January 11, 2002

Box o' bin Laden William

Box o' bin Laden

William Quick (not sure if he's still the Blogical Suspect-- he appears to have transmogrified into the Daily Pundit while my attention was elsewhere) has uncovered this item from Islamicnews.org:

Saudi Arabia has remitted a sum of US$45 million to the Palestine National Authority, to help it in its budgetary expenditure, thus making the total aid given to Palestine by Saudi Arabia since 1964 around US$9,000,000,000 (nine billion). The money is to be used for educational, health and humanitarian purposes.

The Kingdom has also dispatched five large containers carrying 10 kidney dialysis machines, plus a large electricity generator, plus other medical equipment to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Quick notes:

Saudi Arabia donates ten dialysis machines, plus a generator to keep them humming. To a hospital in Gaza. Do we know anybody with kidney problems who might be looking for a congenial place to lie low for a while? A Saudi type person, perhaps? A rich Saudi?

Say. Has anybody checked inside those containers?


Is "Loony bin" Laden literally hiding in a box? Probably not, but can't somebody check, just in case?

This reminds me of something I read in a Gregg Easterbrook article on Saddam's nuclear program a few months back:

In 1998 Iraq ordered from a German company six lithotripsy devices, extremely expensive machines that treat kidney stones without surgery. Why did Iraq require lithotripsy when millions of its citizens lack basic antibiotics? Presumably because the lithotripter employs an incredibly high-speed switch modeled on the high-speed switches in atomic warheads. Justified as a medical purchase, Iraq obtained eight of the switches, one in each machine plus two spares. Initially Iraq ordered 120 spare switches, a figure totally unrelated to the normal operation of lithotripters, and one that should have made Saddam's real purpose unmistakably clear. The German company balked at the purchase order for 120 switches, but happily sold the eight.

Is the Palestinian National Authority going nuclear? No, that's just paranoid (though I wouldn't put it past them if they thought they could get away with it.) Dialysis machines are presumably different from lithotripters anyway. But it is worth remembering that such boxes can contain benign hi-tech devices that often also have malign applications, even if they don't actually contain Islamo-fascist fugitives themselves.

Hey, I'm a paranoid guy....

Posted by Dr. Frank at January 11, 2002 07:31 AM | TrackBack