To me, it is like watching through a TV camera lens as two Arab men scrabble down a small mountainside. They are wearing strange looking robes, like Arab garb but patterned in military camouflage that has bright colors. They wear military jackets and backpacks and carry automatic weapons in a practiced way. I know they are concentrating on two things: how to place their next step and to do so without insulting the other person. As they pick their way down the grade they are shouting and arguing. The taller man is Taheer and the burly man is Hamet.

The two have been together off and on for most of their 28 years. They were both recruited from refugee camps in Afghanistan when they were thirteen and have been extensively educated and trained in military matters. They are more military executives than soldiers. Despite their training, they continue bickering and arguing as they reach the bottom of the mountain. It is their way of easing each other's tension. Checking their weapons, they set out across the valley floor in a northwesterly direction.

As they continue across the parched valley their dialogue subsides to mere bantering. They have now dealt with their nervousness and will show no sign of fear to the group they will meet shortly. The closer they come to the rendezvous point, the more their dialogue turns to jesting and chuckling.

As they approach the rock face on the other side of the valley they let each other know the hiding places of four of the five men they are to meet. They give no outward sign that they have spotted the four men, but have communicated the information in their secret idioms and word inflections. The location of the fifth man has them baffled, especially because he is the tallest of the group.

When they are 100 yards away bin Laden steps out from behind a large rock. The other men emerge at his signal and two of his group go out to meet the newcomers. After a preliminary conversation, grins and greetings are exchanged and the men gather together. Bin Laden remains aloof yet alert. A pair of binoculars hangs from his neck. His eyes frequently flick toward the skies, as if he is watching the progress of a gathering storm.

All seven men sit in a semi circle, with their backs to the rock face and with Taheer and Hamet careful to be on the outside edges. They are also careful to join in the frequent laughter and slogan shouting. They eat sparingly of the meager food provided.

At last bin Laden speaks to them directly. "I thought it strange that you cocked your weapons across the valley."

Taheer laughs and says, "We wanted to be ready to shoot down American planes." The others join in the laughter, all except Hamet who has been alerted by the code phrase.

Bin Laden looks at Taheer coolly and says, "They are cocked even now."

bin Laden cont. Part II

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