Not That Concerned About Osama

says ex-CIA honcho AB “Buzzy” Krongard.

“You can make the argument that we’re better off with him (at large),” Krongard said. “Because if something happens to Bin Laden, you might find a lot of people vying for his position and demonstrating how macho they are by unleashing a stream of terror.”

Krongard, a former investment banker who joined the CIA in 1998, said Bin Laden’s role among Islamic militants was changing.

“He’s turning into more of a charismatic leader than a terrorist mastermind,” he said. “Some of his lieutenants are the ones to worry about.”

Krongard, 68, said he viewed Bin Laden “not as a chief executive but more like a venture capitalist”.

He added: “Let’s say you and I want to blow up Trafalgar Square. So we go to Bin Laden. And he’ll say, ‘Well, here’s some money and some passports and if you need weapons, see this guy’.

“I don’t see him keeping his fingers on everything because the lines of communications are just too difficult.”

Several US officials have privately admitted that it may be better to keep Bin Laden pinned down on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than make him a martyr or put him on trial. But Krongard is the most senior figure to acknowledge publicly that his capture might prove counter-productive.

Wait-- I thought Osama was the guy who was trying to get a nuclear weapon to blow us up. I thought he was the guy behind the horrible attacks of 9/11. Now he isn't such a big deal? Didn't "Buzzy" get the memo?

What's the deal here?

Certainly if you have followed the history of Osama bin Laden and the CIA, it's clear they have always had some sort of "soft spot" for him. "Buzzy" is just being unusually frank here, methinks.

And I doubt this story will ever see it into a major US news site.