Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Bin Laden Humiliated

Winning hearts and mind is one thing. Winning territory and pacifying neighborhoods is also an important part of fighting a war.

As I have been at pains to point out, in psychological warfare it is also important to humiliate your opponents. In this case, Osama bin Laden. Links here and here and here.

Today, William Saletan makes a similar point in Slate:

In his words: “This is is why the leaks about Bin Laden's ‘porn stash’ are more than a joke. His sympathizers and potential followers are, by several measures, more categorically averse to pornography, adultery, and the mixing of men and women than they are to suicide bombing of civilian targets. If you want to sour these people on Bin Laden and his movement, calling him a terrorist won't cut it. You're better off portraying him as a hypocritical porn hound who lived in a million-dollar mansion, touched himself up for videos, and hid behind women when martyrdom called.” Link here.

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