E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSBy Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent
BENGHAZI, Libya – Al-Qaida’s official statement today announcing Osama bin Laden’s death immediately reminded me of a scene from Mel Brooks' classic comedy “The Producers.”
In the movie (I never saw the play) con men movie producers search for the worst, most offensive play they can imagine, so that it will flop and they won't have to pay their investors.
The producers find it in a glowing tribute to Adolf Hitler, the misunderstood artist, a man of culture, panache and style. “Hitler was a great dancer,” the playwright tells the producers.
They buy his play on the spot.
Hitler, according to his many biographers, also loved music. He was a fan of oil paintings, too. But who cares if the 20th century’s most vile human could waltz like Fred Astaire?
Al-Qaida’s statement today was equally misguided. It could have been written by the same man who loved Hitler, the dancer.
The statement began by saying of bin Laden, “You Lived a Compassionate Life and You Died a Martyr.”
Compassionate?
It's not the first quality that comes to mind.
The statement continues like a love poem, extolling the kinder, gentler side of the world’s deadliest terrorist. It describes bin Laden, on the run for a decade, not as a fugitive, but as a traveler spreading his message like a monk, wandering the earth in search of justice.
“Congratulations to the Ummah of Islam (the Islamic community) with the martyrdom of her pious son Usama; as after a life full of work and efforts, determination and patience, encouragement and jihad, generosity and open-handedness, migration and traveling, advices and good management, wisdom and practicality.”
Al-Qaida also tried to explain away the fact that American troops were able to gun down its leader face to face.
“The Americans were able to kill Usama, that is not shameful or disgraceful, and wouldn’t the men and heroes be killed except in the battlefields. Every fate has an ending, but can the Americans with their media, agents, machinery, soldiers, intelligence and forces kill what Shaykh Usama lived for and killed for the cause of?”
Osama bin Laden is dead. Al-Qaida wants the world to remember him as a compassionate philosopher – a Socrates killed by the state for refusing the status quo – not as what he was, a mass murderer of innocent civilians.
Leave a Comment:
OUTSTANDING article. Clear. Simple. Full of truth. If only all Correspondent's were as clear-sighted as Mr. Engel!
Absolutely right, Mike! If even only a few more were like him, news would be as exciting and interestiing and literate again, as he is now. Keep hoping....
Here are the questions a true reporter would ask:
1. The mission was in planning for more than 4 months. (true/false)
2. This compound was owned by UBL or Al-Qaeda for approximately 6 years (true/false)
3. How likely is it that the UBL compound contained well hidden areas in which UBL could store his most confidential and secret information A. highly likely, B. Likely, C. Unlikely
4. How likely is it that the US special forces found these hidden areas during the 20 minutes in which they were in the compound and not engaged in a fire fight with Al-Qaeda ? A. highly likely, B.
Likely, C. Unlikely
5. How likely it is that the issue of "how do we handle that fact that it will look like pakistan was hiding UBL" would have been discussed during the preparation for this mission? A. highly likely, B. Likely, C. Unlikely
6. It is in the USA's best interest to now make it clear to the world that this was not a joint operation with Pakistan. (true/false)
7. The USA's claim that Pakistan was lying and that this was not a joint operation likely hurt US/Pakistan relations (true/false)
8. The UBL compound is currently under the control of the US military or CIA. (true/false)
9. How likely is it that if the Pakistani's discover new intelligence inside the UBL compound that they will share it with the USA? A. highly likely, B. Likely, C. Unlikely
10. How likely is it that the WH administration considered the fact that by publicly stating that the raid was not a joint operation with Pakistan that this may limit the CIA's ability to "deeply and completely" search the 6 year residence of the Al-Qaeda chief. A. highly likely, B. Likely, C. Unlikely
11. Generally which source of information would you trust more A. Bradley Manning's dump into Wikileaks B. information released from the WH that is claimed to have come from the "treasure trove" of intel collected at the UBL compound?
It also points out that Osama bin Laden was a hero to many. I think he's just another jerk in the crowd, but others rate him next to Godhood. The President was right on in handling his body the way he did. It takes the wind out of the sail for martyrdom, and it establishes America as a country that does the right thing by showing sacred respect to all. There's no point in compounding our problems. If you ever read about when we took Okinawa in WWII, women were jumping off cliffs to avoid capture because the Japanese convinced them us Americans would rape, pillage, and eat their children. By showing the world that we are not like that, it creates doubt in the minds of young men being bent towards extremism.
