Bin Laden's black beard baffles U.S. intelligence

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials studying Osama bin Laden's videotape released last week said on Monday they were baffled by his new black beard.

"We don't know if it's dyed and trimmed, or real, but that's one of the things we are looking at," Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell told a Senate committee hearing. "The last time he appeared it was very different."

...

The beard has also mystified private analysts, who said bin Laden may be trying to enhance his image as a leader or who simply called it bizarre. M.J. Gohel of the Asia-Pacific Foundation said bin Laden looked "vain and ridiculous."

"It does not fit with the image he has so carefully nurtured, the masquerade of his being a holy warrior devoid of normal human traits," he said.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N10336082.htm

---

:eyes:

[Christa]

1. Yeah

because it's a BS old tape we are being fed.

[saigon68]

42. SHOULD READ Bin Laden's whereabouts baffles U.S. intelligence

The old game of WHACK A MOLE

[KeepItReal]

56. Roger that.

<eom>

[AndyA]

2. I guess only his hairdresser knows for sure.

Anyone calling Miss Clairol?

:rofl:

[barb162]

8. Since nobody goes from grey to black, I'm just saying he's vain. n/t

[budibudinski]

3. Grecian Formula # 5

OR the photoshop artist did it to confuse the US Super Duper Intelligence Committee.

[IsItJustMe]

45. Or maybe the US Super Duper Intelligence Committee did it to co fuse us.

[leQ]

4. any fool knows it's called henna. (eom)

[JDPriestly]

17. Henna colors things redder. This beard is blacker.

[uberblonde]

25. Henna comes in several colors...

Including black.

[Ecumenist]

38. WEcome to DU...UberBlonde...

:hi: Right glad to have ya. I have to correct you in the henna thing. I have been using henna for years, genuine henna and there is no such thing as henna that dyes black. INDIGO can be blended with certain hennas to achieve a black colour but henna NEVER dyes black...NEVER In addition, if a person that is using indigo and henna to achieve a black colour isn't careful, they can end up with a definitely and unmistakable blue hair colour.

[King Coal]

39. You're thinking of roosters. Many hens are black, brown, or spotted even.

[Ecumenist]

46. WHAT THE HEEZY??!! What are you talking about?

I was replying to Uber Blonde about the the colours of Natural HENNA, nothing to do with chickens, hens or roosters...:shrug:

[King Coal]

72. You mean "henna" is not the plural of "hens"?

It was a joke, mon.

[Ecumenist]

84. NOo, LOL!!! I thought that you were answering the wrong post and I was as

confused as a poor flea in a dog pound!:hi:

[Patchuli]

49. Yeah, it's green gunk

I got it on the ceiling and the walls and boy oh boy did my hair turn BLACK! :wow:

[JDPriestly]

62. Henna is NOT black.

http://www.hennapage.com/henna/ppd/whatisppd.html

Para-phenylenediamine "Black Henna"can harm you

Apparently there is something called black henna, but it isn't really henna.

[Major Hogwash]

81. Lucille Ball dyed her hair using a henna-based hair product, and her hair wasn't black!

But, I guess they didn't realize that we would remember the First Lady of Comedy was not a natural redhead!

So, you're absolutely correct, henna doesn't turn hair black.

[LisaM]

5. Maybe he was REE-jected by the blonde in the bar

From that crazy commercial with Keith Hernandez and Walt Frazier.

[Captain Hilts]

7. You JUST beat me, LisaM! nt

[Captain Hilts]

6. He saw the Keith Hernandez/Walt Frazer tv ad...reee-jected!!!! nt

[El Supremo]

10. No play for Mister Gray!

Someone else said this and I haven't stopped laughing.

BTW, I think that add is sooo bad. Although it may have something to do with me can't standing Keith Hernandez.

[LisaM]

14. Well, the ad is bad enough, but what about the woman in it?

Is she really fooled when the same guy comes back ten minutes later with a dark black beard?

[Sheltiemama]

54. I hate that ad.

I had no idea those were real sports broadcasters, and I still hate it. I changed the channel or mute the TV when it comes on. Though "Osama's" beard certainly has put a new spin on it.

[Moochy]

86. That'd be a great SNL skit

put the announcer stand inside a cave complex in pakistan... :+

[CriesInTheStreets]

34. "REE-jected"

'chuckle'

[ryanmuegge]

77. Must have gotten tired of being rejected by Miss Hottie.

[FreakinDJ]

9. Plausible Deny ability

Looking more and more to be faked by Republican sympathizers

[slowry]

41. deniability :P? n/t

[SayWhatYo]

51. denial aptitude?

