The Base
Published by Jeff, July 27th, 2006 in Foreign Policy, SillinessYou know what’s kind of interesting? Osama bin Laden’s OFAC file. It has the many aliases of al Qaeda (also found in the document linked here):
AL-JIHAD
EGYPTIAN AL-JIHAD
EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD
INTERNATIONAL FRONT FOR FIGHTING JEWS AND CRUSADES
ISLAMIC ARMY
ISLAMIC ARMY FOR THE LIBERATION OF HOLY SITES
ISLAMIC SALVATION FOUNDATION
NEW JIHAD
“THE BASE”
THE GROUP FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE HOLY SITES
THE ISLAMIC ARMY FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE HOLY PLACES
THE JIHAD GROUP
THE WORLD ISLAMIC FRONT FOR JIHAD AGAINST JEWS AND CRUSADERS
USAMA BIN LADEN NETWORK
USAMA BIN LADEN ORGANIZATION
My personal favorite is “The Base.” “The Jihad Group” sounds sort of distinguished, even. “New Jihad” is a nice name for an online magazine.
Isn’t “the base” just a literal translation of al-Qaeda, or have I been bullshitted?
It indeed does appear to mean that. That would explain it, then. Not sure what good it does us to have that as a company name we should avoid doing business with.
“The Jihad Group” sounds like a high-priced consulting group with an office on the top floor of some gleaming tower in a major metropolitan area—the kind with jade marble and glass everywhere.
I can just see Osama in an Armani suit, yelling at an intern to get him his Starbucks now goddammit, or he’ll wage a holy war on his ass.
All your World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders are belong to us.