According to what passes for wisdom in some circles, it "doesn't matter" whether certain allegations are true, even if they later turn out to be false:

After the Brawley hoax, an article in the Nation magazine argued that it "doesn't matter" whether Brawley was lying, since the pattern of whites abusing blacks is true. And when Rigoberta Menchú's famous account of class and ethnic warfare in Guatemala was revealed to be largely false, many professors said this didn't matter much because her book contained emotional truth.

(Via the Quietest.)

Therefore, they might just as well have killed him. And really, it's just as if they did. The mere fact that he survived this time doesn't mean that they wouldn't have succeeded on another occasion. Nor does it mean that they won't succeed in the future.

Millions of victims of the same military machine that wants him dead are already dead.

Therefore, the much-touted "fact" that he appears to be alive is completely irrelevant in larger terms of reality-based truths. It simply doesn't matter whether the assorted wingnuts avail themselves of their technically accurate claims that he's "alive," because when seen in terms of the overall global picture Michael Crook might just as well have been killed.

Avenge Michael Crook!

UPDATE: Michael Crook has revenged on silly me.