It seems the CIA are on a bit of a roll of firing off previously secret or redacted materials over the past week. After a tranche of files related to the JFK assassination dropped last week, the CIA have unleashed materials related to the 2011 raid which killed Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad. These materials include the contents of bin Laden’s computer.
Aside from some “copyrighted material” and his reportedly “extensive” collection of pornography, the CIA has posted what they say is basically everything on the computer. Obviously, much of it pertains to al-Qaeda activities and terror operations, but many of the other files – which journalists and social media users are currently poring through – are, uh, much more benign.
Along with all his, you know, ‘work stuff’, bin Laden also had a stash of children’s films like Ice Age, Antz and Cars, as well as viral internet content of the time like that ‘Charlie bit my finger’ video you absolutely remember. Some of the files people are picking up on are even odder.
Like, for example, a shitload of video game ROMs and emulators:
https://twitter.com/kellanstec/status/925803342395248651
And a stack of GIFs:
He also had a mean gif game: pic.twitter.com/lSmkHilHRK
— Matt Separa (@MattSepara) November 1, 2017
And a whole bunch of other Internet ephemera:
osama bin laden visited t-shirt hell pic.twitter.com/OOOne8sMmT
— 65 yr old musk reply guy with acute lead poisoning (@boring_as_heck) November 1, 2017
Bin Laden liked his cat videos. pic.twitter.com/GJlXusl6fa
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) November 1, 2017
One of the more interesting files on his computer is the documentary Loose Change, which helped propagate the theory that the September 11 attacks were perpetrated by the United States. