newsweek.com — Osama Bin Laden, whose strict Islamist worldview proscribes music, women’s education, gambling, drinking, homosexuality, and the shaving of beards, is a fan of the game, and his preferred position is center forward. He is one of the many jihadists who worship the world’s most popular sport. “It’s on the whole their favorite thing after jihad."
Jul 6, 2010 View in Crawl 4
jameslowellJul 7, 2010
Its the only way to get a bevy of virgins other than blowing yourself up
pitchblack16Jul 7, 2010
Thats, ummm, good to know.
onlyscJul 7, 2010
i bet the vuvuzela thing was there idea.
eatingtheroadJul 7, 2010
Damn...you're right!
david90mJul 7, 2010
Scapegoat?
richmomzJul 7, 2010
f**king terrorists and their vuvuzelas...
mikejgrantJul 8, 2010
HA!!!!! brilliant comment.
nightcrawlerxJul 7, 2010
Who doesn't like watching people fake an injury?
dirtyfriesJul 7, 2010
Because killing innocent people is the ultimate pussy move.
wilf_brimJul 7, 2010
Jihadists don't love the World Cup, the point of the article is that UBL liked to play soccer and used it as a recruiting tool. The Madrid and London bombers played together, probably before they started plotting.
donquixotexJul 7, 2010
OBL? really? when did we start using Osama Bin Laden's initials to refer to him? I can't tell exactly what rubs me the wrong way about that, but maybe it has something to do with the familiarity initials bring with it and the way it almost tones down the evil associated with it. Reminds me of how "Weapons of Mass Destruction" were reduced to "WMD"s...something about it seemed to make it from ominous to almost comical (interesting side thought: JK Rowling's "voldemort vs. he who must not be named" issue could be a form of criticism of this) . I don't know, I understand why people do this, but I have to say, it's weird. sorry for the rant and it's nothing against you wilf_brim, just an observation.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
solkreJul 7, 2010
STFU
akairennJul 7, 2010
"but maybe it has something to do with the familiarity initials bring with it and the way it almost tones down the evil associated with it. "
Sooner or later, all children get over their fear of the boogeyman.
dalhectarJul 8, 2010
Welcome to the internet. We concatenate and abbreviate everyt
donquixotexJul 9, 2010
@solkre, thanks for contributing to the reason digg everyday continues to de-evolve into comments from a bunch of headless chickens...
@Akairenn, I agree, and i think that it is a positive thing (we shouldn't fear atomic douchebags like bin laden), but it's about the desensitization. a subtle, but important difference (although almost inseparable, it is necessary to understand or at least be aware of it). by using initials, it's like giving a nickname, almost a way of baby'ing it (at least, in my experience). I mean, nobody goes around saying AH, BM or JS to describe adolf hitler, benito mussolini, or josef stalin, some of the most deranged people to have walked the earth.
@dalhectar touche, and you're right, i'm bored and probably overthinking it...
novenatorJul 7, 2010
wtf?!
wombleslayerJul 7, 2010
Best. Title. EVER.
metaliqJul 7, 2010
Why isn't Osama Bin Laden dead yet?
appleseed1234Jul 7, 2010
The better question would be why do people think he's still alive?
metaliqJul 7, 2010
Because he is a fan of the game, and his preferred position is center forward.
sil369Jul 7, 2010
he's immortal
solkreJul 7, 2010
Because he's a sparkly vampire.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
He is dead, and has been for years. Why do you think we're not really putting resources towards looking for him?
He needed to get dialysis and was traveling from cave to cave in Afghanistan.
Do you know what kind of supply structure you need to do dialysis? You need constant shipments of medical supplies and a sterile environment. Not the kind of thing you get in a cave.
cygnus2112Jul 7, 2010
I seriously doubt he's in a cave. That's just been tossed around as tongue-in-cheek. The AQ structure is still supported by the local populace in Waziristan and groups aligned in Islamabad and other surrounding cities. Bin Laden and Zawahiri are most likely in a building/structure of some sort, possibly in a basement to reduce the likelihood of death from a bomb. Many towns/villages in North Waziristan (Damadoula, etc) can provide cover and have the basic essentials for medical care, if needed.
The whole dialysis thing? I think that's Black Ops propaganda, to be honest. There's never been proof of Bin Laden's failing medical condition, besides spurious anonymous reports.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
cygnus2112Jul 7, 2010
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2007/09/09/2007-09-09_bin_laden_likely_lives_in_comfy_safehous-2.html
"Osama Bin Laden isn't hiding in caves. He's almost certainly living in a cozy compound in Pakistan guarded by a few loyal fanatics, a dozen terror experts and intel officials told the Daily News.
The group of veteran Bin Laden hunters say the cave-dwelling myth is one of many tall tales about the Al Qaeda kingpin, including reports that the renegade Saudi is dying of kidney disease."
...
""He's probably not living in a cave," said Robert Grenier, the ex-CIA Pakistan station chief who helped topple the Taliban after 9/11 and chased Bin Laden afterward.
