Osama in Hell

(Note: this post, which first appeared on May 12, is back from blogger oblivion.) "Hell," in Jean-Paul Sartre's immortal phrase, "is other people." So which Hell do you suppose is more hellish--Osama toasting his toesies in the fiery flames, or Osama down home in Abbottabad?:

Osama bin Laden once crowed to an interviewer, "Believe me, when your children and your wife become part of your struggle, life becomes very enjoyable." The late Al-Qaeda chief uttered those words before 9/11, when he was able to keep his four wives and many children living comfortably in separate houses across Afghanistan. Every few weeks or so, Bin Laden would drop in on a wife to fulfill his husbandly duties.

But at the end, his rosy portrayal of being married to the Jihad was sorely tested. His family must have driven him nuts. During his last days in Abbottabad, bin Laden had to contend with three wives and 17 noisy children under one roof. He had no escape from the din, save for furtive pacing around the garden late at night or vanishing into his so-called Command-and-Control Center, a dank, window-less room...

The latter, clearly.

Update: Survey says most Pakistanis grieve for the hellion.