Osama bin Laden in popular culture

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Caricature of Osama bin Laden by DonkeyHotey Osama Bin Laden - Caricature (51195026339).jpg
Caricature of Osama bin Laden by DonkeyHotey

Osama bin Laden, the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda, has been depicted or parodied in a variety of media. Notable examples include:

Contents

Books and comics

Film and television

Internet

In the now terminated Brazilian flash animation website Mundo Canibal, Bin Laden is featured as a main character in a number of animations. He also appears as suicidal enemy in the site's beat-em-up videogame, Mundo Canibal Apocalypse.

Music

Video games

Osama bin Laden is an opponent (or boss) in many games released during the 2000s:. [25] He is the main antagonist in most of these games.


Osama bin Laden is also briefly mentioned in the opening cutscene of Call of Duty: Black Ops II , with a character saying that the main antagonist of the game, Raul Menendez, is the most dangerous terrorist since bin Laden.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osama bin Laden</span> Militant leader (1957–2011)

Osama bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian–born Islamist dissident and militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda, a militant terrorist organization espousing Islamism, pan-Islamism and jihadism. Bin Laden participated in the Afghan mujahideen's jihad against the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War, and supported the Bosnian mujahideen during the Yugoslav Wars. Opposed to the United States' foreign policy in the Middle East, Bin Laden declared war on the U.S. in 1996. He supervised international terrorist attacks against Americans, including the September 11 attacks inside the U.S. in 2001.

There were many video and audio recordings released by Osama bin Laden between 2000 and his death in 2011.

<i>Pearls Before Swine</i> (comics) Comic strip by Stephan Pastis

Pearls Before Swine is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Stephan Pastis. The series began on December 31, 2001. It chronicles the daily lives of an ensemble cast of suburban anthropomorphic animals: Pig, Rat, Zebra, Goat, and a fraternity of crocodiles, as well as a number of supporting characters, one of whom is Pastis himself. Each character represents an aspect of Pastis's personality and worldview. The daily and Sunday comic strip is distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephan Pastis</span> American cartoonist (born 1968)

Stephan Thomas Pastis is an American cartoonist and former lawyer who is the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. He also writes children's chapter books, commencing with the release of Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. The seventh book, It's the End When I Say It's the End, debuted at #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Middle Grade Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bin Laden family</span> Saudi business family

The bin Laden family, also spelled bin Ladin, is a wealthy Hadhrami family intimately connected with the innermost circles of the Saudi royal family. It is the namesake and controlling shareholder of the Saudi Binladin Group, a multinational construction firm. Following the September 11 attacks, the family became the subject of media attention and scrutiny due to the activities of Osama bin Laden, the former head of al-Qaeda.

Osama bin Laden, the founder and former leader of al-Qaeda, went into hiding following the start of the War in Afghanistan in order to avoid capture by the United States for his role in the September 11 attacks, and having been on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since 1999. After evading capture at the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001, his whereabouts became unclear, and various rumours about his health, continued role in al-Qaeda, and location were circulated. Bin Laden also released several video and audio recordings during this time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bergen</span> American journalist (born 1962)

Peter Lampert Bergen is an American journalist, author, and producer who is CNN's national security analyst, a vice president at New America, a professor at Arizona State University, and the host of the Audible podcast In the Room with Peter Bergen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Tora Bora</span> 2001 battle between the United States-led coalition and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan

The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in the cave complex of Tora Bora, eastern Afghanistan, from November 30 – December 17, 2001, during the final stages of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. It was launched by the United States and its allies with the objective to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of the militant organization al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden were suspected of being responsible for the September 11 attacks three months prior. Tora Bora is located in the Spīn Ghar mountain range near the Khyber Pass. The U.S. stated that al-Qaeda had its headquarters there and that it was bin Laden's location at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Osama bin Laden</span> 2011 U.S. military operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan

On May 2, 2011, the United States conducted Operation Neptune Spear, in which SEAL Team Six shot and killed Osama bin Laden at his "Waziristan Haveli" in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda and masterminded the September 11 attacks, had been the subject of a United States military manhunt since the beginning of the War in Afghanistan, but escaped to Pakistan—allegedly with Pakistani support—during or after the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. The mission was part of an effort led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) coordinating the Special Mission Units involved in the raid. In addition to SEAL Team Six, participating units under JSOC included the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) and the CIA's Special Activities Division, which recruits heavily from among former JSOC Special Mission Units.

