The Anchoress

Wasn’t it just yesterday that Musareff - getting ready to promote a book - said, “leave bin Laden to us?” Yes…yes it was.

And then today this leaked story that Osama may have been dead for the past month, of Typhus - an inglorious end, and one which doesn’t really allow anyone to say “we got him,” either. And I guess it shoots the crap out of this press release, too? Or maybe not.

Well…if he is dead, good. But it doesn’t really change anything. Terrorism will not now officially “stop” as a means of movement within the fanatical and determined Islamofascist camps simply because OBL has kicked the bucket…if he has.

Ooops, I spoke too soon! Ace finds that some on the left are saying exactly that!. “If bin Laden is dead, the war is over!!!” Astonishing. Terrorism is over, we can go back to playtime! They’ve got the usual conspiracy theories going too. Egad, really goofy ones - that the CIA is keeping OBL alive, still. Or that he was killed discreetly so no one could say he was murdered. This one is my favorite:

Dying from a disease is a non-violent death - it’s easy to fake. No bombs go off near your asset (OBL). No accidents happen - no cover actions for the cover story need take place which could endanger your asset. All you have to do is say he died of disease X (in this case, typhoid, a disease common in pakistan).

So they simply whisk him off to some safe house for a few months - give him a make over (including cosmetic surgery) and the “Osama bin Laden” we all knew of is officially dead. The man formerlly known as Osama gets a new identity, a huge bank account, and lives happily ever after.

Let me add one to it, one the lefties might not have considered, and which might cool their feverish musings:

When Musharraf said “leave bin Laden to us,” he may very well have known about this rumor (or fact, whatever) of OBL’s death. And if so, then very likely President Bush and even President Clinton knew about it. Former Presidents do get intelligence briefings. Maybe this story got “leaked” because Clintonites or lefties were - after the “Path to 9/11″ and all that crap - afraid the evil and dastardly Bushies might use the info in October, leave out the Typhus part and call it a “gotcha!” Yeah, yeah, that’s it! That’s been the left’s worst nightmare for all of these years! Maddy Albright was worried all the way back in 2002 that OBL’s death or capture might be used for an October Surprise!

So, the Clintons leaked this information, and it robs the evil droid Karl Rove of his big one - he can’t say they “got” bin Laden…and in doing so, they’ve made the whole question of why Clinton didn’t “get” bin Laden a moot one! Yeah, that’s it! Brilliant Clinton wins again!

Egad, but that was easy to do. Spinning conspiracy theories is simple, and you get to use a lot of exclamation points. Facing facts, that’s a tough thing. But if OBL is dead - and even if he is not - it’s time to face facts anyway.

To me, the OBL story is anti-climactic. The whole War on Terror has moved well beyond one man, and his death was never going to mean the end of terrorism. Unlike Hitler, OBL was not one man controlling one army. He was a man controlling one part of a vast and far-flung network of similarly inspired men, all of whom were and are prepared to go forward with their ideas with or without a sickly OBL. A more interesting story (and one that demonstrates how broad is the movement) is this story being highlighted by Rusty Shackleford:

Big News: bin Laden dead; Bigger News: Ansar al Sunnah Head Captured!

But a much bigger story is that the leader of Ansar al Sunnah, Muntasir al-Jibouri, has been captured! This is big news. And unlike the bin Laden ‘news’, this one seems likely to be true.

We should be shouting for joy that the leader of Ansar al Sunnah has been captured. This should just as big as when we got Zarqawi. It is that important.

Ansar al Sunnah’s organizational structure is not as well know as al Qaeda’s. It appears, though, that al-Jibouri’s voice can be heard on at least two hostage murder videos-and probably many many more (thanks to Mike for the reminder). Like Zarqawi, al Jibouri is said to have personally murdered many of Ansar al Sunna’s victims.

The ugly truth no one wants to admit, particularly within the left, is that this enemy is going to keep coming and coming at us…when we take one out, another will -for a while yet - be able to step up into his place. When we foil one ring, another will be just about ready to attack. While we’re cleaning out one rat’s nest, three more are being formed. That is why this is going to be a decades-long effort, no matter WHO gets into the WH in a few years, and no matter how much some would like to pretend that all of this is simply George W. Bush’s doing, because - you know - terrorism never existed before he got into office, or before he went to Iraq.

And it will end right about….now, with the death of bin Laden…or…right about….now, with the exit of Bush from office….or….right abouuuuuut now…..ummmmmm…..now, in 2010…….ummmm…now.

It’s not going to end for a while, and people really need to fix their minds to that fact. We are very fortunate that so many of our young people understand the need and are responding to it.

Related:
AJ has a rolling update
so does Pajamas Media
Wizbang
Gateway Pundit
Beth
Tom Maguire
Dr. Sanity