BREAKING! New Miniter book says Iran protecting OBL

Via EiP's DC Source....

Miniter says Iranians have seen OBL, alive and well (now that is serious bummer).

"According to these two sources, bin Laden no longer resembles the picture that the FBI has put on its wanted posters. He has trimmed his beard to fit the more traditional look of a Shi’ite cleric and he seemed to have put on weight, according to intelligence officials….” Miniter’s sources claim bin Laden is constantly on the move, “shuttling from Iranian safe houses controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to areas of Afghanistan controlled by the Iranian-backed warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar."

You don't say?

UPDATE: Some quick excerpts from the free chaper 6: Bombs and Ballots

"Madrid was a wake-up call," one intelligence analyst told me. "It changed the ROE [ruels of engagement]."

Hmm... MADRID was the wake-up call? I hope this analyst means a wake-up call in regards to the serious threat of a terrorist attack prior to the election, and even then it is still a little disconcerning to suggest they needed a wake-up call.

"... the aftermath might resemble March 11: a government humiliated, as domestic political opponents and the MEDIA attempt to turn public opinion against the nation's leaders rather than against the terrorists."

Yep, that just about what the terrorists are hoping for - and don't think they wouldn't get help from their allies in the media.

developing...

In regards to the Spanish public's supportive reaction for Aznar after 3/11:

Then events departed from the September 11 script. The political opposition waged a careful campaign to undermine the prime minister, constantly questioning his honesty and alleging that he was using the tragedy for partisan advantage.

Sound familiar?