Bin Laden Questioned Inspire Magazine's Ethics
As intelligence analysts pore over the stash of documents recovered in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a picture of a "micro-manager" is beginning to emerge. For instance, he thought Joe Biden wasn't worth the time or effort to target, but authorized targeting the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other top military brass. But there's more!
Bin Laden apparently had a bone to pick with an article that appeared in Al Qaeda's English-language magazine, Inspire. ProPublica's Sebastian Rotella spoke with an intelligence official who had access to the documents:
The magazine, called Inspire, "apparently discussed using a tractor or farm vehicle in an attack outfitted with blades or swords as a fearsome killing machine," the official said. "Bin Laden said this is something he did not endorse. He seems taken aback. He complains that this tactical proposal promotes indiscriminate slaughter. He says he rejects this and it is not something that reflects what al Qaeda does."
Okay, besides the fact that bin Laden expressed his displeasure with "indiscriminate slaughter," which, well whatever, what about how fucking stupid that idea sounds? Hey! Watch out for that modified jihadi John Deere tractor equipped with swords that's heading this way at 10 miles per hour! We're still not convinced that Inspire isn't some stupid hoax by a few trenchcoat mafia school shooter types. Or, maybe this buffoon.
