PrintMay 11, 2011
Two Sides of a Vanity Coin
It's both pathetic and eye-opening to see a spectacular legend sitting on the floor wrapped in a blanket, reviewing fuzzy images of himself on TV. In recently released images, a pre-mortem Osama bin Laden, remote in hand, looks like a homeless guy in a squalid shelter, not a terrorist mastermind planning and driving tactical decisions from a Pakistani command and control center.The compound in Pakistan where al Qaeda's operational chief was killed by US Navy SEALs delivered "the largest trove of intelligence ever obtained from a senior terrorist leader." From the captured cache officials released five very enlightening "video clips of bin Laden taken during the raid, most of them showing the al Qaeda leader, his beard dyed black, evidently rehearsing the videotaped speeches he occasionally distributed to his followers."The videos expose Osama bin Laden's nefarious plans, half-truths, and pre-recorded messages, which "condemn[ed] US policy and...(Read Full Article)