[melody]

63. Coinage made long ago in the Intelligence community

Shakespeare invented words ... why can't everyone else?

[MADem]

11. Well, gray sometimes implies frailty in a strongman out that way.

Examples--Saddam, Mubarak, Assad the Daddy. Each dawn they dyed!!!

Other explanations, other than the "Just For Men" references, could be

1. Old tape, before he went gray--though I don't think so--check out the thobe--it looks like the same number in the "debate tape." Maybe he did two versions of that tape, one with dye, the other without...and this is the "with dye" version?

2. Maybe some idiot digitally 'colored' the beard to make him look less frail and did a shitty job.

3. It ain't him--it's his brother, Freddy Bin Ladin, who looks enough like him to fool pretty much anyone...AND he can imitate Big Bro Usama brilliantly!

[BeFree]

16. #3

It ain't him. Not even a good imitation.

[hisownpetard]

30. Right. Saddam - somewhere between the spider-hole and the trial - went

from frumpy grey to potent black, if I recall.

[Up2Late]

12. "...don't know if it's dyed and trimmed, or real..." Oh Brother! The whole tape is FAKE!!!

...not just the beard! It's the same fake, low Resolution, Robot bin Laden video from just before 2004 election, just re-edited.

[MADem]

22. The 'debate thobe' -- it appears in this version as well. NT

[Up2Late]

52. Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by 'debate thobe'...

...what does that refer too?

[MADem]

69. A thobe is the classic outfit--the white dress and (in Osama's case)

golden over-robe.

[Greyskye]

13. This was discussed last week.

I thought it was accepted that gray hair/beards was a sign of weakness in that culture. In order to project strength, you have a dark beard.

WTH is so hard to understand about that?

[frylock]

43. he didn't ever seem to care about his greying beard before..

why all of the sudden a need to project strength through hair dye? That's WTH is so hard to understand.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I don't believe for a GD minute that it's UBL in that tape.

[riona]

15. Some highlights and lowlights would have been nice

[Mz Pip]

18. Too bad he didn't

punk it up with some purple and blue streaks. That would have really weirded out our Intelligence.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Patchuli]

50. Thanks for that laugh!

:rofl:

[frankf]

19. He looks healthier too

I think it is a younger OBL video that they have used and had him speak a newly written speech by modifying the video. It isn't just his hair, he actually looks a bit younger and healthier.

[spinbaby]

21. I think so, too

Or maybe he just got a good dye job and a brow lift. Maybe a bit of botox.

And welcome to DU!:hi:

[kickysnana]

20. What doesn't baffle US Intelligence? (large I) n/t

[NV Whino]

23. US Intelligence

(cap I) is an oxymoron. (Whereas, the Commander in Chief is a simple moron.)

[aquart]

24. Who cares?

Why are we wasting time on this creep? We have no intention of dislodging him from his happy home among our loyal allies, the Pakistanis, so wtf are we bothering with this crap?

[blayne]

26. Maybe he has shaved or otherwise altered his beard

as a disguise. It is the salt and pepper beard that makes him more identifiable. Trying to match it back to the old style might have been to difficult, so they just went with all black.

[ejbr]

27. After 6 years without catching him

we are supposed to be surprised that they cannot figure out a dye job?

[xchrom]

29. lol -- yeah -- the status quo intelligence seems baffled by the fact

that al qaida isn't as stupid as they keep trying to make them out to be.

[dipsydoodle]

28. Probably just to convey

he doesn't approve of the boys using hydrogen peroxide for blowing things up.

[ecstatic]

31. If our CIA finds this baffling, we are in serious trouble guys nt

[fishnfla]

32. wasn't he sick? maybe he had chemo

[Algorem]

33. Moe wore that same exact fake beard in a 3 Stooges episode

[ohio2007]

48. only his Harem dresser knows for sure

[0007]

35. Jaysus fucking Christ, how dumb can the U.S. intelligence get?

Bin Laden is an all night alley cat and digs young chicks. Ya gotta look young to score these days. Osama is known as 'Benny' is the hip circle.

Just before he made the video, it was said by a reliable source, he came out saying;
"Hipster flipters and finger popping daddies, lend me your ear"

[jaksavage]

36. Their stratregy will have to be rethought

Maybe we should look for a black beard osama!
This is a big break, lets get on it guys.
exit stage left

[PATRICK]

37. they ran out of

tape to lip sync and are selling this "puzzlement' as a lame excuse to cover over the lack of good footage to work with. Next they will be saying he has rejuvenated himself with stem cells and show home moves from his childhood discussing Democratic primary candidates.

