Mahdi Mohammed Ahmed, "Did someome says cut his head off?"
Chinese Gordon
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| Terror Networks |
| Meanwhile: The curious case of the severed head |
| 2007-04-04 |
| Dr. Watson, late of Baker Street, and having himself served in Afghanistan, would have appreciated what he undoubtedly would have called: The Curious Case of the Severed Afghan Head. When the green metal box first arrived in Washington from Kabul, allegedly bearing the skull of Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant, President George W. Bush is said to have said, only half in jest: "So if it turns out to be Zawahiri's head, I hope you will bring it here." Afghan tribal chiefs had sent what they believed to be the skull of Ayman al-Zawahiri in hope of collecting a $25 million reward. The Americans, needing proof, asked Egypt for a DNA sample from Zawahiri's brother, whom the Egyptians were holding. According to Ron Suskind's account, in his "The One Percent Doctrine," the Egyptians offered to cut off the brother's arm and send it to CIA. Just a vial of blood will do, said a stammering CIA man. The severed head turned out not to be Zawahiri's, and the skull was shipped to a warehouse in New York's Staten Island, according to Suskind. George Tenet, CIA director, got to keep the tin box it came in. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #12 T.W. - one may learn so much here at the 'Burg! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-04 17:26 |
| #11 Fascinating drawing of the Mahdi. The head shows what at the time were considered markers of the superior race of humans: high forehead (room for more brains), a high bridged, narrow nostrilled nose, the plane of the face at close to 90 degrees to the jaw, a strong chin... Except for his colouration and costume, the Mahdi is drawn as an Englishman. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-04-04 14:26 |
| #10 A very LARGE warehouse with all kinds of strange things in it. Is that where they burned the sled? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-04 13:16 |
| #9 Actually a few days before Gordon's death they attacked a British column and were clubbed without machine guns. Just proper reconnaissance (for avoidibg ambush) and discipline (for proper salvos and holding formation) was all what was needed. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-04-04 12:25 |
| #8 The Mahdists massacred Hicks Pasha's Egyptian army of nearly 10,000 almost to a man in 1885. The loot included the Remington rolling-block rifles with which the hapless Egyptians had been armed and millions of rounds of ammunition. They attacked Kitchener's force with the same wild tactics 13 years later, apparently not having heard of the Maxim machine gun or quick-firing artillery in the meantime. In many ways, it was the high noon of Imperial Britain and a lesson for young Winston Churchill that he never forgot. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2007-04-04 10:47 |
| #7 The alarmed British sent one of imperialism's best soldiers, General Charles Gordon, to Khartoum with instructions to evacuate the Sudanese capital. They were British soldiers, not soldiers of imperialism. Yet another Leninist screed in a supposed quality newspaper. My favorite bit of "The River War" is when Churchill describes gunboats opening up on the mosque at Omdourman before the British set about scything down 11000 jihadis. These days those sort of "holy site" would be off limits. The Victorians were much more clear eyed than we are. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-04-04 10:05 |
| #6 and the skull was shipped to a warehouse in New York's Staten Island, A very LARGE warehouse with all kinds of strange things in it. Like this one strange crate with a bunch of Nazi symbols on it and there was this strangely ominous humming sound coming from it. All very STRANGE! |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2007-04-04 09:29 |
| #5 Just a vial of blood will do, said a stammering CIA man. Throwing in that English 101 crap lessens the believability of the rest of the story. Who'd they send? Valerie Plame? The Egyptian intel guys don't live in mud huts, like them all the time or not. They're as capable of making a joke as we are. And somebody approaching the caliber of Mike Spann wouldn't have come down with the vapors at the thought. |
| Posted by: Fred 2007-04-04 08:43 |
| #4 I think someone should complain to the head man. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-04-04 05:53 |
| #3 Meanwhile: The curious case of the severed head Mahdi Mohammed Ahmed, "Did someome says cut his head off?" Chinese Gordon |
| Posted by: Mahdi Mohammed Ahmed 2007-04-04 03:48 |
| #2 Maybe that explains the tribal fighting in Wazoo. They just got the return snail mail from Washington. "Send more heads, we'll take a look" |
| Posted by: Flolumble Elmuling1667 2007-04-04 02:29 |
| #1 the Egyptians offered to cut off the brother's arm and send it to CIA. Just a vial of blood will do, said a stammering CIA man Opportunity lost thanks to a slow-witted CIA man. :-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-04 02:26 |