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Bin Laden's 'porn' more damning than his terrorism?
In the two weeks since Navy SEALs killed Osama Bin Laden, U.S. officials have waged a curious campaign to belittle him. First they implied that he had used a woman as a human shield. Then they released videos suggesting that he had dyed his beard to look younger. Then they said they'd found pornography in his compound.
The smear campaign seems ridiculous. Bin Laden was a mass murderer. Why bother calling him a sissy and a voyeur?
Because it troubles his potential sympathizers, that's why. They're more upset by porn and hiding behind women than by suicide bombing.
In politics, there are lots of arguments you can make against an opponent. The trick is to choose the argument that works best with your target audience. If you're a Democrat, and you're trying to pry conservative voters away from your Republican rival, you don't moan about him cutting programs for the poor. You go after him for evading military service.
The same rule applies to Bin Laden. For years, we denounced him as a purveyor of indiscriminate violence. Everyone in the world has heard this message. Millions have abandoned him. But millions more remain unpersuaded. These residual sympathizers need to hear a different argument.
This is why the leaks about Bin Laden's "porn stash" are more than a joke. His sympathizers and potential followers are, by several measures, more categorically averse to pornography, adultery, and the mixing of men and women than they are to suicide bombing of civilian targets. If you want to sour these people on Bin Laden and his movement, calling him a terrorist won't cut it. You're better off portraying him as a hypocritical porn hound who lived in a million-dollar mansion, touched himself up for videos, and hid behind women when martyrdom called.
The porn story, like the human shields and the million-dollar mansion, is probably bogus. The 54-year-old zealot with three wives was the least likely guy in the compound to be watching erotic videos. Logically, the story makes no sense. But politically, it's perfect.
In the two weeks since Navy SEALs killed Osama Bin Laden, U.S. officials have waged a curious campaign to belittle him. First they implied that he had used a woman as a human shield. Then they released videos suggesting that he had dyed his beard to look younger. Then they said they'd found pornography in his compound.
The smear campaign seems ridiculous. Bin Laden was a mass murderer. Why bother calling him a sissy and a voyeur?
Because it troubles his potential sympathizers, that's why. They're more upset by porn and hiding behind women than by suicide bombing.
In politics, there are lots of arguments you can make against an opponent. The trick is to choose the argument that works best with your target audience. If you're a Democrat, and you're trying to pry conservative voters away from your Republican rival, you don't moan about him cutting programs for the poor. You go after him for evading military service.
The same rule applies to Bin Laden. For years, we denounced him as a purveyor of indiscriminate violence. Everyone in the world has heard this message. Millions have abandoned him. But millions more remain unpersuaded. These residual sympathizers need to hear a different argument.
This is why the leaks about Bin Laden's "porn stash" are more than a joke. His sympathizers and potential followers are, by several measures, more categorically averse to pornography, adultery, and the mixing of men and women than they are to suicide bombing of civilian targets. If you want to sour these people on Bin Laden and his movement, calling him a terrorist won't cut it. You're better off portraying him as a hypocritical porn hound who lived in a million-dollar mansion, touched himself up for videos, and hid behind women when martyrdom called.
The porn story, like the human shields and the million-dollar mansion, is probably bogus. The 54-year-old zealot with three wives was the least likely guy in the compound to be watching erotic videos. Logically, the story makes no sense. But politically, it's perfect.
