And Yet No Tom Clancy
May 20, 2015 3:50 PM Subscribe
What do the Dreamweaver Manual, Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival, and an academic article on wage inequality in France have in common? They were - amongst many others - on Osama bin Laden's Bookshelf. (hat tip to jessamyn)
You know who else had the McAfee Virus Scan 6.0 Manual on his bookshelf?
posted by sy at 3:54 PM on May 20, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by sy at 3:54 PM on May 20, 2015 [9 favorites]
Also the 9/11 commission report. Got to be results driven.
posted by localroger at 3:55 PM on May 20, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by localroger at 3:55 PM on May 20, 2015 [10 favorites]
"Hey everybody! Look what else we're not lying about!" --ODNI
posted by rhizome at 3:56 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 3:56 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
Documents Probably Used by Other Compound Residents (10 items)
Art Education: The Journal of National Art Education Association, “Islamic Art as an Educational Tool about the Teaching of Islam” by Fayeq S. Oweiss (March 2002)
What, murderous assholes can't also be interested in art? Stereotyping.
Also the 9/11 commission report.
And a 9/11 conspiracy book.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:59 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Art Education: The Journal of National Art Education Association, “Islamic Art as an Educational Tool about the Teaching of Islam” by Fayeq S. Oweiss (March 2002)
What, murderous assholes can't also be interested in art? Stereotyping.
Also the 9/11 commission report.
And a 9/11 conspiracy book.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:59 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sam Harris wonders why his books aren't on the list.
posted by klue at 3:59 PM on May 20, 2015 [16 favorites]
posted by klue at 3:59 PM on May 20, 2015 [16 favorites]
I thought the Seals got out of there really fast and didn't have a chance to take much ... or has that been discredited?
posted by jayder at 4:01 PM on May 20, 2015
posted by jayder at 4:01 PM on May 20, 2015
Bet they had much fun around the compound, arguing whether jet fuel can melt steel beams.
posted by Artw at 4:03 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:03 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sam Harris wonders why his books aren't on the list.
Few would admit it, but there is undoubtedly a prestige associated with having one's books be found in the terrorist-mastermind-in-chief's compound.
posted by jayder at 4:04 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Few would admit it, but there is undoubtedly a prestige associated with having one's books be found in the terrorist-mastermind-in-chief's compound.
posted by jayder at 4:04 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I hear the copy of 'Larousse Gastronomique' was heavily redacted.
posted by clavdivs at 4:08 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by clavdivs at 4:08 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm sad we can't pin part of his loathing on a battered and tearstained copy of Twilight.
posted by poffin boffin at 4:08 PM on May 20, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 4:08 PM on May 20, 2015 [12 favorites]
Dreamweaver goes into the "aggravating" bucket, rather than the "mitigating" bucket, so this could be post-operation evidence planting.
posted by maxwelton at 4:08 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 4:08 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
This appears about a week after the Seymour Hersh piece in the LRB (previously) so this might be some sort of rebuke.
"No no, we got loads of useful intel, look, here's his reading list of Adobe Creative Suite manuals!"
"CS6 or CC?"
"That's classified."
posted by The River Ivel at 4:09 PM on May 20, 2015 [17 favorites]
"No no, we got loads of useful intel, look, here's his reading list of Adobe Creative Suite manuals!"
"CS6 or CC?"
"That's classified."
posted by The River Ivel at 4:09 PM on May 20, 2015 [17 favorites]
"Hey everybody! Look what else we're not lying about!"
SY HERSH: the claimed treasure trove of recovered intel did not exist
CIA: we are now ready to reveal, bin laden had a pdf of hp printer owner's manual
posted by RogerB at 4:09 PM on May 20, 2015 [21 favorites]
SY HERSH: the claimed treasure trove of recovered intel did not exist
CIA: we are now ready to reveal, bin laden had a pdf of hp printer owner's manual
posted by RogerB at 4:09 PM on May 20, 2015 [21 favorites]
jayder: "I thought the Seals got out of there really fast and didn't have a chance to take much ... or has that been discredited?"
