Wanted dead or alive

When Barack Obama takes centre stage on the 20th Jan,one of the decisions that he is going to have to make is over the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

Over at Time.com Robert Bauer wonders whether it may be time to call a halt to the search

The last relatively reliable bin Laden sighting was in late 2001. A video that he apparently appeared in last year shows him with a dyed beard. More than a few Pakistani intelligence operatives who knew bin Laden scoff at the idea he would ever dye his beard. They think the tape was manipulated from old footage, and that bin Laden is in fact dead.

adding that his non appearnace during the election campaign was proof in itself that he is no longer around.

However Obama has a problem.Without conclusive proof

whether bin Laden is alive or dead is actually pretty irrelevant. President-elect Barack Obama has no real choice but to revitalize the search for him, if only for political considerations. If al-Qaeda were to attack in the U.S. in the first months of his term, Obama would end up explaining why he wasn't more vigilant for the rest of it.