February 6, 2002

10:48 PM

Osama "The Stilt" Bin Ladenvictim of "close encounter of the worst kind with a hellfire missile"? May be, maybe not. What's more interesting is the hopefulness with which they offer the possibility based only on his height.
posted by Hildago (13 comments total)

Oh, God, let it be true... *crosses fingers*

Strange that this item slipped past my radar.

I always wonder who these "unnamed officials" are that leak these stories. Are they breaking any rules/laws? Do they get paid for their information?

Curious.
posted by evanizer at 11:04 PM on February 6, 2002

Like Attila, like Charlemagne, I have no record, it's true, I don't take to the clock, and it's true, they cut up the BMOC and we hear tell that
posted by EngineBeak at 11:10 PM on February 6, 2002

???
posted by glennie at 11:23 PM on February 6, 2002

Huh?

EngineBeak, you ok?
posted by evanizer at 11:24 PM on February 6, 2002

So now we have missiles that can target a single individual out of a group because he appears to be the center of attenion in a little cluster of squatters? Cool. Scary.
posted by scarabic at 11:37 PM on February 6, 2002

I'm waiting a few weeks to see if this gets filed with bombing the Red Cross buildings twice, "oops wrong guys, here's $1000", etc.
posted by joemaller at 12:30 AM on February 7, 2002

Yes, Engine Beak, if I may...

" It seems Osama may have met the fate all warlords are destined for, much like Attila the Hun, and emperor Charlemagne, (although I may be incorrect, I am unsure and have no convenient form of reference handy)
I don't tend to believe the sort of hearsay that this may well prove to be, such as the rumored dissolution of the nefarious British Mathematical Olympiad Committee. "

Was I close?
posted by dong_resin at 12:53 AM on February 7, 2002

I'm waiting a few weeks to see if this gets filed with bombing the Red Cross buildings twice, "oops wrong guys, here's $1000", etc.

The description of the way it works, from the article, certainly doesn't give one much confidence that the operator working off of the "live video feed" would have a reliable ability to tell the difference between a civilian and a belligerent. Of course, I suspect that would be a problem with air strikes in general...
posted by BT at 4:54 AM on February 7, 2002

If you'd like get a picture of this sort of thing taken to its logical extreme, please read any of Ian M. Banks' books -- in particular, _The Player of Games_ and _Use of Weapons_. Yes, it is scary.
posted by Kikkoman at 5:18 AM on February 7, 2002

Tough time to be a tall guy in SW asia. Worse if you have a posse that follows you around when you're outside.
posted by luser at 7:58 AM on February 7, 2002

I'm rereading Player of Games now. Banks is a gem. Also recommended: Excession. As beautifully complex as a fractal under a Fresnel lens.

I'd certainly like to see bin Laden dead; but he's rather cagey, I doubt this report is true.
posted by UncleFes at 9:45 AM on February 7, 2002

how the hell do they identify anyone who's hit with a missle? i would think dental records wouldn't do the trick. hmm...

(btw - i haven't posted in forever! hi.)
posted by sadgirl7 at 4:31 PM on February 7, 2002

sadgirl7 - According to some pundit on Fox news, DNA is the trick, although I have to wonder where the US keeps it's top secret stash of world bad-guy DNA at... not to mention where they got it in the first place.

I know you can get DNA samples easily from such things as hairbrushes of the person, bedsheets, etc. but really, where would we have a verifiable DNA sample of UBL to compare with the guts splattered on some mountain?

Again according to another pundit on Fox (this one actually seemed intelligent and well-informed), the US would know fairly quickly if they had actually killed UBL, via all sorts of intelligence, etc. Apparently the low-level Al Queda couldn't stop talking (radio, phone, fax?) when some other important figures were killed.

Of course, they could also plant fake reports of UBL's death and fool us all.
posted by canoeguide at 1:36 AM on February 8, 2002