American officials have reported that the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had numerous bodyguards. They reported that the detainees held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp included at least 30 of Bin Laden's bodyguards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamza bin Laden</span> Member of al-Qaeda (1989 – 2017/2019)

Hamza bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian-born key member of al-Qaeda. He was a son of Osama bin Laden. On 14 September 2019, it was claimed by U.S. President Donald Trump that he was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation on the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. In 2024, unconfirmed media reports claimed that he was still alive and a senior leader of al-Qaeda.

There have been several video and audio recordings featuring former Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri between 2003 until his death in 2022.

<i>Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?</i> 2008 documentary film by Morgan Spurlock

Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? is a 2008 documentary film conceived by Adam Dell and co-written, produced, directed by, and starring Morgan Spurlock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian L. Mizer</span> United States Navy JAG officer

Brian L. Mizer is a United States Navy JAG officer. He is from the State of Nebraska. He attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, for his undergraduate degree and Case Western Reserve University for his Juris Doctor.

Muhammad Abdallah Hasan Abu-al-Khayr, also known as Abu Abdallah al-Halabi, was a citizen of Saudi Arabia notable for being named on its 2009 list of most wanted suspected terrorists. He was alleged to be one of Osama bin Laden's bodyguards, and one of his sons-in-law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motives for the September 11 attacks</span> Al-Qaeda claims and arguments for attacking the United States

The September 11 attacks were carried out by 19 hijackers of the Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda. In the 1990s, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden declared a militant jihad against the United States, and issued two fatawa in 1996 and 1998. In the 1996 fatwa, he quoted the Sword Verse. In both of these fatawa, bin Laden sharply criticized the financial contributions of the American government to the Saudi royal family as well as American military intervention in the Arab world.

<i>The Oath</i> (2010 film) 2010 American film

The Oath is a 2010 documentary film directed by Laura Poitras. It tells the cross-cut tale of two men, Abu Jandal and Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose meeting launched them on juxtaposed paths to al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the September 11 attacks, US military tribunals and the U.S. Supreme Court. The film is the second of a trilogy, with the first being My Country, My Country (2006), documenting the lives of Iraqi citizens during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. The third, Citizenfour (2014), focuses on the NSA's domestic surveillance programs. The Oath is distributed both theatrically and non-theatrically in the US by New York–based Zeitgeist Films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osama bin Laden death conspiracy theories</span> Conspiracy theories about when and how Osama bin Laden died

The death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, gave rise to various conspiracy theories, hoaxes and rumors. These include the ideas that he had died earlier, or that he lived beyond the reported date. Doubts about Bin Laden's death were fueled by the U.S. military's supposed disposal of his body at sea, the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of Bin Laden's death to the public, the contradicting accounts of the incident, and the 25-minute blackout during the raid on Bin Laden's compound during which a live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the U.S. special forces was cut off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Atef</span> Egyptian al-Qaeda member (1944–2001)

Mohammed Atef was an Egyptian militant and prominent military chief of al-Qaeda, and a deputy of Osama bin Laden, although Atef's role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years. He was killed in a US airstrike in November 2001.

<i>Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden</i> 2013 American film

Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden is a 2013 documentary film directed by Greg Barker that explores the Central Intelligence Agency's investigation of Osama bin Laden, starting from 1995 until his death in 2011. It premiered on HBO on May 1, 2013, two years after the mission that killed bin Laden. The documentary features narratives by many of the CIA analysts and operatives who worked over a decade to understand and track bin Laden, and includes archival film footage from across Washington, D.C., Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. It also features extensive and rarely seen footage of Al-Qaeda training and propaganda videos, including video suicide notes from various terrorists who later worked as suicide bombers.

References

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