Isn't it at least a bit strange how the U.S. military and the Pentagon continue to offer up their ignorance on the whereabouts of one Osama bin Laden?

Last week, the Defense Department issued another of their "Golly, musta missed him"s as two more videos appeared featuring the mug and forefinger of the World's Most Wanted Terrorist.

In the one video in which OBL speaks, he's still gloating over the success of the World Trade Center bombings, which causes one to wonder: has OBL had anything to say post Tora Bora, and if so, wouldn't he have made it public by now?

It’s not as though he doesn’t have an audience. Al-Jazeera would like nothing more than timely OBL to broadcast to their terror-loving viewing audience. Wouldn't the ongoing violence in the West Bank and Israel be provocation enough for a headline terrorist like Osama to issue new calls for jihads, rewards for suicide bombers, denunciations of Sharon and the like? Wouldn't the temptation be downright irresistible?

His previous rantings justify the WTC attacks with just about any Arab misfortune from the sanctions levied against Iraq, to the plight of the Palestinians. Would he miss out on a chance to rationalize his madness as tanks roll though the West Bank? Could he pass up an opportunity to appropriate the suicide bombing teenagers as converts to his cause? After all, terrorists have egos too.

The release of old OBL gives rise to suspicions that absent any other correspondence, the pre-Tora Bora stuff is being put out there to keep his memory alive, like footage of Elvis in Las Vegas.

Our government has reason enough to keep Osama's fate up in the air. Beside perfectly legitimate concerns about so called martyrdom attacks, the demise of Osama might lead the public and the Congress to conclude that the war on terror has been wrapped up, despite the warnings issued about other terrorists who can take his place. And, perhaps so long as he's officially alive, other terror types are less eager to pick up his sword. Which suits both planners of homeland security and those plotting an attack on Saddam.

It is possible to believe the conventional wisdom that bin Laden hung around Tora Bora to watch the allied attack, tiptoed around the cave hunt, and has literally gone underground as his best chance to survive and regroup. However, his earlier videos suggest he sees himself as a big-time political leader. If someone hands a politician a microphone, it’s difficult to imagine circumstances in which he wouldn't want to use it.

Look at Al Gore.

We hope never to hear from bin Laden again. But terrorists crave notoriety; what’s the use of blowing up a building if no one knows it’s you? Until we know for sure, I’m with Hughes Mearns:

"Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there again today.
I wish that man would go away."

Rich Acello is a syndicated columnist; you can reach him at richace@cox.net