Osama's a bit stingy

I guess when you lead a group of future martyrs healthcare isn't a priority

http://www.11alive.com/genthumb/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/101019041016_church.jpg

I left Al Qaeda because they refused to pay healthcare, says Osama bin Laden's former pilot

L'Houssaine Kherchtou testified at a terrorism trial in New York on Wednesday that he left Al Qaeda disgruntled about the lack of health care A former member of Al Qaeda has claimed that he left the terror group after they failed to pay for his pregnant wife's medical bills. L'Houssaine Kherchtou testified at a terrorism trial in New York on Wednesday that he was disgruntled at the lack of health care and later began helping a U.S. investigation into two embassy bombings in Africa. Kherchtou, 46, gave evidence at the trial of Ahmed Ghailani who is accused of helping Al Qaeda in the 1998 attacks that killed 224 people including 12 U.S. citizens. Prosecutors claim the Moroccan national helped to purchase the truck that was used to deliver the bomb to the embassy in Dar es Salaam that killed 11 people in its explosion. Kherchtou testified that he joined the terrorist group in 1991 and later became Osama bin Laden's pilot after taking flying lessons and working his way up from training camp instructor. He claimed that money became scarce for members of Al Qaeda in late 1995 when the group moved to Sudan. Apparently a number of businesses launched by bin Laden, including mining and gem dealing failed to bring in much revenue. 'At that time I had one girl, one kid, and another on the way. I didn't see no future for those kids in Afghanistan and I decided not to go' Al-Qaeda leaders decided to relocate to Afghanistan in early 1996 after the Taliban took control of the country but Kherchou remained in Sudan and said he 'decided not to go back with them'.

He apparently dropped his head and began to cry, wiping away tears from under his glasses. Chernoff asked him, 'Did your wife need treatment for her pregnancy and Al Qaeda refused to pay the bill?' Kherchtou whispered, 'Yes' and began sobbing, blowing his nose and dabbing his face with a tissue.

Osama prefers that people use their own health-care systems.

If they are still alive..........

If he would have done like he was told and flown that plane into a building (like a good Moslem), there wouldn't have been a problem.

do you need health care for people who blow themselves up? Seems to be the premiums would be pretty expensive

i'd think the health care would be cheap... the life insurance not so much... almost like a squid on a bike... no lid = dead... with lid = lots of skin grafts and such

i'd think the health care would be cheap... the life insurance not so much... almost like a squid on a bike... no lid = dead... with lid = lots of skin grafts and such

Yeah, health insurance really only matters if you're not gonna be dead right away. Though it could get expensive if one of those 72 "virgins" is carrying teh herp.

mndsm wrote: Yeah, health insurance really only matters if you're not gonna be dead right away. Though it could get expensive if one of those 72 "virgins" is carrying teh herp.

Those virgins are a reward only after you're dead - no need for insurance, doctors or lawyers.

However, to earn that reward and find out you're infected, that's a special kind of he11, isn't it?

The link doesn't work, but that news reads like the Onion. At least like some of the articles they've put together where, if they appeared elsewhere, you might mistake them for being real. Story sounds like a real life version of that email gag about Osama complaining someone had swiped his Cheese-Its.

MadScientistMatt wrote: The link doesn't work, but that news reads like the Onion. At least like some of the articles they've put together where, if they appeared elsewhere, you might mistake them for being real. Story sounds like a real life version of that email gag about Osama complaining someone had swiped his Cheese-Its.

It's real, Matt, and has been reported via many and varied sources.

Here's a BusinessWeek link: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-21/witness-testifies-he-left-al-qaeda-over-payment-of-wife-s-care.html

I'm not too surprised it's real, just it's the sort of thing the Onion might have come up with if reality hadn't beaten them to it. Having ill-treated minions turn on you has long been an occupational hazard for real-life evil overlords as well as fictional ones.