Who cares the camel humper is dead I am going to the ocean where he was dropped off and have a long pee. All you Conspiracy theorists need to be shot too.
Gotta love murderers......Osama murders(so they say) roughly 5000 americans on 9/11....so what does the great country of the U>S do.............TIT FOR TAT.....a kids games...........and if all us conspiracy therorists need to be shot ronny boy........be like Obama and Osama....start killing us....
3xplorian,
Wow! You are so intelligent! Yet you are the poster and Engel is a world class reporter. Go figure. NOT!
Ana -- Who anointed Engel a world class reporter? The quality of reporting has been eroding for some time. Principally, this is because the reporters are, in large part, ideologies who seek to advance a political position rather than report the facts and let the reader reach his own conclusions.
3xplorian-your post is based on the wrong facts, a common problem. The CIA has known about and monitored the compound since August 2010. Compound did not belong to Bin Laden or anyone known to be associated with his organization or family, it belonged to a Pakistani national who also died in the raid, and tailing him is how we found Osama. The Raid was just over 40 min. by a force of approx. 22 professional soldiers and "operatives" even if you used 10 of those to secure the compound and its occupants, the rest easily found what they were looking for. It was a big mistake by the occupants to keep so much intel with them, but Bin Laden was a virtual shut in, circumstances left little operational choice. Our gain, their loss. Lets just hope a lot of it isn't missinformation to cloud the waters.
Nothing against Engel - but honestly a better analogy to WW2 and Hitler would have been:
Hypothetically speaking how likely is it that if the Americans got to Hitler's body before the Russians did that the Americans would have conducted a proper German burial at sea within 24 hours of acquiring the body? A. highly likely, B. Likely, C. Unlikely ... I'll give you the correct answer UNLIKELY
Bin Laden was dedicated to his cause--jihad. What I would really like to know from his followers is what exactly was his cause? An examination of the term jihad leads me to believe that it means to struggle. Some have stated that it might originally have meant the personal internal struggle one faces in order to battle bad and turn towards goodness, toward God. So how are these people defining jihad anyway? It would do us all good to understand what it is they are defending or standing up for. It seems they are fighting in retribution, but for what? What was done to them, or perceived by them, that they should feel the need for retribution? Really, everyone needs to better understand each other's point of view so we can stop this battle. Let us all have respect for human dignity and examine our morality and wisdom in the light of a new day. This does not include waging war on each other in the name of retribution and in the name of God.
Well! The ONLY thing you can say about Hitler is that he liked good music, even if he DID play FAR too much Wagner ( BTW, another anti-Semite ) & banned Mendelssohn ( a a Jew ).
The world is a better place this Sat. than it was last Sat.
very well put.
Bin Ladin, Hitler, Bush, ToJo, Mussolini, Stalin, Obama, Caligula, Clinton, Pot Pol, Nixon, etc. All tyrants and murderers have SOMETHING that is nice about them. In fact, in total, of the list, bin Ladin was the best of a list of the worst people in our history. I guess the real worst would be Stalin, then Pol Pot, then ToJo, the Bush II, then Bill Clinton, then....hmmm. hard to decide. Like, under Clinton the KNOW that about 650,000 kids age 6 or under died from the fake sanctions on Iraq. That number was acknowledged by his sec. of state on national news. Who is the worst in history and what was their best trait?
Bush and Clinton? You're an idiot.
You are obviously off your meds if you think that US presidents should be on that list
Bush is responsible for a hell of a lot more innocent deaths than bin Laden. Osama was just another jerk in the crowd.
Now Now pw38 that's name calling.
Let's just say that Robtice is talking like an idiot and he seems to be IQ challenged.
Too Much, Too Far must have felt that we were picking on the slow and dimwitted so he jumped in to make sure that there were two idiots in the crowd. Thank you for helping deflect some of the stupid from Robtice.
Insightful and literate, like all of Richard Engel's reporting. He is a treasure.
Sorry, SilbylleF, but where is the insight? That people cannot be monsters or saints 24 hours per day? Is there anyone who has ever seriously opined the contrary? Where is the literateness? He refers to a movie, after all, not anything actually written down. Mr. Engle shoots for and hits a sitting duck.
