the other al Qaeda

As you've doubtless heard, the other al Qaeda - the one led by Osama bin Laden that attacked the U.S. on 9/11 - is alive & well and living in Pakistan... and still issuing PR statements.

Today's PR statement from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the real second-in-command (as opposed to one of the several hundred 'second-in-command' folks that we've presumably killed), predictably attacks Prez-elect Obama, declares victory in Iraq (!), and promises continuing anti-U.S. jihad.

Recall - this is one of the guys W promised to get, "dead or alive"... seven (7) years ago!!!

I note that senior al Qaeda folks can release these communiques whenever they want - we don't have a clue where they are or how to get 'em.

John McCain promised that he knew how to get Osama - and suggested on Letterman that what he had in mind was an increased focus on "humint": human intelligence (vs, e.g., signal intelligence). Not a bad idea, but the "how" is a little lacking. Just exactly how did Candidate McCain envisage infiltrating al Qaeda's inner circle???

I've another suggestion... more a 'psy-ops' tactic, really.
Release audio & video communiques from 'al Qaeda' - featuring what for all the world sounds like bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Have the CIA 'authenticate' these messages.
Now the fun part: over some period of time, have these messages from Osama gradually morph from simple calls for jihad against the U.S. into much more extreme, heretical diatribes, with Osama claiming to be Allah's new Prophet.

The idea here is to compel the real Osama to respond... and to respond when we want him to - presumably when we are ready for him.
Be ready to back-track delivery of messages, starting with the courier who delivers the tape to al Jazeera.
Yes, it might take several such messages to discover a more-or-less complete trail back to Osama... but it seems at least plausible - IF we have an idea when a message will be delivered.

The point is to provoke Osama to respond in order to make an educated guess when a message might be delivered.

... and - the plus side - even if we're unable to back-track the delivery route, we will almost certainly accomplish two laudable goals:

1. Plant the seeds of doubt in the Muslim world regarding bin Laden's sanity.
(Mohammed is the final Prophet - for bin Laden to suggest that he is a "new" prophet is extreme heresy.)

2. Perhaps get bin Laden to show his hand - say, for example by increasing signal activity that NSA just might be able to trace.

If nothing else, more frequent communiques from us would dilute Osama's genuine message!

I'd bet a fair amount of $$$ that we have the technical capability to produce "authentic" tapes - both audio & video - of both bin Laden & al-Zawahiri.

Have a nice day.