Seen above, the Pentagon has released home videos of Osama bin Laden that it attained during the Navy Seal raid that killed the terrorist leader.

Most revelatory:

He loved watching videos of himself on TV. Yes, he was that guy.

“Guys guys, check out this part…..WHAMMO, hahahahaaha! Right in the face of the [...]]]>

Seen above, the Pentagon has released home videos of Osama bin Laden that it attained during the Navy Seal raid that killed the terrorist leader.

Most revelatory:

He loved watching videos of himself on TV. Yes, he was that guy.

“Guys guys, check out this part…..WHAMMO, hahahahaaha! Right in the face of the infidels! Heh! Guys, HEY, guys, watch this! Are you watching? Shhhh, listen…YOWZA! Ouch, that one’s gotta hit close to home! Oh man, Allah Ackbar. Guys, watch this part…”

Totally deserved it.

All joking aside: I think it does reveal a bit of what’s not talked about, which is that despite insistence that the movement was to re-establish an Islamic caliphate to rule over the region, there was no shortage of ego and cult of personality behind Bin Laden’s efforts and the following he attained.

Like so many before him, he had charisma. Pundits and journalists mistake his soft speech and thoughtful pauses for a lack of it, but that’s misleading. It was a different type of charisma that Bin Laden exuded which gave him the appearance of a thoughtful, reflective holy man. Charisma is not exclusive to extravagance and pounding your fist on the podium during oratorical rants.

Like Carlos the Jackal and so many other terrorists before him, the more involved he became in the movement the less it became about the actual movement itself, creating a level of self-deification owing either to egomaniacal delusion or outright insincerity. This does not mean we should not examine the means and the cause. Rather, no matter who or where we are, caution should always be exercised when a man becomes bigger than the movement he propogates.

This is what fundamentalism in all its forms always, inevitably, breeds.