I was watching a report about this on TV and that was my first thought. The first thing I recall was a statement to the effect, "We weren't there to collect data. We were there to kill him. One guy stuffed some loose paperwork into his knapsack and that was it."
"Now it's he had a library of books on hard drives, which we took."
So, what story are you sticking with? Hmmmm?
posted by Splunge at 4:11 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I was watching a report about this on TV and that was my first thought. The first thing I recall was a statement to the effect, "We weren't there to collect data. We were there to kill him. One guy stuffed some loose paperwork into his knapsack and that was it."
"Now it's he had a library of books on hard drives, which we took."
So, what story are you sticking with? Hmmmm?
posted by Splunge at 4:11 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Profiles of bishops in the Church of England
William Laud and Cuthbert of Lindisfarne are totally my thing too.
Though, in all seriousness, why would he have such a document? It is not as though John Sentamu chairs COBRA meetings.
posted by Thing at 4:13 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
William Laud and Cuthbert of Lindisfarne are totally my thing too.
Though, in all seriousness, why would he have such a document? It is not as though John Sentamu chairs COBRA meetings.
posted by Thing at 4:13 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Like most pompous windbags, I doubt Osama had actually read half the books on his shelf.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:14 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:14 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
The Oprah Book Club will do anything to eliminate a rival.
posted by peeedro at 4:14 PM on May 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 4:14 PM on May 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
US releases more than 100 documents recovered from Osama bin Laden raid
The documents’ release follows a high-profile and intensely debated article by the veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, which accused the Obama administration of misleading the public over events before, during and after the May 2011 raid that killed Bin Laden.
Anchukaitis denied that the release of documents was related to the Obama administration’s pushback against Hersh’s report.
The declassified documents reveal Bin Laden’s abiding concern with operational security. In letters, he tells his lieutenants not to communicate by email and tells them not to gather in large groups, lest they become the target of a drone strike.
Clips from the al-Qaida leader’s ‘home videos’ show him obsessively watching himself on TV news programmes
The internet “is OK for general messages,” Bin Laden writes his deputies, “but the secrecy of the mujahideen does not allow its usage and couriers are the only way”. In other documents he advises members of al-Qaida to destroy cellphone Sim cards, to keep prescriptions with them to avoid frequent visits to doctors, and to learn Urdu because “it is also of extreme importance, security-wise”.
It's not exactly supportive of the "Bin Laden was the prisoner of Pakistan" theory, TBH.
posted by Artw at 4:14 PM on May 20, 2015
The documents’ release follows a high-profile and intensely debated article by the veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, which accused the Obama administration of misleading the public over events before, during and after the May 2011 raid that killed Bin Laden.
Anchukaitis denied that the release of documents was related to the Obama administration’s pushback against Hersh’s report.
The declassified documents reveal Bin Laden’s abiding concern with operational security. In letters, he tells his lieutenants not to communicate by email and tells them not to gather in large groups, lest they become the target of a drone strike.
Clips from the al-Qaida leader’s ‘home videos’ show him obsessively watching himself on TV news programmes
The internet “is OK for general messages,” Bin Laden writes his deputies, “but the secrecy of the mujahideen does not allow its usage and couriers are the only way”. In other documents he advises members of al-Qaida to destroy cellphone Sim cards, to keep prescriptions with them to avoid frequent visits to doctors, and to learn Urdu because “it is also of extreme importance, security-wise”.
It's not exactly supportive of the "Bin Laden was the prisoner of Pakistan" theory, TBH.
posted by Artw at 4:14 PM on May 20, 2015
Found in his bathroom:
* Essential Howard the Duck
* TV Guide 1973 Fall Preview Issue
* Penthouse, September 1984
* Who Moved My Cheese?
posted by delfin at 4:16 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
* Essential Howard the Duck
* TV Guide 1973 Fall Preview Issue
* Penthouse, September 1984
* Who Moved My Cheese?
posted by delfin at 4:16 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
Confessions of a Jihadi Nerd: A guide to reading the new bin Laden documents
posted by the man of twists and turns at 4:21 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 4:21 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
In response to VICE News' request for a comment on the timing of the document leak, Hersh replied by writing in an email, "you gotta be kidding me."
posted by RogerB at 4:22 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by RogerB at 4:22 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
And a 9/11 conspiracy book.
