1 I'll be shocked if it's true, given the CIA's history of ineptitude of late. I'm more willing to believe that it really was an accident.

2 Al qaeda's got lots of #3's. I'm more of a #6 man myself.

3 for once rectus makes a good point. How many #2's and #3's does Al Qaida exactly have?

4 Al Qaida's #3 slot is the terrorist equivalent of Thule Air Base in Greenland. It's where you know you'll end up if you screw up just enough, but not so bad that you get kicked out of the organisation.

5 A kill is a kill. You guys are getting so negative! How many #2s and #3s do they have? I dunno - but I do know I've got enough bullets and bombs for all of them.

6 Okay, let me 'splain the dynamics of a chain-of-command structure; when someone in the chain is killed, everyone under him gets promoted. This is how we keep killing their number two and three guys. At this point, the guys who are currently two and three were probably just messenger boys sometime last year. It's not really that important that we kill Osama, because we've got him isolated, and he has to keep sending these poor dumbasses out to do his bidding, and they keep getting whacked. With a high casualty rate, that means they have to recruit, which means we can eventually get someone inside, and they may learn where he's hiding, then KABOOM!, he gets a Hellfire missile up his man-dress.

7 Another one dead! Rah, Rah, his boom ba. Who cares what number he is as long as he's dead.

8 Good point thirdee, a dead terrorist is a good terrorist.

9 This is part of the disservice the media and the Administration have done in the war against terror, is that is they have average joe now believes Al Qaeda is a card carrying terrorist club. In reality it is a loose knit of multiple terrorist organizations. Who is the real "Al Qaeda" muscle? well that would be the Muslim Brotherhood (Egyptian Islamic Jihad). Who comes from the Egyptian Islamic Jihad: Ayman al-Zawahri #2 Al Qaeda. "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman (U.S Custody) Muhammed Atef (killed by CIA Hellfire strike) Abdullah Azzam (killed in Carbomb planted by Zawahri/Atef?) Mohamed Atta (member of the Engineers Syndicate controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood) In reality it's like this: "Mohamed Dirka-Dirka" sells explosives to "Muhammed abdul Jihadi" "Mohamed Dirka-Dirka" belongs to "Islamic Jihadi in Cairo" a known Al-Qaeda frontgroup, "Muhammed abdul Jihadi" belongs to "Islamic Cairo Jihad (SPLITTERS!) now it is said in Intelligence that "Islamic Cairo Jihad" has "operational ties" to Al-Qaeda. Eventually that becomes "Al-Qaeda frontgroup Islamic Cairo Jihad" as the intelligence increases of their co-mingling. In reality the command structure is in tiers, you have the obvious top tier: Bin Laden,Zawahri these are the money, and planning behind the group. The rest of your command structures follow the lines of their original groups, for most people who think that Saudi/Iran are the biggest radicals in Al-Qaeda most of the top operatives are from Egypt, and fought in Afghanistan together.

10 Dave, it ultimately doesn't matter who is in who's superduper secret women haters club, as long as they keep getting whacked.

11 So it doesn't matter than the key infrastructure is made up of country that is the recipient of billions of dollars of aid? nor that the Muslim Brotherhood are starting to gain power again in Egypt? OK! Just checking

12 That's another matter Dave, though a very valid point. Unfortunately we are held hostage by our foreign aid Danegeld, that we started paying some decades ago and which has now become an addiction. I wish that we could someday get a government that isn't corrupt from head to toe, and that would stop this idiocy, but sadly, that will never happen as long as the average American idiot voter is willing to accept a place at the trough in exchange for our liberty and security. Frankly, this situation is of our own making, because we have the power to make the government do the right thing, but there are too many among us with a vested interest in the status quo to even consider it, and so we will continue to pay the Danegeld, though it's no longer enough to appease the Danes.

13 Yep, we are indeed rewarding countries that export radical Islam, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen to name but a few with Billions of dollars of business, or aid. The sad fact is that while the administration has said that "you're either for us, or against us" States that export terrorism have frankly, remained untouched without military, or financial repercussions. The fact that the War on terror has so many frontiers, with states that cannot be held responsible for the actions of their countrymen (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yeman, Kuwait, Iran etc.) means that we're jumping into bed, with some very ugly bedfellows (for example Pakistan) are they really our allies? The leaders of the country are so scared of pursing and prosecuting terrorists because half their country think Bin Laden is a hero! and it is also a hotbed of Islamic extremists. I'm afraid of what will happen to us, if the Administration, and rogue agencies like the CIA, keep dealing with radical extremist based countries (Isn't that how we got here in the first place, with the CIA/Administration funding the Pakistani ISI to buy weapons for the Mujahdeen?)

14 For the neighsayers asking how many #2's #3's etc Al Qaeda has, Improbulus Maximus was indeed correct -- the person killed replaced Abu Farraj al-Libbi : http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7734991/ Which as the article states, was the #3 Al Qaeda leader when he was captured in May of this year.

15 Guess there is now a job opening for #3 - do you want it Dave?

16 No thanks, along with that job comes the life expectancy of a fruitfly.

17 Agent Brown has run a search on Usama Bin Laden. He appears to be in Southern California at a Sonic hamburger restaurant, employed as a french fry cook. Agent Smith disagrees, Usama Bin Laden is hiding in Virginia Beach, using a false identity to access the naval facility nearby as a gardener in front of the Commandant's house. He also moonlights as a limo driver. Agent Jones says that Usama Bin Laden is dead, alive or both dead and alive.

18 a reoccuring post to follow ... Agent Smith Mort Sahl was a satirist and an ultra-liberal and was quite funny and good at it. Al Franken is a satirist and an ultra-liberal and not funny at all - he's actually quite bad at it. You wish to be a satirist (as opposed to a comedian - there is a difference) - and follow in the footsteps of lil' Al. Well - those are tiny shoes to fill, and you are doing an adequate job of it.

19 Agent Brown says that Hondo is jealous of Al Franken.

20 Way to shoot, spooks

21 I think it's time to take out the # 6s along with the # 3s.

22 Agent Smith is now #3 in the al-Queda heirarchy, and you know what happens to those #3's.

23 For those who don't know how a chain of command works, either in business or military circles, the #3 person is usually the operations executive, who actually has his boots on the ground moving forces and assests around, putting the plans of #1 and #2 into effect. That gives a deep chain of command that allows for lots of buffering against executive decapitation. Because of the pressure AQ is under now, it's unlikely that the #3 man ever even speaks directly to Osama, and probably gets his orders by messenger. Part of the reason AQ can't put up much of a fight right now is that their communications have to pass through so many channels, it's almost impossible to have direct communications between command elements. If they talk to one another in any way, they will give themselves away unless they can meet face to face, so messenger is the most expedient route, and they probably try to use memorized messages as much as possible. Because of circumstances, each terrorist command element must be able to act autonomously in feeding, equipping, training, and supplying themselves, which means that they are seriously hampered in their combat effectiveness. and must even risk exposure when they do something as simple as go to buy food. The key is to isolate different groups from one another, and turn informants so that a cell can be identified, isolated, and busted as quietly as possible, or loudly and publicly if need be. They have to avoid the most powerful military in the world while trying to fight it at the same time. The coward's tactic of roadside bombs have never worked before in any strategically meaninful way, and frankly, that's the only trick they have. They're losing, and will continue to lose, all we have to do is not quit.