September Surprise

Reports are out this afternoon that French and Saudi sources are saying Bin Laden is ill or dead and this may have been known since August. Imagine that! If true, then I look pretty prescient, having just speculated last night that something was up with Bin Laden or al-Zahawiri before all this broke. I have to say, at this point this story just feels credible to me. Both Bush and Musharraf looked so smug all this past week, like a couple of Cheshire cats sitting on some big secret. Sure I, like all Americans, am happy that one of the true perpatrators of 9-11 appears to be ill or dead, but If it proves to be true, a formidable stake was just driven through the Democratic hopes for taking over one of the branches of our Republic.

Addendum: Reports indicate that bin Laden may have passed away on August 23. If this turns out to be true, or roughly true, it would go a long ways towards explaining why Musharraf met with and made a deal with the Taleban and tribes in Pakistan on September 6. It would also explain why Bush has not objected.