MetaFilter posts tagged with osamabinladen

Don't you know I'm loco?

gman — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:49:18 -0800

Fernando Aguirre is a crime fighter patrolling the streets of Bogota.

Who's Soft on Terrorism?

digaman — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:02:40 -0800

Who's soft on terrorism? Surely not the Democrats, who are about to enable the National Security Agency to extend its secret domestic wiretapping program after saying otherwise for months. Surely not the Republican White House, determined to rush out a new Osama bin Laden video even if it burns an intelligence connection spying on Al Qaeda that has been carefully cultivated for years.

Is this what was supposed to happen before the Sept. 21st put options ran out?

umop-apisdn — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 07:20:20 -0800

On Wednesday Sept. 5^th, German police stopped a major terrorist attack. The planned bomb consisted of 730 kilogramms of hydrogen peroxide to be mixed with other chemicals. The explosive power would have been equivalent to 550 kilogramms of TNT. The IHT reports the possible targets were the Ramstein US Air Force Air Base and Frankfurt International Airport. The suspects had been under observation for 10 months, the chemicals had been clandestinely rendered harmless by German authorities. What caused the final arrest? Two things: 1) they had just recieved a call from north Pakistan urgently ordering them to follow through within 14 days. 2) a local village policeman blew the surveillance cover by literally telling them at a routine road stop that they were on a watch-list. German intelligence immediately knew the policeman had blown their cover. How? They had bugged the car [Spiegel, rough translation]. Notable:
Making a bomb out of hydrogen peroxide is school chemistry class knowledge. In combination with acetone and acid it becomes explosive and is commonly referred to as TATP or also, due to its instability, as the Mother of Satan. Hydrogen peroxide is the fluid that the airlines are scared of.

The Germans recieved the decisive tips that lead to observation of the suspects from American authorities. Even during the G-8 June 2007 meetings in Heiligendamm President Bush asked Chancellor Angela Merkel how "Operation Alberich" was proceeding [Spiegel, rough translation].

The terrorists were fully aware that they were under surveillance. Once one of them stepped out of the car at a red light and calmly walked up to the car following them and slit their tires. [see the previous Spiegel-links]

Oh and concerning the Sept. 21^st put options: the answer was posted by patricio here. There is no connection, this practice, referred to as a box trade, is a method of borrowing without a bank as a middleman.

bin Laden transcript

ND¢ — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:54:37 -0800

Transcript of the most recent Osama bin Laden tape. [pdf] Likes: Noam Chomsky, Michael Scheuer, Jews, Jesus, Mary Dislikes: the Holocaust, Bush, corporations, global warming

"Unfortunately, Bin Laden was a really good hider."

kirkaracha — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 10:43:02 -0800

The Ongoing Hunt for Osama bin Laden is a comprehensive Newsweek update on the search for Osama. Psychics can't find him. Native American trackers can't find him. As the Daily Show noted in 2004, the dead or alive terrorist mastermind is "a really good hider."

Collect them all!

R. Mutt — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:41:37 -0800

Terrorism finger puppets! Uncanny crocheted likenesses of Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Ahmadinejad and George W. Bush.

A million little Kola Boofs?

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:52:04 -0800

Kola Boof claims she was a successful actress in the Arabic-speaking world, an active member of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army and, most notably, Bin Laden's mistress. Although skeptics have been passionate in their criticism and the skeptics themselves vilified by the believers, no conclusive evidence seems to have been presented either way. So who is this woman? (Some links mildly NSFW: some female nudity.)

academic sounds off quite interestingly

Mocata — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 02:42:18 -0800

The anti-globalisers are flakes, Samuel Huntingdon is all about the decline of white hegemony, Bin Laden is ‘the illegitimate child of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan’ – Fred Halliday tells it like it is. (via, but you might well have filtered it out on the assumption that it's one of the tedious right-ring rants that they seem obsessed by nowadays.)

Know your enemy

russilwvong — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 10:57:12 -0800

Max Rodenbeck reviews a new collection of Osama bin Laden's speeches and a biography by Peter Bergen. David Cole discusses the US side of the conflict, reviewing the latest book by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon: "--when it comes to fighting the decentralized threat of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, Benjamin and Simon maintain, the best defense is not a good offense, but a good defense." More on al-Qaeda: Rodenbeck, MetaFilter.

GC on bin Laden

Davenhill — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 01:17:27 -0800

It Isnt Easy Being the Sexy Bin Laden : “the face is alluring (big dark eyes, long lashes, plump lips, caramel skin)”. Satin sheets, a feather boa and not much else. And who could resist alluring bin Laden quotes like this?

“At the end of the day, I believe that the American people understand things and they have compassion and they see what’s fair,” [bin Laden] says. "They’re very fair, and that’s why I love America, and that’s why my mom loves America.”

Or this quote:

“Come on, where’s the American spirit? Accept me. I want to be embraced, because my values are like yours. And I’m here. I’m not hiding.”