From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Mon Sep 17 2001 - 12:04:36 MDT
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Louis Newstrom wrote:
>
> > >
> > > So
> > > making a fake picture of Bin Laden might actually be a serious offence
> > > for the moment in the US!
>
> > I've never heard of this. Please explain.
> >
>
> You might mislead our allies as well as our enemies. Any faked picture that
> is good enough to fool our enemies will also fool our friends. A private
> citizen does not know what the government knows, and does not know how their
> "fake" photograph is going to mislead their own side.
>
> As an example, say you paste your girlfriend into the arms of bin Laden.
> What do you do when the CIA finds out who she is and wastes time and
> resources questioning her about her involvement with bin Laden. Even though
> they will eventually find out the truth, you have wasted resources that
> could have been used tracking down real threats.
This is a possibility, but not something that would be a criminal act.
If the CIA wastes resources on it, it is due to their own stupidity. I
don't think you appreciate how such psychwar works.
Whether the followers of bin Laden believe it is the truth or not is
immaterial. If they are absolutely sure it is false, that makes it an
even stronger psych weapon agianst bin Laden. In arab culture, there is
a VERY strong thing about personal and family honor, far stronger than,
say, the 'machismo' of Latin Americans.
For example, if you are an arab in most arab cultures, and your sister
or daughter has premarital sex, or in some cases just marries someone
who is not approved by her parents, it is generally seen as your
honorable duty to kill her. Similarly, making fraudulent accusations
about a person like those we are talking about puts a significant burden
on the accused person to seek retribution. It is like a challenge to a
duel. All of the persons associates who are aware of the challenge to
the person are watching him to see what his response to the challenge
is. If you do not properly respond to a challenge like this, you lose
face and respect among your peers. Your 'virtus' to lead is therefore
suspect.
Making claims about the behavior of bin Laden with the behavior of the
'decadent' Saudis is not a correct way to look at things. To the eyes of
bin Laden and his associates, the many Mercedes in the desert of Saudis
getting it on and getting drunk are signs of the depraved western
corruption of Islam.
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