Oh-oh! What if the dead guy wasn't Osama bin Laden?

 

Neither President Obama nor senior administration officials expressed any qualifications about who got shot in the head during that SEAL commando raid into what was thought to be Osama bin Laden's housing compound in Pakistan early Monday morning.

They said a compound resident pointed the infamous Saudi out to SEALs. That the woman being used as a shield, presumably one of his wives, called him by name during the melee. And that facial-recognition analysis was used on death photos transmitted from the scene, confirming the bearded one's identity.

In addition to a possible treasure trove of Al Qaeda data contained on computers and discs scooped up by the infiltration team during its 40-minute foray in that housing compound, the American military surely took DNA samples from the body.

Even as American jubilation continues over presumably nailing the mastermind of 9/11, as Obama celebrated the achievement at a bipartisan White House dinner Monday night and as the Democrat plans a Thursday trip to ground zero in New York as part of a political victory lap, the National Journal's Maggie Fox wrote a disturbing article Monday evening.

Will we ever know for sure who the dead guy was?

Too late now. His corpse in a weighted shroud sleeps with the fishes at the bottom of an ocean.

But here's the problem: Does the U.S. have actual DNA from Bin Laden, collected previously, to match against the DNA of the fellow shot in the face in Pakistan. 

If not -- and that would seem unlikely -- all that can be ascertained from relatives is a family relationship. The government reportedly has collected DNA from several Bin Laden relatives over the years, including a late half-sister in Boston.

But the terrorist leader did not come from your standard suburban family. In case you lost track over the years Osama is one of 54 children that the late Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden had with 22 different wives.

A body ID confirmation was so important to Obama that he reportedly canceled a safe B-2 bombing run on the presumed Bin Laden compound in March because it would have left nothing to verify -- instead going ahead with the riskier boots-on-the-ground raid involving four helicopters, their crews and 40 SEALs.

Without a previous DNA match from Bin Laden himself, however, all that can be confirmed now is that the dead guy was one of those 54 siblings.

Which might be good enough for Americans celebrating the demise of the man responsible for about 3,000 deaths -- and for Obama the year before his reelection bid.

But it sure sets the stage for years of Bin Laden look-alike sightings.

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The death of Osama bin Laden: Statements by 2 presidents who hunted him

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Osama bin Laden. Credit: Al Jazeera

Comments

[phil]

Do you really think that they didn't get positive proof as to who this is ? They cut off his hands and head and sent it to the king.

[kane]

Why the hurry to dump the body at sea?

This is hog wash. I do not think Osama is dead. How could the dna be analysed so soon? what was the baseline? as always these americans are full of hog wash....or is it election time?

[iok]

he did not die

[Johnny Five]

Sorry folks. No pictures of the body, we can't reveal who did the DNA test and we had to dump the body at sea. All for security reasons, you understand. So just sit back, wave a flag, chant "USA, USA, USA ...." And don't forget to vote for Obama in 2012.
Further, we can't withdraw from Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iraq. Plus we gotta continue with Libya. We can't get rid of the PATRIOT Act either. We also have to prepare for retaliation. Funny how doing nothing encourages the terrorists and killing (?) bin Laden also encourages the terrorists. Kinda convenient how that works out isn't it?
So who do we have warming up in the bullpen? Khadafi? Chavez, Kim? Asad?

[Bush Ruined America]

Show us the death pics, we deserve to see the body.

[unbelievable]

sigh...

[jeff]

Strange, but true. They took his sister's body when she died of cancer in Boston and used the brain tissue to compare to that of Osama.

[Richard Spilman]

Since Osama is Hamida's only son by Mohammed, DNA from any of her relatives (all in Syria, I believe, and not really happy with the way Hamida was treated) should provide a convincing match.

[Nunuvya Bidness]

I'd like to see some corpse pictures. With the Ayatollah Khomeni the corpse fell right out of the coffin on global television.
With a son of Saudi priviledge, like bin Laden, everybody would be served by a thoroughly convincing fiction...bin Laden himself, his extended family, Saudi Royalty, the Bush's and the Obama's.

Why take the mortal risk to take possession of a corpse.... and then dump it in the ocean at night? We've been lied to so much by authority lately ....one is entitled to ask some reasonable questions.

[AustinDave]

I can't believe that even one person in this country would believe a word this government says. After lies on top of lies people just eat it up. Campaign season is in full swing already, put your boots on. Sometimes I wish that this fake economy would just crash and leave the dollar worthless so that it would be acceptable to hunt down all these crooks in the federal government and take our respective states back.

[Just call me Bill]

Oh it was him because I heard the Saudi Royal Family was so upset they called Bush and Cheney and told them they would not be receiving anymore payments from the family. What does that tell you?

[Li Tai Fang]

It takes about an hour to run DNA test in poorly funded labs with decades-old equipment.

