and witch hunt.
Steve Z on November 14, 2008 at 1:12 PM
I think he is in William Ayers basement. Quickly somebody drop a fuel air bomb…hheh heh heh
UNREPENTANT CONSERVATIVE CAPITOLIST on November 14, 2008 at 2:32 PM
I’d like to believe that we know where UBL is but are keeping tabs on who comes and goes, giving him the false sense of safety. Look, killing UBL would be nice for vengeance sake but tracking, thwarting and killing his cohorts and commanders does more towards winning the War on Terror.
As far as our war effort benefiting fron the continued existence of UBL, lt’s not forget that al Quaeda needs to prop up Bernie as well, exploiting the perception of him getting divine protection so to keep their movement afloat. Nothing says this better than the periodic cobbled video of UBL released straegically to keep al Quaeda leadership current and relevant to those who would join and follow.
shuzilla on November 14, 2008 at 3:08 PM
This is astounding. Was there any American in 2002 who believed that OBL would be alive six years later?
justfinethanks on November 13, 2008 at 7:15 PM
What’s this, your liberal passive-aggressive way to get right wingers at Hot Air to agree that W’s tenure has been a disaster? Let’s rephrase it:
This is astounding. Was there any American in 2002 who believed that the U.S. would not be hit by a majopt terrorist attack all the way through 2008?
max1 on November 14, 2008 at 4:56 PM