Osama Bin Ladin's Mid-life Crisis, Saddam's Freudian Sword
UBL Hits His Golden Jubilee:
Quietly, Osama Bin Ladin reached 50 this weak. Men are supposed to act 'strange' at some point after 40- at least we are supposed to act strange-r. We don't know if OBL (UBL) has done any such thing. The two WTC attacks ('93, and '01), the USS Cole, and various embassy, hotel and train bombings fall within his avocation, they are part of his job description and do not qualify as manifestations of a mid-life crisis.
So, what does a middle-aged rich man do, especially one who apparently eschews the comforts and pleasures of inherited wealth in favor of the severe teachings of Ibn Abdelwahhab and Maududi? Especially one who lives among the adoring, and well-rewarded, tribesmen in Waziristan. One whose neighborhood straddles the rugged, but diversion-challenged (hiking on foot or by mule is not considered a diversion over there) Pakistan-Afghanistan border?
Saddam Hussein had his own quirky style for celebrating his birthdays. Clad in a Saturday Night Fever silk suit, a la Arabe, he would gather school girls and their teachers around him and have them sing his praises while he beamed and grinned himself silly on live TV. His smile did not have the youthful and innocent charm of the former Barbarino's, but it did not need to. At some point, he also switched partners (as in bedmates, not the other kind...he killed those), at some point neglecting first cousin Sajida for a pretty, more worldly, Sameera. Still, there was something Freudian in the picture of the hairy leader, the huge cake and the long sword, almost certainly aluminium or hard plastic, in his hand- the sword slicing the cake right in the 'center', to the admiration of females little and big- that would make a tasteless Super Bowl ad spot for some ED concoction.
Back to Osama (Usama). I have known two people who actually eloped (as in went away) with younger secretaries and assistants, but those were a Brit and a Norwegian, middle-aged Europeans, which may or may not explain it. We will never know about the gangly Usama: after all, where would he elope to, over there? Kandahar may be too risky, and not as much fun as under the Taliban, not before the expected spring offensive. Tribal girls of the Afghan-Pakistan border do not solicit interviews on Cable TV to spill it all out. They have never heard of Jerrrry, Montellll, Oprah, or the durable and loquacious Baba Wawa. They are the serious, tough type that could be inteviewed only by Christian Amanpour in khakis or by a stubbled Aussie like Michael Ware if he ever leaves Baghdad.
Besides, Ayman al-Zahwahiri does not look like a tattler. But then one never knows what he'll do or say in front of a real-time live TV camera, especially facing an audience of thrill-seekers (definitely not thrill-makers)- overweight, excited, and expectant visitors to Manhattan LA, or Chicago.
Still, Osama isn't doing bad. He has survived the "Dead or Alive" campaign, eluding the fast guns- thanks to the Americans' foolish reliance on Afghan warlords to guard the exits from Tora Bora in '01. His organization was in tatters, really on the run, for a while. Now they are back, spreading Salafi, Madrassah-taught hate and the consequent violence from Iraq to Morocco. They are active again in Algeria and Saudi Arabia (this last one is a shocker, maybe it has something to do with lower oil prices). Al-Qaeda is growing in Morocco, looks to be around for a long time in Somalia. Even in tiny Lebanon, at least one Salafi group is emerging, most likely buoyed and supported by anti-Hezbullah money flowing in from the Arab countries, the West, and perhaps the Hariri's Saudi wealth. Feeding the beast is a dangerous undertaking, it is also stupid if repeated.
Cheers
Mohammed
Quietly, Osama Bin Ladin reached 50 this weak. Men are supposed to act 'strange' at some point after 40- at least we are supposed to act strange-r. We don't know if OBL (UBL) has done any such thing. The two WTC attacks ('93, and '01), the USS Cole, and various embassy, hotel and train bombings fall within his avocation, they are part of his job description and do not qualify as manifestations of a mid-life crisis.
So, what does a middle-aged rich man do, especially one who apparently eschews the comforts and pleasures of inherited wealth in favor of the severe teachings of Ibn Abdelwahhab and Maududi? Especially one who lives among the adoring, and well-rewarded, tribesmen in Waziristan. One whose neighborhood straddles the rugged, but diversion-challenged (hiking on foot or by mule is not considered a diversion over there) Pakistan-Afghanistan border?
Saddam Hussein had his own quirky style for celebrating his birthdays. Clad in a Saturday Night Fever silk suit, a la Arabe, he would gather school girls and their teachers around him and have them sing his praises while he beamed and grinned himself silly on live TV. His smile did not have the youthful and innocent charm of the former Barbarino's, but it did not need to. At some point, he also switched partners (as in bedmates, not the other kind...he killed those), at some point neglecting first cousin Sajida for a pretty, more worldly, Sameera. Still, there was something Freudian in the picture of the hairy leader, the huge cake and the long sword, almost certainly aluminium or hard plastic, in his hand- the sword slicing the cake right in the 'center', to the admiration of females little and big- that would make a tasteless Super Bowl ad spot for some ED concoction.
Back to Osama (Usama). I have known two people who actually eloped (as in went away) with younger secretaries and assistants, but those were a Brit and a Norwegian, middle-aged Europeans, which may or may not explain it. We will never know about the gangly Usama: after all, where would he elope to, over there? Kandahar may be too risky, and not as much fun as under the Taliban, not before the expected spring offensive. Tribal girls of the Afghan-Pakistan border do not solicit interviews on Cable TV to spill it all out. They have never heard of Jerrrry, Montellll, Oprah, or the durable and loquacious Baba Wawa. They are the serious, tough type that could be inteviewed only by Christian Amanpour in khakis or by a stubbled Aussie like Michael Ware if he ever leaves Baghdad.
Besides, Ayman al-Zahwahiri does not look like a tattler. But then one never knows what he'll do or say in front of a real-time live TV camera, especially facing an audience of thrill-seekers (definitely not thrill-makers)- overweight, excited, and expectant visitors to Manhattan LA, or Chicago.
Still, Osama isn't doing bad. He has survived the "Dead or Alive" campaign, eluding the fast guns- thanks to the Americans' foolish reliance on Afghan warlords to guard the exits from Tora Bora in '01. His organization was in tatters, really on the run, for a while. Now they are back, spreading Salafi, Madrassah-taught hate and the consequent violence from Iraq to Morocco. They are active again in Algeria and Saudi Arabia (this last one is a shocker, maybe it has something to do with lower oil prices). Al-Qaeda is growing in Morocco, looks to be around for a long time in Somalia. Even in tiny Lebanon, at least one Salafi group is emerging, most likely buoyed and supported by anti-Hezbullah money flowing in from the Arab countries, the West, and perhaps the Hariri's Saudi wealth. Feeding the beast is a dangerous undertaking, it is also stupid if repeated.
Cheers
Mohammed
Comments