He had a lot of weird conspiracy books, apparently, and things like this book about Freemason and Rosicrucian symbolism. It's strangely chillling and fascinating. I remember when a big part of the media narrative surrounding him was that he was partially Western-educated and understood the "Western mind" very well, but just how far did that go? Obviously there's a very great deal of legitimate grievance that goes into anti-American, anti-Western ideologies, even those of terrorists, but how much illegitimate or paranoid fantasy is mixed in there, too? What exactly did he believe about the countries and people he saw as his enemies?
posted by The Master and Margarita Mix at 4:23 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
He had a lot of weird conspiracy books, apparently, and things like this book about Freemason and Rosicrucian symbolism. It's strangely chillling and fascinating. I remember when a big part of the media narrative surrounding him was that he was partially Western-educated and understood the "Western mind" very well, but just how far did that go? Obviously there's a very great deal of legitimate grievance that goes into anti-American, anti-Western ideologies, even those of terrorists, but how much illegitimate or paranoid fantasy is mixed in there, too? What exactly did he believe about the countries and people he saw as his enemies?
posted by The Master and Margarita Mix at 4:23 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
I have spent most of my day periodically laughing at the terrorist job application they apparently found. The last question translates to, no joke, "Who should we contact in the event you have been martyred?" It's what you'd get if you asked a hack comedian to draw up a joke terrorist job application.
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:32 PM on May 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:32 PM on May 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
Forgot the link: terrorist job application.
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:35 PM on May 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:35 PM on May 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Who should we contact in the event you have been martyred?
Sadly, that's a big deal for the would-be martyr. They're often recruited with the idea that their families will be taken care of after their death.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:36 PM on May 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Sadly, that's a big deal for the would-be martyr. They're often recruited with the idea that their families will be taken care of after their death.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:36 PM on May 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
There's probably more truth to Four Lions than Zero Dark Thirty.
posted by Artw at 4:36 PM on May 20, 2015 [13 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:36 PM on May 20, 2015 [13 favorites]
And a 9/11 conspiracy book.
This vindicates me as a 9/11 half-truther: There was a government conspiracy to blow up the WTC, they were almost done setting up all the explosives - but by some cosmic coincidence, bin Laden decided to fly airplanes into the buildings thus setting off a chain reaction that brought the towers down.
posted by ymgve at 4:37 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
This vindicates me as a 9/11 half-truther: There was a government conspiracy to blow up the WTC, they were almost done setting up all the explosives - but by some cosmic coincidence, bin Laden decided to fly airplanes into the buildings thus setting off a chain reaction that brought the towers down.
posted by ymgve at 4:37 PM on May 20, 2015 [7 favorites]
Sadly, that's a big deal for the would-be martyr. They're often recruited with the idea that their families will be taken care of after their death.
Oh, don't get me wrong, it's horrible. But the very idea of job applications just seems so.. banal. Like a rejected sitcom script.
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:40 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh, don't get me wrong, it's horrible. But the very idea of job applications just seems so.. banal. Like a rejected sitcom script.
posted by skycrashesdown at 4:40 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
So Osama bin Laden's bookshelf sounds a lot like the demo bookshelves you would find in a furniture store. A dozen Reader's Digest hardcover collections. A big coffee table book about shells found on Italian beaches. Windows 95 for Dummies. That Paul Reiser book. The lesser-known Alistair MacLean's. The sort of bookshelf that screams: "Look, you can put books on this!"
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:46 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 4:46 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
"Like most pompous windbags, I doubt Osama had actually read half the books on his shelf."
