So, it seems that the only ones in the world who have seen the evidence the US claims to have against Osama bin Laden are Britain's Tony Blair and the head honchos at NATO, who in turn proclaim to the whole world "Oh yes, that proves it". Forgive my cynicism, but such third-party endorsements are about as convincing as a detergent commercial. Is there really any difference between this and a marketing campaign to make a product SEEM "new" "improved" "effective" etc. without ever stating anything factual, and avoiding the reality that the product is the same inferior soap-dust it's been for the last hundred years?

In citing "security" to justify the absence of hard facts, what is the US attempting to protect? We all know about the eavesdropping capabilities of Project Echelon and the high-tech abilities of the intelligence agencies to monitor everything, everywhere; we know about the spy satellites, and what we don't know we can extrapolate; we can assume there are human intelligence assets involved; and we know that electronic and paper records can be easily accessed. I suppose it might be that the US has allied itself with little green men from outer space who have methods of intelligence-gathering far superior to our own, but that's about the only possibility that would merit this professed concern for "security".

Don't get me wrong - maybe Osama is involved and maybe he's not, but no one will ever know unless the US replaces its Madison Avenue-inspired "product endorsements" with hard facts. I wouldn't buy a product based solely on the assurances of a corporate shill, and I suspect most thinking people born before last week wouldn't either.

The stakes are too high not to get this right the first time. One can always discard a worthless product that turns out to have been fraudently represented, but we don't have the luxury of discarding millions of lives on a bum tip ... or do we?

Osama bin Laden has stated that YOU are a target -- that is, if you are an American. He has stated that his followers should try to kill YOU, because you are an American. He has signed a declaration of jihad, declaring himself the enemy of the United States, and saying that all US citizens are targets.

As far as I'm concerned, based upon these admissions, we need no further evidence to go after him.

Whether he was involved in 9/11 is irrelevant.

Investigations can lose alot of ground if vital proof, evidence or leads are released or leaked too early. 20 days is not a long time for an investigation of this size and distance to amass and verify all the facts it may need before making a substantial report to the public.

That's not to say that governments don't lie or decieve, that may happening now too. But I don't think we have the right to jump to any conclusions yet. For the last 20 days threats have been leveled, but as far as we know, little action, apart from detainment and investigation, has taken place.

It seems that people want to sound informed or knowledgeable by waving the "conspiracy banner". But - at this point - it seems absolutely informed and knowledgeable to rationalize why "all the evidence" has not yet been made known. As this continues, we will likely learn of that evidence, and at that point we will know more of the story.