As I said when the original reports came out, the dead terrorist in question was neither Osama Bin Laden nor Ayman Al-Zawahiri. It was likely that any big fish killed in the attack would be limited to third in command and down, though that wouldn’t be insignificant considering intelligence agencies believe the third in command is really running the show at this point.

As I also mentioned at the time, all of the reports thus far have been based on anonymous “U.S. officials” quoted by various news outlets. That’s not unusual, especially this closely after the initial reports, but let’s not get too excited until there’s some solid confirmation.

That being said…let’s hope…

(CBS) A U.S. government official says a top al Qaeda operative has been killed in a drone attack in western Pakistan, and local media says that the strike killed al Qaeda’s number 3 in command, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

The U.S. is still not confirming the report, CBS News has learned.

Abu Yahya al-Libi is the spiritual successor to Palestinian philosopher Abu Azzam – and the inspiration for much of Bin Laden’s beliefs, according to CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan. He is very powerful and believed by some to be the natural successor to Bin Laden.

al-Libi may’ve been blown to bits while hanging in his cave, but at least some SEALs didn’t allegedly give him a bloody lip. That could result in a court martial, you know.

Via HAH.