Sounds like a reasonable compromise

Osama bin Laden, in his latest release, vows not to be taken alive.

"I have sworn to only live free. Even if I find bitter the taste of death, I don't want to die humiliated or deceived," bin Laden said, in the 11-minute, 26-second tape.

Which is just fine by us. To only mildly paraphrase James Tiberius Kirk: "Let him die." A live OBL would just be another headache ala one bitchy Saddam Hussein.

Seriously, if the translation is correct, bin Laden doesn't exactly sound like the kind of guy who inspires martyrs. "Even if I find bitter the taste of death ..."??? What about those 72 virgins he and his cohorts dangle to all those suicide bombing recruits? Or is Osama not really a true believer?

His whining about the American military is also interesting.

"The jihad (holy war) is ongoing, thank God, despite all the oppressive measures adopted by the U.S. Army and its agents (which has reached) a point where there is no difference between this criminality and Saddam's criminality."

If it wasn't for the mainstream media telling us otherwise, you'd almost be tempted to believe that things aren't going that well for Osama.