I am not one who usually prescribes to conspiracy theories, but there seems to be something fishy going on in Pakistan and the Whitehouse.

After September 11, 2001 as the weeks turned to months and the months to years without news of Bin Laden's capture or killing, many theorized he was living in a cave in along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border.  I for one was not surprised to hear he was living in a house in Pakistan that was fully 8 times larger than any other building in the neighborhood.  Nor do I believe that the Pakistani government could be unaware of his presence in their country for at least the past 5 years.

The fact that bin Laden was killed outside the tribal belt in Pakistan will raise questions about how the six-foot four-inch fugitive, one of the most famous faces in the world, managed to escape justice for so long.  Pakistan's intelligence services have largely co-operated with the US in capturing al-Qaida fugitives - some of the most notorious figures seized since 2001 were caught in Pakistan's cities such as the architect of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

I felt the obligatory sense of relief to hear that he was killed in a raid, and of course the apprehension with knowing that there are probably thousands of fundamentalist nutjobs around the world who want to take revenge for his killing.  That is until more details began leaking out.

We are supposed to take the US President's word that OBL was killed in a raid in Pakistan, but are offered no proof.  No photos of soldiers flashing peace signs over his dead body.  No morgue or autopsy photos.  No word from Al Qaeda about his death.  Then OBL's body is quickly dumped into the sea to keep in line with Islamic custom.  And for good measure, someone burned down the compound where he was allegedly living immediately after his removal.

This is all too convenient for me to accept without looking for more answers.  I think there is either a lot more to this story or a lot less.  Here are two theories I came up with off the top of my head.

1.  Osama Bin Laden has been in US or Pakistani custody for some time.  It only makes sense that if they knew the whereabouts of the man responsible for 9-11, they would try to capture him rather than make a plan to kill him.  The sheer volume of potential terror information in his head is far too valuable to dismiss with a bullet to the brain.  Perhaps they have been questioning him for weeks or months and only diposed of him when little or no information was forthcoming.  It could be that he died during interrogation.  Either way, it just seems too suspicious that they would dump the body and burn the residence to prevent further investigation by the Pakistanis.

2.  Perhaps OBL was killed some time ago, even years maybe, and information just came to light that he was in fact dead.  Perhaps there was a body that was found and tested with a positive result for OBL's DNA.  With certain knowledge of his death, the US government could concoct any story they want in an effort to reverse Barack Obama's flagging popularity and slow the decline of the US economy.  Nothing gets US dollars flowing like patriotism.  With a presidential election on the horizon, the hugely unpopular policies of Barack Obama's administration would get swept under the rug with the news of Osama Bin Laden's death.  This would also help explain the lack of photos and a proper burial, along with the burning of the residence to mask the lack of evidence.

I am not going so far as to propose that OBL is alive.  If the US government announced so publically that he is in fact dead, you can pretty much bank on the fact that he is.  It would be a PR disaster if OBL popped up on Al Jazeera with a new video, discounting the US claims of his demise.  Americans would burn down the Whitehouse with Barack Obama inside.

What is possible however is that he was not killed under the circumstances that have been reported.  Perhaps he has been dead for a long period of time and proof has only surfaced recently, or maybe he died or was killed recently.  But there are too many loose ends for this story to be put to rest.