I agree, Whence...Engel simply parrots the administration's shovelfuls of swill to the sheep - "See how well we govern you?"... Hitler was famously charming, so was Bismarck; a better example would have been to refer to some of the lice who surrounded Hitler - Bernhardt Heidrich was a concert-quality violinist, and Himmler was a patron of the arts that Engel would have liked - if you think UFOs and ancient legends are important(like the once-admirable History and Discovery channels, who, now that they're owned by the Neo-Cons - devote a lot of time to UFOs, Bigfoot/Monster searches, Bible-expos and barely palatable reality-type shows about fishermen, truckers and lumberjacks)...TV and most of those who appear on it deserve to be referred to as "a vast wasteland"
a very good assessment of a mis-guided man by someone who understands the culture of the region and the man
One extremist fanatic's blind and twisted devotion to another of the same ilk. A psychotic turban-wearing bearded good ole boys network
evil praises her sons......and knows no truth or justice
That's Good !
This is gonna get a groan (or even a collapse);
but why are you bringing Barbara Bush into the conversation,...
If only Mr. Engle would spell check his article before posting it "a mass murder of innocent civilians" you mean murderer. Also, What do you expect, when one of our presidents die do we focus on the negative portions of that presidency or the positive, your assessment of this is naive at best and foolish at worst. Even acknowledging the existence of this so-called obituary proves that you and many other Americans will never crawl from under the grasp of fear of terrorism. We as a nation should be standing strong and advancing ourselves and not giving this organization our time of day when they do not deserve it especially when the "story" is something as trivial as this.
Regarding your first sentence: it's ENGEL, not ENGLE, as one can clearly see in the byline. Spell check.
Wow Sam, you really suck. What a shame that while nitpicking the article you missed the whole point.
Sam if we don't give this organization our time of day we can all just crawl in the ground because they will kill us you fool!
Sam, since "murder" is a word spell check would not have helped...proof reading on the other hand may have
Engle, only guilty of bad grammer, but good taste.
Compassion and Osama Bin Laden ,definite oxymoron, MORONS!!.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. He started off as a spoiled yuppie who wanted to kick the Soviets out of Afghanistan, and then ended by turning his back on all vestiges of western civilization, and justified mass murder in the name of Arab protectionism.
Even during the Russo-Afghan War, bin Laden despised the Westerners who supplied him with aid. There was a U.S. CIA advisor assigned to his bin Laden's camp who was terrified the entire time. As that advisor told the story, several times a day bin Laden, who at the time was a junior "officer" of that mujahaddin band, came shouting up to the leader, crying "Can I kill the American now?"
The roots of this conflict lie in a deep divide among cultures, and a hatred, suspicion, and rejection typical of deeply-conservative, religious fundamentalists who despise the outside world. They want control and command - and, frankly, that's the same among such persons in all the three major religions.
winsettz should also point out, ..... as are we who justified the mass murder of Arabs in the name of American protectionism.
that's spot on, John. It will also go directly over the heads of those in our own country who need to read that and understand that their fundamentalist ideas are as hateful in their own way as those of Bin Laden.
I do believe that 99% of us are very relieved that this piece of EVIL is gone.......BUT I keep thinking that he was no stupid man, and has trained someone maybe "IF" there is someone even more evil to take his place. I don't care one iota what some "cleric" leader wanna be has to say about the Americans need to be afraid of the repercussions of what has been done. Words from these fools start sounding like the hum of elevator music now.
I get annoyed that the US media continually flaps their lips and writes about this true 21st century A**HOLE.
The fu**er's dead, faced God and likely is roasting now. That's it. Say his nameno more. He's history. Mention Al-Qaida if you must, as it's relevant. But stop mentioning his name and showing his effigy.
As for Pakistan, it's time to carpet-bomb. Only in a nation of inbreds and uneducated would Islamic propaganda hold with such fervor. These dumba**es can't even read, write, let alone count past 10 or not beat or rape a woman.
I know a lot of people in our own country who fit that description. Can i carpet bomb them? A lot of religious right wing conservatives out there that sound xactly like alqaida and nazi's. They are just too deluded to see it. It doesnt matter Ive already given up hope for this country. And what mass murder has Obama caused other than the destruction of the Endangered Species Act!
Kichigai - If you've "already given up hope for this country" , what are you still doing here?
BumbleBeeJ: God is now a member of the US Navy's SEALs? That's a scoop.