"He's probably living in a fairly comfortable, though Spartan, compound somewhere in northern Pakistan," Grenier said.
All of those interviewed by The News - including several top intelligence officials with the highest security clearances - agreed.
President Bush and Vice President Cheney long perpetuated the legend that Bin Laden was living in a cave to support their claims the terror mastermind had been neutralized.
"Look, it's hard to plan, plot and attack if you're running or hiding in a cave," Bush said at a GOP fund-raiser last October.
The White House finally stopped using the cave-dwelling myth after that.
Paul Pillar, the CIA's top counterterrorism analyst until 2005, said, "I think 'cave' has become a metaphor."
delphium226Jul 7, 2010
@lolwatermelon
Congrats on repeating a myth with no basis in reality. Now, about Santa...
Closed AccountJul 8, 2010
If he was alive we'd have found him. And also, the videos he's released? Proven to not be him.
delphium226Jul 8, 2010
Cool story bro
isuzu14bJul 7, 2010
Because the military industrial complex needs any justification it can get to s**tting away taxpayer money.
noangelcameJul 7, 2010
Bingo
noangelcameJul 7, 2010
What other villain in history could get away with making barely one announcement a year if that,. and the last time he was seen on video was years and years ago and even then its always grainy footage. This villain succeeds in one of the most insane attack that practically vaporizes two of the worlds tallest skyscrapers,. then for a decade after that,. he can't even lead his army of terrorists to properly set off a bomb stashed away in their shoes or underwear even though they all supposedly went to terrorist training camps. Yet, somehow the US can't defeat these incompetent half-wits in the longest war this country has ever been in.
superpowerfaceJul 7, 2010
Yeah why can't we just carpet bomb those goddamned towelheads anyway they're not any use to anyone just hanging around having sex and making more little terrorists to attack our great country with. The fact is, our new president and his socialist agenda just aren't good enough for the war on terror now McCain there's a real American he would have got Osama by now and strung him up by his bootlaces.
ttebrocJul 8, 2010
Cause they need him to help brain wash inbreed Americans still. PS he is dead.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
another reason soccer sucks
fleischnerJul 7, 2010
Beat me to it.
appleseed1234Jul 7, 2010
You know who else ate breakfast every morning? Hitler.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
OH S**T
clonedJul 7, 2010
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1335#comic
eaziiJul 7, 2010
good thing I don't eat breakfast.
random314Jul 7, 2010
You don't know that.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
Eazii: Hitler also loved oxygen.
themachine1Jul 7, 2010
They should field a team.
ihavebeenseenJul 7, 2010
Is this an onion piece?
richmomzJul 7, 2010
Close - it's Newsweek.
dalittleJul 7, 2010
Timothy McVeigh loved to play american football and baseball. Guess we will have to ban them, because anytime anyone bad likes something it must be bad.
ousthouseJul 7, 2010
Where is banning soccer discussed?
dieindiggJul 7, 2010
Curious why you would bring up Timothy McVeigh
dalittleJul 7, 2010
terrorist just like bin laden.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
dalittle....brain???
norman619Jul 7, 2010
Osama is the Jihadist's version of Elvis. The man is dead yet people claim to still see him.
capn1timeJul 7, 2010
Or tupac.. I mean the guys been dead for a while yet he's still putting out new material!
norman619Jul 8, 2010
No s**t.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KvLZ3gdBhw
bombulaJul 7, 2010
Would be fun to see them get obliterated by the US women's national soccer team...
skippydoorknobJul 7, 2010
Made up entirely of Jewish women.
quietsykoJul 7, 2010
If this is true then maybe we can end the war on terror with a good old-fashioned penalty shoot out.
tman84Jul 7, 2010
I don't want the fate of the free world resting on the US National Team
realcoolguy9022Jul 7, 2010
We just need more of those cat gut parasites floating around here and we'll be golden!
http://digg.com/d31Vgww
richmomzJul 7, 2010
We've been in an overtime penalty shoot-out for almost 10 years now. I just wish a ref would call the game and let everyone go home.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
as much as i enjoyed playing soccer rowing up i haven't been able to stomach much of the world cup.
these players are a bunch of injury faking pussies. quit rolling around on the ground like you're hurt (then magically get up a few seconds later like nothng happend) and play the f**king game.
add to that the terrible ref's and calls they have made this world cup has been pure horse s**t.
oh yeah, i could care less what OBL likes......Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
Don't forget that one of the arguments that soccer fans have against American football is that our guys wear pads to not get hurt. While soccer players don't wear pads, but fall down and pretend to get hurt if a leaf flutters near them.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
well they do wear shin guards.
also the average soccer player is 185 pounds where the average football player is 255 pounds.
i've played both sports and soccer is, by far, the "softer" sport.
thahmzJul 7, 2010
I'm from northern Somalia, from a town called Hargeisa, well my parents are. I was born in Finland but still, I'm proud that we have democracy, women can drive, people watch football all they want.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
Are you a bank employee trying to find an American associate to help you move $120,000,000 million dollars USD?
dieindiggJul 7, 2010
nice
mrmaybebannedJul 7, 2010
That's the spirit.. fight for your right to waste time! You'll get far in life.
tertiniJul 7, 2010
I'm South African and how the f**k did they get to Finland. Goddamn asylum seekers taking all the good space.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
American sour grapes.