[TruthSayer]

If he did not die we will know soon enough. He most certainly did not
'quit', and if he were to be alive would I am sure, no doubt want to rub it in
America's Face. He would also want to reassure his followers. Based on the
threats coming out of Various Al Qaeda groups.. It would seem they believe
he is dead. So until he shows up in a Video that can be Confirmed as After
the Attack, and be Confirmed as Him without doubt, I will sleep comfortable
in the Knowledge this Man is dead.

[Fat Man]

If they have DNA from one or more of OBL's children, and from the kids mother, it would make the identification much easier. I believe that one or more of his wives and or children have been living in the west.

[Dana]

I am thinking if the SEALS were involved, they were probably working off of some pretty tight intel. Not to mention how top secret this was. I am thinking the military and government were pretty prepared to identify him immediately after the attack. With technology this day and age, you can process DNA as well as Pixil Identification in pictures with a relative certanty quite quickly ( in a matter on minutes). Albeit people would like to glorify his death I commend the US government and the Seals with abiding with Muslim custom to have his body sent to sea within 24 hours of his death. He may not deserve to be respected, but his faith does. Could this be a cover up???? Well of course it COULD be...but Elvis and Micheal COULD be still alive too....

[Jean]

Oh Andrew Andrew Andrew - lest you jest!!! I am so surprised with your lack of trust, your questioning of our superior leader! I was shaken off my chair in a state of shock - can this be, could it be, can this happen - and coming from Andrew's column, the questioning, the doubt. YIKES!! Heaven Forbid!

This could never ever happen during President Obama's reign! Or.......could it?

[John Burke]

It is preposterous to say that all we can prove is that the dead guy was one of 54 siblings. In the first place, it is 25 sons, not 54 siblings, who share Mohammed bin Laden's Y chromosome. Having established beyond all doubt that the dead guy is one of those 25, the issue becomes whether any of the other 24 closely resemble Osama. None is a twin, so if none of the 24 is both close in age to Osama and close in height and has the same hair and eye color and looks exactly like him, then the dead guy is Osama. And that doesn't even take into account the woman calling him Osama or why any of Osama's half brothers would be in an al Qaeda safe house (none has ever been known to have joined the jihad) and it doesn't take account of any known distinguishing marks on Osama's body or evidence of his presence in the compound or his blood tyoe. And no one has even raised the distinct possibility that we have Osama's fingerprints (hint: the Saudis arrested him years ago).

This is not a matter of picking out one guy from a big crowd. Once you have the DNA, you just have to eliminate 24 half brothers. Come to think of it, all you would need is to confirm that they are alive -- or dead and buried elsewhere.

It is not as if we needed to winnow down

[Luke]

You know who else wrote essentially the same thing today? Cindy Sheehan! You're both nuts. Even al-Qaeda's media has acknowledged he's dead.

People like you and Cindy are so fortunate to live in a country where men and women fight half a world away to protect your right to spew this garbage. If you're not going to pick up a gun and go help in the fight, the least you can do is humbly thank our troops for the incredible and brave accomplishment they made yesterday.

Every time you write columns like this you offend the memories of all those we lost on 9/11, their families, our troops, and decent Americans everywhere who are proud of our country's ability to execute this important mission.

[Georgiaboy61]

The closing sentences of the article are correct. Without a DNA analysis of genetic material known to be from Osama himself, there can be no fail-safe confirmation of his death from the DNA evidence alone. However, photos and
supporting evidence are nearly as reliable... and do not forget that Bin Laden was identified on the scene by one of his former wives. Incidentally, the man died as he lived... as a coward, using one of his female associates or wives as a human shield. A pathetic coda to an evil life.

[NWBill]

Wow ... here we have people assuming that an operation years in the making was just thrown together and performed by clowns from the local kukoo club. Are you serious? How could they process the DNA so fast, you ask? Do you think this was a drug deal murder in a large metro city or something? You don't think they have medical facilities on board carriers, with staff on hand to do this stuff? You think soldiers, some of the best trained and equipped soldiers in history, would not be doing everything their training taught them to make sure they had the right guy? Do you think Obama would go on NATIONAL TV and tell the world this went down, without KNOWING who it was? What rocks do you live under? Do you know anything about SEALs? These are some of the most dangerous, most highly trained, effective soldiers EVER!

[jcm52]

I feel a bit dumber for having read this article...

Let's try Occam's razor: if all of Osama's siblings are accounted for, then it's pretty clear it was Osama. Which other sibling of his would be in hiding like this? And I guarantee you, if Osama is alive now, he's going to do everything he can to prove it. Unless Osama is in on the conspiracy...

The idiot who wrote this article might just buy in on that conspiracy theory too.

[blackone]

You know, Hitler is still living in South America somewhere.

[Steve H]

Oh thank heavens, now that we've seen the birth certificate I was afraid we'd be all out of stupid conspiracy theories. Thanks to the tinfoil-hat brigade for keepin' 'em coming!

[King Y]

Hitler is dead and i think he is worser dan bin laden. Hitler started a new war ,he killed countless ppl. Anyway bk to da point he is dead ,get over with it. He aint comin bk.