BumbleBeeJ - In the words of Ronald Reagan, "Well, there you go again." You're letting you're ill-concieved stereotypes and prejudices about all peoples of arab descent as "camel jockeys" to color your thoughts.
So, to bring a little insight to you, here's one - if you start carpet bombing this country, who's just as likely to drop multiple pieces of nuclear munitions on top of your armed forces head in retaliation - or worse, on top of other nations around them, seeing they have nothing to lose, thus starting the entire region into war?
Yeah, I believe you forgot that Pakistan is in fact a confirmed nuclear power with an acknowledged arsenal of hundreds of nuclear warheads, involved in a standoff with India.
Things might just be a little more complicated than members of the mobile-home, pick-up truck, NASCAR, Rebel-Flag, Yee-Haw subset of neanderthals you belong to could understand. Luckily, we don't have folks like you making decisions anymore.
Whatever OBL gave it was not for the world in contrary against the world to destroy it with his demonic acts of terror...if hitler is Satan's first born OBL is the twin.
I can't say this is much of a surprise. I hardly expected Al-Qaida to announce Osama's death with, "Actually, he did kill a lot of innocent people...I guess he was a bad person after all." From the outside, someone else's propaganda always sounds absurd. I'll just shake my head and hope people know better than to believe it.
I'm with you, no matter what their public statement says, behind the doors they have to be saying OH $it!!!
Terrible.....compassionate marytr....bin Laden.....in the same sentence ? Let me say it like it is: Murderer.
This guy is dead and I hope he burns in H$$$ for eternity. Anyone who thinks they can change the World to conform to "their" beliefs had better "rethink" their intentions, especially when their ultimate target is the United States of America.
Time to scrub bin Laden from any future articles and move on to the next "fool".
You can't silence a man by killing him, but it's a great start.
The quote I believe is "you have not converted a man because you have silenced him" but what the heck its a good start, now lets go after a few mullahs.....
I guess I now have heard everthing.
Obsessive compulsive behavior, fixation, delusion, illusion, pre-occupation,..
He just fits in all these criteria. He is rich, he has too much time, he is too obsessive...
Billie, Osama or Donald Trump?
R.I.P Osama bin Laden
Reak In Pieces.
Bin Laden was not a martyr, he was a disease infecting the world. We eradicate diseases.
There is little doubt that Hitler thought himself completely misunderstood, as I have no doubt Bin Laden did too.
People have their superstitions. They build their superstitions up into advanced beliefs. Others don't share those beliefs, so they are evil. Evil people can be killed. Wash, rinse, repeat. Absolutists like kids and cats too. Just the Right Kind of Kids and Cats. The wrong kind can be gassed and blown up with the snap of the fingers.
To the person who posted earlier and mentioned Bush, Clinton, and Obama in the same sentence with Osama bin Laden in saying they were all tyrants and murderers... to mention the Presidents that way? I mean I didn't like Bush a whole lot, policy wise, but he was no way like Bin Laden, and neither was Clinton, and Obama is certainly not either.
That has to be the worst garbage I have ever seen from a poster in my lifetime. If you don't like America, or what she stands for Mr. Poster,... then you can get the hell out.
Bin Laden is now fish food----and we have more fish to feed!
We'll have to ban the eating of fish in that region for years.
I guess we won't need to "trot out the trophy pictures" now that Osama bin Laden has been offically delcared dead by his prayer group or was it his Sunday school class.......I forget d>^<b
They are sick Bastards
Bin Laden was filth. We should follow the President's lead and make him disappear. The only newstories about him should be about his death. Please stop telling us what his foolish followers believe or what they are saying. They unfortunately are the epitome of stupidity. I am thinking about all of his folowers who have blown themselves to smithereens for nothing. Many of them are children or young adults. Their minds have been co-opted by the son of Iblis Bin Laden. Thankfully he has been annihilated and we now need to go down the list of Al Qaeda hierarchy and eliminate them one by one. We need to look for these people in the towns and villas and near the seats of governments and at resorts. Remember that when Idi Amin fled Uganda he was harbored first by Libya and then by Saudi Arabia. Our Government must understand that we have no allies in the Middle East. They all give us a little because they need our money, our weapons and our power, but behind the scenes they are constantly stabbing us in the back. Verify and still don't trust anything that comes out of the Middle East.
And George W Bush was a compassionate bicyclist. vrrrooom