A friend points out that it’s not surprising that Osama Bin Laden had porn on his hard drive — it’s actually quite common to find porn in terrorist hidey-holes. Asra Nomani of The Daily Beast has more:
In fact, the porn found in the bin Laden compound was probably not even much of a surprise to the American forces who discovered it. Porn is frequently found by military teams who engage in “sensitive site exploitation” in raids on militant hideouts and safe houses, according to current and former U.S. military officials. All such finds are evaluated for use “in an information operation (IO) campaign to mold public opinion.”
Hours after the news of the porn stash, Christine Fair, a Georgetown University terrorism expert, wrote on her Facebook page, “Of course they found porn! Every damned jihadi loves porn.” Indeed, the “USG,” or U.S. government has become so accustomed to finding porn, she said, it has “media analysts” designated to analyze the porn looking for “messages.” They work on “document exploitation.”
“The USG has recovered terabytes of the stuff from terrorist computers,” Fair wrote, noting that “kiddie porn” is included in the mix. Current and former U.S. officials have acknowledged that porn featuring sex with animals also gets picked up regularly. Fair said the U.S. government has had to hire counselors to minimize the trauma to the many young twentysomething analysts poring over the porn.
That actually bums me out a little. For the good of the analysts, dear jihadists, please stick to consensual adult (human) porn.
The Handsome Camel 