Could we possibly have a word with this “NATO official?”

Y’know, since he’s an ally, and seems to have information about an enemy?

The story:

Osama bin Laden is living comfortably in northwest Pakistan, protected by local tribespeople and some members of the country’s intelligence service, a NATO official has told CNN. The news undercuts the U.S. government’s depiction of the al-Qaida leader as on the run, one terror expert tells The Upshot.

Questions:

• How, precisely, does this “NATO official” know so much about bin Laden’s lifestyle? What, precisely, does he know, and how did he learn it?

• What credibility does this “NATO official” have, that causes CNN to believe his statement “undercuts” the official U.S. position?

• Being a NATO official, shouldn’t this guy be telling us – an ally – what he knows?

• Could we, perhaps, have a word with him? So we can ask?

I will persist in the belief that Osama bin Laden is a formerly damp spot – long dried up – on a rock or patch of sand somewhere in Afghanistan. I will persist in this belief until I am proven wrong. On the score of proving me wrong, though:

• Wouldn’t this be a great time to drop several million leaflets around Pakistan, reminding everybody about that $25 million reward?