Osama and the News

There are many things I’m interested in about the raid that captured and killed Osama bin Laden, of course. And there’s a lot more I’d like to hear that I haven’t heard yet, such as:

  • What’s learned from the 100+ “storage devices” in the house in which Osama lived. (This sounded very excessive, until I realized that they were individually counting not just hard drives, but CDs and thumb drives. I probably have considerably more media in my apartment.)
  • How Osama and other operatives communicated. Did they use encryption? What sort? What type of computers did they use? What operating system? Were their computers infected with any sort of malware? Did they have the latest security patches applied? What non-terrorist-related things did they have installed? Games? Music?
  • Video from the raid. It sounds like many bits of video were recorded, though I’m sure they’ll never see the light of day. But it would be most interesting to watch, even if the more graphic parts were omitted.
  • More about the helicopter that was blown up after it crashed, and the reason it crashed. (And the reason so many helicopters crash in general?)

But here are some things that I absolutely, positively do not want to hear about any further:

  • How other people are reacting to the news. My sympathies are certainly with the families of those who died on 9/11, and those who were injured, but having a camera shoved in their face and asking them to tell us how they feel seems voyeuristic and disrespectful.
  • Peoples’ opinions about whether the photos of bin Laden’s corpse should be released, whether they’re random people on the street, Presidential hopefuls, or “experts” of any sort. Their opinions don’t change anything.
  • Whether or not waterboarding was tangentially related to the capture of bin Laden.

2 thoughts on “Osama and the News

  1. One of the press spokesmen for the CIA or military said something to the effect of, “This all began with a phone call from bin Laden’s trusted courier. That’s where the movie starts.”

    And it occurred to me that it would actually be a pretty good way to start the movie.

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