The US loses at soccer. Therefore soccer is evil.
If the US won the world cup, then soccer would be the most
important thing in the world, a beacon of freedom and democracy blah blah etc.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
lantzaJul 7, 2010
Actually most fans of the sport were pleasantly surprised at the US team's performance.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
As was I, but the insular geo-ignorant right wingers are suspicious of soccer for some reason. They can't seem to understand why they are not "# 1", so seek to diminish the importance of the sport.
The US team is always better than the sum of its parts. No superstars but always 100% commitment and effort and are no longer considered one of the easier teams to play.
craigreedJul 7, 2010
Surprised they made it to the round of 16? It's not uncommon for the US team to get that far in the word cup.
They should have gone as far as the semi finals at least.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
If the US won the World Cup nothing would change amongst Americans. This is the primary reason that the rest of the world tends to be a little disappointed when the American team has so much success. They believe there is something to be said about what it means to an entire nation and that nations that want it more, respect it more, should deserve it more.
That's not saying that the US side didn't earn tons of respect in South Africa, though.
peters1023Jul 7, 2010
"That's not saying that the US side didn't earn tons of respect in South Africa, though."
Contradictory to your first statement. Also this year's US team broke records in terms of # of viewers.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
Actually, most of America doesn't give half a wet fart about Soccer. Didn't before the World Cup, still don't after it.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
Actually, that was my point.
peters1023Jul 7, 2010
Wrong,
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rising+soccer+popularity+in+america&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
Let me google that for you.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
You claimed we'd care if the US team had won. You're still wrong.
nhykJul 7, 2010
amen to that.
gokingsJul 7, 2010
I could have sworn this was an ONION article.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
bin Laden is also a notorious Arsenal fan.
And so am I. And so are many other of the nicest people in the world and so are many other creeps and villains.
It's just sports, though. There's nothing to link beyond that.
nicko68Jul 7, 2010
"Bin Laden—whose strict Islamist worldview proscribes music, ***women’s education***, gambling, drinking, homosexuality, and the shaving of beards—is a fan of the game"
Finally, something I can get behind. I bet THEIR women have no problems staying in the kitchen. :)Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
fury420Jul 7, 2010
you are assuming of course that the cave they are living in actually HAS a kitchen... big mistake
thetruthbringerJul 7, 2010
Could be worse. He could be a Rangers fan.
isuzu14bJul 7, 2010
Why on earth is this trash in Newsweek?
dynamojoeJul 7, 2010
They must need readers.
Closed AccountJul 7, 2010
The American news media are so bad it's depressing.
arthasmenethilJul 7, 2010
As an American, I cannot stand any of our news outlets these days. I consider myself moderate/slightly right leaning but I hate FOX, I hate the NYTimes, I hate Newsweek, CNN, MSNBC, etc. etc.
Lately, I've taken a liking to BBC news. I'm sure Brits have their gripes with the BBC but I find them to be pretty good at reporting just the facts and injecting little opinion -- at least into American news stories. I just cannot read about American/domestic politics from a domestic media outlet any more, the bias is so bad.
Wall Street Journal (for business news only) is about the only publication I can even tolerate reading, and even then, some republican bias.
tdalton612Jul 7, 2010
Just another reason for Americans to not give a s**t about soccer.
itwasonlyajokeJul 7, 2010
Wow, I was so expecting to click on an Onion article... but it wasn't!
frshhhJul 7, 2010
As if proof were needed that this was a pathetic chunk of non-journalism - this can be found at the end of the piece:
"Correction (July 6, 2010): This article originally said that Somali soccer fans were accosted watching a World Cup match between Mexico and Iran. The Islamic Republic [of Iran] did not qualify for the tournament. Newsweek regrets the error."
So just how much of it was made up?
BURIED!
mrtuJul 8, 2010
It's so obvious: 'cause Americans hate it.
ttebrocJul 8, 2010
Soccor is number 1, cause we can only play Jihad once. :p
rxbudianJul 8, 2010
I'm quite sure that the Jihadists would also love the Superbowl if they can use it for their recruiting tool.
I have the impression that the article tries to build a relationship between soccer and terrorism but anyone who have taken a few stats classes can probably conclude that the connection is quite weak.
it's like saying that some people who played college football together will end up being in the army in the same unit, or end up being lawyers in the same firm. Knowing that they played football or soccer and hang out together afterwards cannot predict that group of people will end up being in the army or being a terrorist much less in the same group. The only connection that anyone can make is that if one member of the group is in the army or being a terrorist, there is a better chance of the others in the group are also in it too. That means you have to have proof that one of them is.
As for soccer being the sport for recruiting terrorists, I would think this is about the same tactics the Army recruiter does to get people to join the army. The only difference is the team sport and the number of teams that they can recruit from.