Has OBL jumped the shark?
 

He sent out a communique instructing Sunnis to kill Shiites. This after not directly advocating sectarian violence for some time.

Maybe at some point there will be a sufficient mass of people that will say, "you know, I'd prefer to eat my pita and hummus in peace. Take your agenda and shove it."

What is also interesting is al-Zarqawi's wife's statement that the US brokered a deal to lay off hunting down bin Laden in exchange for information leading to the killinng of Zarqawi. She said bin Laden was concerned that Zarqawi was becoming too powerful and arranged for everything. It sounds too odd to be true.

Reported on cnn.com

some might argue that Bush and OBL need each other. Money is flowing to the defense sector, Republicans need the war on terror for political purposes. Each may have an interest in keeping the war going. That would be a cynical viewpoint, but not unprecedented.

I just can't see the US dealing with bin Laden. I also can't see how the wife of Zarqawi would have any information on such a deal.

I could see bin Laden wanting to eliminate Zarqawi and tipping the US off without a deal through a third party. The other scenario seems just about impossible to me.

Can someone talk about the precedents Mike mentions here? I don't expect him to deliver.