This doesn't mean what you think it does.
posted by oluckyman at 4:49 PM on May 20, 2015 [16 favorites]
This doesn't mean what you think it does.
posted by oluckyman at 4:49 PM on May 20, 2015 [16 favorites]
How do we know this list is true?
posted by wuwei at 4:52 PM on May 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by wuwei at 4:52 PM on May 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
Pretty dull selection. Hitler's library was way more illuminating.
posted by Atom Eyes at 5:00 PM on May 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 5:00 PM on May 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
The Little Book of Calm and Jonathan Livingston Seagull were out on loan to al-Zawahiri.
posted by sobarel at 5:06 PM on May 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by sobarel at 5:06 PM on May 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
In other letters, he pleaded with his lieutenants to turn away from internecine and regional attacks and to concentrate on major plots against the US.
“The focus should be on killing and fighting the American people and their representatives,” Bin Laden wrote in one of the documents. “We should stop operations against the army and the police in all regions, especially Yemen.”
...
Bin Laden also exhorted al-Qaida to move away from small, local attacks in the region, but found himself marginalized within the organization, as lone wolf, “individual jihad” attacks gained increasing prominence for other al-Qaida leaders.
And so exit Al Qaida, enter ISIS.
posted by Artw at 5:07 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
“The focus should be on killing and fighting the American people and their representatives,” Bin Laden wrote in one of the documents. “We should stop operations against the army and the police in all regions, especially Yemen.”
...
Bin Laden also exhorted al-Qaida to move away from small, local attacks in the region, but found himself marginalized within the organization, as lone wolf, “individual jihad” attacks gained increasing prominence for other al-Qaida leaders.
And so exit Al Qaida, enter ISIS.
posted by Artw at 5:07 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
McAfee Virus Scan 6.0 Manual
Trend Micro Manual
Didn't he know you're not supposed to run multiple virus scanners? This must have been the origin of his downfall. That, or using "Dreamweaver Quick Reference Guide" instead of Notepad likeGod Allah intended.
posted by Rangi at 5:14 PM on May 20, 2015
Trend Micro Manual
Didn't he know you're not supposed to run multiple virus scanners? This must have been the origin of his downfall. That, or using "Dreamweaver Quick Reference Guide" instead of Notepad like
posted by Rangi at 5:14 PM on May 20, 2015
Obviously there's a very great deal of legitimate grievance that goes into anti-American, anti-Western ideologies, even those of terrorists, but how much illegitimate or paranoid fantasy is mixed in there, too? What exactly did he believe about the countries and people he saw as his enemies?
The collection is interesting in its eclecticism and banality. In a way though it shows a sort of universality that exists in book collections ... even people you would think are utterly single minded have the odd stuff on their shelves that you'd never expect.
I'm most amused by the Chomsky stuff, and certain that it will gratify his detractors who will claim it as proof that Chomsky gives intellectual ammunition to America's enemies. I imagine Chomsky will be serenely unbothered by the presence of his books there.
posted by jayder at 5:31 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
The collection is interesting in its eclecticism and banality. In a way though it shows a sort of universality that exists in book collections ... even people you would think are utterly single minded have the odd stuff on their shelves that you'd never expect.
I'm most amused by the Chomsky stuff, and certain that it will gratify his detractors who will claim it as proof that Chomsky gives intellectual ammunition to America's enemies. I imagine Chomsky will be serenely unbothered by the presence of his books there.
posted by jayder at 5:31 PM on May 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
I met Bill Blum after one of the first protests I attended. A year later, I talked to him on the phone after Bin Laden namedropped his book Rogue State. (UBL actually recommended it for Americans to understand what their government was doing.) At the time, it was actually unfortunate publicity, because Bill wouldn't have another book completed for several years and wasn't able to capitalize on it. It's fitting that two of Bill's books wound up on this list, and all are worth reading to help understand the history and politics of US interventionism.
