Now that Obama has decided not to release photos evidencing the fall of Osama bin Laden, the ever tricksy al-Qaeda has another option than merely heroizing the “martyred” OBL: insist on the contrary—that he never died, that it’s just another infidel conspiracy theory to demoralize the umma, etc., etc.—perhaps even circulate a previously taped video or audio of OBL. If so, the administration would do well to realize that conspiracy theories are not the sole domain of the Middle East, and may very well spread—a lesson Obama should’ve learned from his birth certificate fiasco.
What to do…what to do...?
Raymond Ibrahim, an expert in Islamic history and doctrine, is author of Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West (2018); Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013); and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). He has appeared on C-SPAN, Al-Jazeera, CNN, NPR, and PBS, and been published by the New York Times Syndicate, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Weekly Standard, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst. Formerly an Arabic linguist at the Library of Congress, Ibrahim has guest lectured at many universities, including the U.S. Army War College, briefed governmental agencies such as U.S. Strategic Command, and testified before Congress. He has been a visiting fellow/scholar at a variety of Institutes—from the Hoover Institution to the National Intelligence University—and is currently a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Friedman Rosen Fellow at the Middle East Forum, and a Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute. His full biography is available here. Follow Raymond at Twitter and Facebook.
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