经济学人下载:讣告-奥萨马本拉登

Osama bin Laden
奥萨马本拉登

Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist, died on May 2nd, aged 54
奥萨马本拉登，世界头号通缉恐怖分子，于5月2日被击毙，终年54岁

May 5th 2011 | from the print edition

WHEN he gave interviews to foreign journalists, which he did rarely, Osama bin Laden had a way of looking down at his hands. This, and his soft, slightly raspy voice, and his gentle eyes—as well as the fact that he allowed no instantaneous translation—helped conceal what he was saying: that it was the duty of all Muslims to kill unbelievers, especially Americans, and that when he had seen the bodies of the infidels flying “like dust motes” on September 11th 2001, his heart had filled with joy.

他很少接受采访，但是每次接受外国记者采访时，他总以特有的方式俯视着自己的双手，此外，他声音柔和，略微有些刺耳，眼神安详，而且他从不允许马上翻译他的话。所有这一切掩盖了他所传递的信息：消灭异教徒，尤其是美国人，是所有穆斯林共同的责任；2001年9月11日，当他目睹这些异教徒的尸骨如“灰尘草芥般”四处横飞时，他的内心洋溢着喜悦。

His mien was that of the sage, not the killer. He seldom shed blood himself, though his treasured Kalashnikov, which he carried everywhere, was said to have been wrested in single combat from a Russian soldier in Afghanistan. As a rule he observed from afar as “his boys” blew up the American base at Khobar in Saudi Arabia, or the USS Cole in Yemen (he wrote a poem about that, the little dinghy bobbing on the waves) or the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, where in 1998 more than 200 died. Terrorism could be commendable or reprehensible, he smoothly agreed, but this was “blessed terror”, in defence of Islam. At first he denied any part in the 9/11 attacks, but at last pride got the better of him: yes, it was he who had guided his 19 brothers towards their “easy” targets.

他有着圣人般的风范，毫无杀手的暴戾之气。虽然不管到哪，他都随身带着自己所珍爱的卡拉希尼科夫式冲锋枪（据说是在阿富汗一次战斗中从一名俄罗斯士兵手里夺来的），但是他自己很少动手杀人。通常，当“他的孩子们”炸飞美国在沙特亚科巴的军事基地，或者炸沉美国科尔号军舰（他还曾经为此占诗一首：《那沉浮于浪花中的小船》），或者袭击美国在肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚的大使馆，他只是远远地观战。1998年这两起爆炸事件导致200多人死亡。若说恐怖主义可褒可贬，他是欣然同意的。但是他认为他所从事的是“神圣的恐怖主义”，旨在捍卫伊斯兰。起初，他否认自己参与911袭击事件，但是最后，他抑制不住内心的自豪感：是的，正是他，指使他19个弟兄“毫不费力”地袭击了他们的目标。