Bin Laden was a savvy operator who understood the US very well; after all, he had convinced them he was "their man" in Afghanistan. Read Robert Fisk's 1993 article on him if you doubt that.
posted by graymouser at 5:50 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Bin Laden was a savvy operator who understood the US very well; after all, he had convinced them he was "their man" in Afghanistan. Read Robert Fisk's 1993 article on him if you doubt that.
posted by graymouser at 5:50 PM on May 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
I like that a webpage about Steve Jackson Games' collectable card game Illuminati: New World Order predicting 9/11 in the mid-nineties (previously) was among the items found.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:02 PM on May 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:02 PM on May 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
It figures he'd be a Dreamweaver user. True patriots roll with GoLive.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:05 PM on May 20, 2015
posted by Thorzdad at 6:05 PM on May 20, 2015
Lacking an internet connection modern package manager based internet solutions were most likely unavailable to them.
posted by Artw at 6:10 PM on May 20, 2015
posted by Artw at 6:10 PM on May 20, 2015
adamvasco: "What about the porn?"
I don't know why, but I appreciate that he made time to rub one out like the rest of us.
posted by AugustWest at 6:11 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know why, but I appreciate that he made time to rub one out like the rest of us.
posted by AugustWest at 6:11 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Books That Literally All Emirs of Al-Qaida Own: The Definitive List
No "The 72 Houris You Bone in Paradise"? I call shenanigans.
Sorry MoonOrb, I couldn't resist.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:15 PM on May 20, 2015
No "The 72 Houris You Bone in Paradise"? I call shenanigans.
Sorry MoonOrb, I couldn't resist.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:15 PM on May 20, 2015
Clips from the al-Qaida leader’s ‘home videos’ show him obsessively watching himself on TV news programmes
Did anyone come up with a satisfactory explanation of these? Like, why would he film himself watching himself on TV? That seems like a really odd "home video" to have.
Unless it's actually a recording from the surveillance cameras installed by the ISI, of course...
posted by BungaDunga at 6:18 PM on May 20, 2015
Did anyone come up with a satisfactory explanation of these? Like, why would he film himself watching himself on TV? That seems like a really odd "home video" to have.
Unless it's actually a recording from the surveillance cameras installed by the ISI, of course...
posted by BungaDunga at 6:18 PM on May 20, 2015
Bridges of Madison County was the one that really threw me.
posted by uosuaq at 6:56 PM on May 20, 2015
posted by uosuaq at 6:56 PM on May 20, 2015
All of this is a red herring.
posted by rhizome at 7:34 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 7:34 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Couldn't they just redact the porn?
posted by clavdivs at 11:07 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by clavdivs at 11:07 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Map of Iran Missile Sites (2006)
Map of Iran Nuclear Enrichment Sites
Embossed "From the library of Dick Cheney" no doubt.
posted by three blind mice at 6:17 AM on May 21, 2015
Map of Iran Nuclear Enrichment Sites
Embossed "From the library of Dick Cheney" no doubt.
posted by three blind mice at 6:17 AM on May 21, 2015
From the Boston Globe article about the job application that skycrashesdown linked above:
Another bin Laden letter mocks President George W. Bush’s ‘‘war on terror,’’ saying it had not achieved stability in Iraq or Afghanistan and questioning why US troops were ‘‘searching for the lost phantom’’ — weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. No date is included on the US translation.
That sounds less like "mocking" than an accurate description. The application was pretty funny, though. I'm surprised it didn't include an instruction to use blue or black ink in addition to writing legibly.
posted by TedW at 8:30 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another bin Laden letter mocks President George W. Bush’s ‘‘war on terror,’’ saying it had not achieved stability in Iraq or Afghanistan and questioning why US troops were ‘‘searching for the lost phantom’’ — weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. No date is included on the US translation.
That sounds less like "mocking" than an accurate description. The application was pretty funny, though. I'm surprised it didn't include an instruction to use blue or black ink in addition to writing legibly.
posted by TedW at 8:30 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
So Osama bin Laden's bookshelf sounds a lot like the demo bookshelves you would find in a furniture store.
Maybe his sister, Ikea bin Laden
posted by chavenet at 9:59 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Maybe his sister, Ikea bin Laden
posted by chavenet at 9:59 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
even people you would think are utterly single minded have the odd stuff on their shelves that you'd never expect . . .