[L. Coyote]

40. If they were "Intelligent" they might focus on what he SAYS **** D'OH! *#@#*#**

[Marnieworld]

44. I bet the digital artist made it black again because it's easier to blend

With the gray beard it is textured and specific probably ahrder to match when editing. A nice shadowy black beard probably is easier.

I don't know why the CIA is baffled when they made the thing. :eyes:

[yava]

55. Octapus

He ate octapus with its ink as they do in Madrid. The octapus may have been provided by his followers living on the shores of the Indian ocean. He must have eaten with his fingers, knife and fork protect the beard, serious!

[Solly Mack]

47. if they would just use their special decoder glasses they'd see messages

hidden in his beard

and I betcha if they check the Almanac, they'd find a dyed beard means more rain

[unkachuck]

53. if the tape....

....isn't fake, it's probably some kind of signal....

[Ella]

57. I agree with you

Devout Muslim men may dye their beards for the hajj to Mecca. I think Osama (assuming it was really him) is letting the devout know that he will soon be in Mecca or has just recently been there.

Which should tell the CIA idiots that he's bragging about the protection he gets in Saudi Arabia. He ain't chillin' in some Waziristan cave; he's moving relatively freely among the Saud, or visiting frequently, which means he has important people to talk to.

The infidels can't touch him, and for those who know what a dyed beard means, he's boasting about it.

[ronnie624]

58. There's no mystery.

The mythological bin Laden, created by the US government for propaganda purposes, is presumably human, and therefore subject to the same vanities that influence most of us.

There is nothing unusual for a man - especially an older man in Osama bin Laden's apparent position - to want to appear younger and more vital to those who revere him and regard him as a leader. He is, after all, presumably only a man.

But I don't give credence of any sort to this garbage anyway. Any piece of 'information' about bin Laden or 'al Qaeda' that is made public by the US government - especially the Bush Administration - should be regarded as nothing more than the most insulting brand of propaganda.

[DJKDJKDJK]

59. There's a mystery...

Who or what is REALLY pulling the strings within the Shadow Gov.

[pinniped]

60. It's a freaking disguise!

How stupid are they?

[IndianaGreen]

64. Like a character in a Lara Croft video game, it is a digital head and beard

superimposed on an earlier bin Laden video. Either OBL did not get a chance to do a video, doing an audio instead, or he shaved his beard and is living in the open in Pakistan.

[wildbilln864]

61. he must be using rogain too......

he's got more hair.

[Socal31]

65. I thought Black Beard was a Pirate....

[ProudDad]

66. They should check Michel Chertoff's closet

Am I the only one who's noticed that the Bin Laden in the video resembles Chertoff in a beard?

[Wise Doubter]

67. Halloween is right around the corner........

Maybe he shaved, and they only had black beards at the Halloween Depot:rofl:

[tom_paine]

68. Well fucking DUH! A Bush-Bin Laden Production

It's not confusing at all.

[spotbird]

70. He is dead and the tape is a fake?

How's that for baffling?

[Joe Bacon]

71. I bet it's Martin Landau in a latex mask!

:evilgrin:

[april]

73. Fake ! No close up ! This is B.S.! another hollywood moment

[ohio2007]

74. Bin Laden Wants 'Caravan' of Martyrs

Maybe the teamsters can shut them down at the border?

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070911/D8RJ8QL81.html
;)

[LeftHander]

75. Why does the beard hang from his ears?......nt

[saigon68]

79. It's like one of those--- "fake" beards

The kind that "attach" to your ears

[DuaneBidoux]

76. Maybe it shows he's been relaxed enough to improve his love life?

[Megahurtz]

78. I'll Second That.

:eyes:

[Major Hogwash]

80. U.S. Intelligence - talk about an oxymoran!

The black fake beard the stand-in they found to wear that beard didn't baffel me - I've got one just like it in my closet!
I bought it for $5 for a Halloween costume years ago!

[mod mom]

82. then maybe they should read H20 Man's posts.

[ronnie624]

85. I just happen to have his journal bookmarked.

It is fascinating reading. His writings are very enlightening.

[bhikkhu]

83. Waiting for the punchline to all the new bin laden media buildup...

likely it will be that new intelligence confirms his whereabouts in Iran