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May 13th, 2011


Pornography Found in Bin Laden Hideout, Officials Say

Fairly extensive collection consists of modern, electronically recorded video

Reuters and NBC News via MSNBC.com
May 13, 2011

WASHINGTON — A stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the U.S. commandos who killed him, current and former U.S. officials said on Friday.

The pornography recovered in bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity. …

Specifically, the officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials. …

But a video released by the Obama administration confiscated from the compound showed bin Laden watching pictures of himself on a TV screen, indicating that the compound was equipped with video playback equipment. …

Three other U.S. officials familiar with evidence gathered during investigations of other Islamic militants said the discovery of pornography is not uncommon in such cases. …

 


Commentary

The discovery of pornography in Osama bin Laden’s possession is consistent with his psychological profile, which I developed at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics in the months following the attacks of 9/11 and presented in June 2002 at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology in Berlin.

According to the profile, Bin Laden, whom I classified as a “unprincipled narcissist,” did not fit the profile of the highly conscientious, closed-minded religious fundamentalist, nor that of the religious martyr who combines those qualities with devout, self-sacrificing features. Far from being a religious zealot, the profile suggests that Bin Laden — in Machiavellian fashion — was adept at exploiting Islamic fundamentalism in the service of his own burning ambition and personal dreams of glory.

Bin Laden’s personal psychology stands in stark contrast to that of his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, a true-believer “abrasive negativist” inclined to take the moral high ground, dogmatically and contemptuously expose their antagonists’ perceived hypocrisy, and contemptuously, derisively, and scornfully turn on those who cross their path.

Psychological Profiles of Terrorist Leaders

The Personality Profile of al-Qaida Leader Osama bin Laden. Paper presented by Aubrey Immelman at the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Berlin, Germany, July 16–19, 2002. Abstract and link for full-text (26 pages; PDF) download at Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/69/

“Bin Laden ’s Brain”: The Abrasively Negativistic Personality of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Paper presented by Aubrey Immelman and Kathryn Kuhlmann at the 26th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Boston, MA, July 6–9, 2003. Abstract and link for full-text (38 pages; PDF) download at Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/31/

The Personality Profile of September 11 Hijack Ringleader Mohamed Atta. Paper presented by Aubrey Immelman at the 25th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Berlin, Germany, July 16–19, 2002. Abstract and link for full-text (28 pages; PDF) download at Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/32/


 

Update: September 9, 2020

Was Osama bin Laden Sending Coded Messages in Porn?

The new National Geographic special “Bin Laden’s Hard Drive” analyzes the porn collection found in the slain terrorist’s compound — and presents a curious theory about the XXX stash.

By Nick Schager
The Daily Beast
September 6, 2020

Excerpts

[A]s forensic psychologist and CIA consultant Reid Meloy states, it could have just been that, for all his outward claims of humble, righteous piousness, bin Laden was a normal guy who occasionally wanted to get his rocks off, since “biology trumps ideology.” While conclusive answers on this subject aren’t forthcoming, there’s no doubt that this X-rated discovery speaks to bin Laden’s overarching hypocrisy, which quickly becomes the main takeaway from Bin Laden’s Hard Drive. At every turn, videos, media footage and correspondence found on the killer’s hard drives underline his two-faced nature.

For example, there’s much talk from experts and former comrades about bin Laden’s humility. A devout Muslim who allegedly spoke softly, loved and doted on his family, and condemned arrogance in his followers and compatriots, bin Laden affected an air of being an old-school prophet who was deferential before the Lord and the world. Yet as Bin Laden’s Hard Drive reveals, his computers also contained copious news reports and documentaries about himself, as well as multiple takes of prerecorded speeches in which he demanded perfection. For all his supposed modesty, he was a raging narcissist who obsessed about how he depicted himself, and was depicted — to the point that he carefully groomed his own image, replete with dying his beard to make himself appear more youthful.

 


 

Update: May 21, 2015

The bin Laden Library the U.S. Government Doesn’t Want You to See: The Porn Stash

By Adam Taylor
The Washington Post
May 20, 2015

Newly declassified documents from the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011 have revealed the late al-Qaeda leader’s remarkable English-language library, including books by Noam Chomsky, Bob Woodward and even 9/11 conspiracy theorist David Ray Griffin.

Yet the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which released the files on Wednesday, has not released all the material found in the compound. In fact, there’s a rather notorious stash that the U.S. government apparently doesn’t want you to see: a cache of pornography.

“We have no plans to release that at this point in time,” Brian Hale, a spokesman for the DNI, told the Telegraph’s Raf Sanchez. “Due to the nature of the content the decision was made not to release it.” The Guardian was also told that the pornographic material would not be released.

Reports that pornographic material was found in the compound were first published by the news agency Reuters on May 13, 2011, just weeks after a U.S. military raid on the site left the al-Qaeda leader dead. Unnamed officials told Reuters that the pornography was modern and the collection extensive. …

Full report

 


Related reports on this site

Bin Laden Watching Himself on TV (May 9, 2011)

Osama bin Laden Psychological Profile (May 2, 2011)

Osama bin Laden Dead (May 1, 2011)

Osama bin Laden Personality Profile (Dec. 6, 2009)





One Response to “Osama bin Laden’s Porn Stash”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Al-Qaida’s No. 2 Leader Killed in Obama Drone Strike Says:

    […] An “extensive” stash of pornography was among the items seized when U.S. Navy SEALs raided Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout. […]

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