A HUMAN FACE FOR AL-QAEDA

According to the Washington Post st before his death Osama Bin Laden was worried about his image and the image of al-Qaeda:-
‘A few months before Osama bin Laden’s death, Web sites linked to al-Qaeda ran excited commentary about a proposed new killing machine dubbed the “human lawn mower.” The idea was to attach rotating blades to the front of a pickup truck and drive the contraption into crowds. While some jihadists admired the idea, one graying veteran of the terrorist movement took a stand against it. That was bin Laden himself………….[he] drew the line at cutting down humans like weeds.’[1]

Well we all have standards to uphold. Further it seems that he felt that “attacks within Muslim countries were bad for their public image.”
He should not have been so concerned but should instead have turned to the growing PR industry operating out of the City of London. I am sure that any one of a number of companies would have been more than happy to take the account on, indeed some may have been attracted by the challenge.

http://nickcohen.net/2012/04/29/beware-pr-men-bearing-gifts/

Osama might have settled upon Portland Communications, set up by Tim Allan, a former aide to Tony Blair, which has just landed the contract for Kazakstan.[2]Though one wonders if Tony would have been quite the kind of front man for a promo video that Osama would have wanted, George Galloway possibly a more suitable option?


[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/bin-ladens-last-stand-in-final-months-terrorist-leader-worried-about-his-legacy/2012/04/30/gIQAStCjsT_story.html
[2] After he [Allan] landed the Kazakhstan contract, he had the pleasure of seeing his old master make a promotional video for the dictatorship. In the last decade, I argued that Blair should wear his enemies' charge that he was a "neocon" with some pride. Wanting to spread democracy was not such a crime. But that was then. Now Blair hymns the achievements of the Kazakh dictatorship, whose police arrest citizens for the crime of insulting the president, torture opposition activists and shoot striking oil workers.



Having visited this page I would be grateful for your feedback, either tick one of the boxes below or make a comment via the comments button.

Popular posts from this blog

NESRINE MALIK AND THE UNSUNG VIRTUES OF HYPOCRISY

Image
As I write this a 27 year old woman, Mariam Ibrahim, has just had a baby in a Sudanese prison, ‘the condition of the mother and baby is not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her. Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned.’ [1]   Mariam also has an 18 month old child who is also being held in prison with her. The ‘crime’ for which she is imprisoned is apostasy, for which she has received the death sentence. She has also been sentenced to 100 lashes, for the additional crime of having sex with her Christian husband. Although she has been a lifelong Christian her father was a Muslim, Sudanese sharia law forbids women to marry outside the Muslim faith, men needless to say can do as they please in these matters. Mariam Ibrahim and her husband.  Nineteen countries punish their citizens for apostasy, and in 12 of those countries
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH TOM VAGUE

Image
Tom Vague At the top end of All Saints Road there is a refuge, an enclave in which a local Bohemian culture retains a foothold, this is the Book & kitchen , a café/bookshop with adjoining terrace. Here the bustle of the nearby market gives way to conversation, conversation in the presence of images of the recent, and not so recent, past. The past of an area that has contributed so much to the life and culture of the city. I was there to meet local historian Mr Tom Vague a man intimately familiar with so much of this history. What Tom doesn’t know about the recent history of the area probably is not worth knowing. With Tom’s energy and effort Colville Community Forum, supported by City Living Local Life, recently held a gathering at The Book and Kitchen to celebrate this rich history. February 16 6-9 Pm, with Film Screening and Readings Exhibition February 16-26 2016. Featuring 30 Classic Westway Photographs and Posters. This represents one of a number of initiatives of t
Read more

LONDON BELONGS TO ME PART ONE

Image
. I. I have lived in London now just over thirty years, having moved here on 4 th July 1983 . I don’t know how long you normally have to wait to claim squatter’s rights but thirty years seems a good enough period to me. The glory of London is its parks and open spaces, you are rarely ever far away from a London park, common or heath. I am within fifteen minutes walk of Kensington Gardens or Holland Park , much closer to several smaller areas with grass and flowers and benches on which to sit, all maintained by Kensington and Chelsea council who also still believe in the value of trees. Those who would see what they call ‘the state’ shrink rarely mention such items in their calculations. What does it cost to maintain a tree? Too much by far for the likes of those right wing think tanks whom and I fear the phrase is soon likely to break under the strain under which it is now being placed, know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Holland Park is one of t
Read more