I'm most amused by the Chomsky stuff, and certain that it will gratify his detractors . . .
Speaking of utterly single-minded detractors -- currently trending or whatever on Google News:
Bin Laden's bookshelf stuffed with anti-American, conspiracy works by lefty US Authors -- Fox N***
I'm most amused by the Chomsky stuff, and certain that it will gratify his detractors . . .
Speaking of utterly single-minded detractors -- currently trending or whatever on Google News:
Bin Laden's bookshelf stuffed with anti-American, conspiracy works by lefty US Authors -- Fox N***
. . . bin Laden's personal library featured a collection of anti-U.S. polemics and left-wing conspiracy theories from some celebrated darlings of American academia . . . Anti-American conspiracy tomes on everything from the CIA to the Federal Reserve . . .posted by Herodios at 10:00 AM on May 21, 2015“Bin Laden's bookshelf showed a generous tolerance for bad prose and an undergraduate's faith in bad ideas, With his career as a master terrorist in decline, he would have made a popular Ivy League professor: a great opportunity missed"But Bin Laden's books did include legitimate intellectual works and actually might be to the right of some college reading lists . . .
-- retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters"I don't think Usama bin Laden's reading habits could be classified as left-wing. It's more diverse than that, and not nearly as ideological in its anti-Westernism as you would find in many U.S. college social science courses."
-- Cornell University Law School Professor William Jacobson
After looking at the list, I think this is either a list of PDFs found on bin Laden's computer, or at best, a combination of PDFs and books. That would explain the abnormal amount of software manuals in the list.
posted by ymgve at 11:11 AM on May 21, 2015
posted by ymgve at 11:11 AM on May 21, 2015
Henlein's Razor says you shouldn't discount the possibility that it's all made up, especially when you see how people are using it to extrapolate it politically.
posted by rhizome at 11:13 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 11:13 AM on May 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Henlein's Razor says you shouldn't discount the possibility that it's all made up, especially when you see how people are using it to extrapolate it politically.
ennui.bz hasn't posted in this thread but over in the thread about Hersh's story he anticipated just this.
posted by junco at 11:33 AM on May 21, 2015
ennui.bz hasn't posted in this thread but over in the thread about Hersh's story he anticipated just this.
posted by junco at 11:33 AM on May 21, 2015
Henlein's Razor says you shouldn't discount the possibility that it's all made up, especially when you see how people are using it to extrapolate it politically.
I think the inclusion of such absurd things as the Adobe manuals means that the list is genuine. Unless there's some double reverse psychology going on here.
posted by ymgve at 3:46 PM on May 21, 2015
I think the inclusion of such absurd things as the Adobe manuals means that the list is genuine. Unless there's some double reverse psychology going on here.
posted by ymgve at 3:46 PM on May 21, 2015
After looking at the list, I think this is either a list of PDFs found on bin Laden's computer, or at best, a combination of PDFs and books.
Bev Harris said that it was odd that bin Laden had somehow ended up with one of the less than 1,000 physical copies of her book, when it was free online.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 3:52 PM on May 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Bev Harris said that it was odd that bin Laden had somehow ended up with one of the less than 1,000 physical copies of her book, when it was free online.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 3:52 PM on May 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
So Osama bin Laden's bookshelf sounds a lot like the demo bookshelves you would find in a furniture store.
I suspect googling for this is next to impossible, but a couple of years ago someone wrote (or maybe showed on video, even harder) about the odd selection of European-language books you could find at street booksellers in a Pakistani city such as Karachi. The detritus, as you may well imagine, of colonials and expats.
posted by dhartung at 11:39 PM on May 21, 2015
I suspect googling for this is next to impossible, but a couple of years ago someone wrote (or maybe showed on video, even harder) about the odd selection of European-language books you could find at street booksellers in a Pakistani city such as Karachi. The detritus, as you may well imagine, of colonials and expats.
posted by dhartung at 11:39 PM on May 21, 2015
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Probably a few, "Was that wrong?" moments in there.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:53 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]