Yet last week the FBI’s highest-ranking antiterror official, Dale Watson, told a law-enforcement conference his personal view (without hard evidence) is that bin Laden is dead. Some officials think the egomaniacal Saudi would have wanted personally to rally his troops by now. Still, White House officials were not pleased by Watson’s comments. During a secret 4:30 p.m. videoconference of intelligence chiefs from around the government, the newly installed National Security Council antiterrorism chief, John Gordon, grumbled, “What is this all about?” (Watson was not on-line to hear the rebuke.) Many officials say it would be dangerous to assume that bin Laden is dead. “We have to assume he’s alive and act accordingly,” says an intelligence source. Indeed, recent intelligence suggests new Qaeda attacks are in the works, though particulars are scant. “It’s clear they’ve got operations in the can,” an official says.
