Bin Laden mistakes sweat for tears

Guardian:

To the long list of crimes committed by Osama bin Laden a new one can now be added: manipulation of the media. In his latest video address, released last Friday, the al-Qaida leader refers to a film made by the Guardian in Iraq and misquotes the contents of the documentary to suit his own dramatic effect.

In his speech, billed as a "message to the American people" and broadcast on al-Jazeera television, Bin Laden invokes the testimony of a black American soldier in Iraq.

Bin Laden invites American viewers to "listen to the poignant messages of your soldiers in Iraq, who are paying with their blood, nerves and scattered limbs.

"Among them is the eloquent message of Joshua which he sent by way of the media, in which he wipes the tears from his eyes and describes American politicians in harsh terms."

"By way of the media" is a reference to the work of Sean Smith, the Guardian's award-winning photographer who has spent months embedded with US troops in Iraq. In his video, Inside the Surge: Baghdad, he records the words of a specialist soldier from 2nd Platoon.

"We have people up there in Congress with the brains of a two-year-old," the soldier tells Smith. "They don't experience it. I challenge the president to ride along with me."

Contrary to Bin Laden's account of the interview in his speech, the soldier does not wipe away tears from his eyes - he wipes away sweat from his forehead. Smith, reached on assignment in Libya yesterday, confirmed that there had been no tears.

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It appears the soldier does have a keen judgment about Congress.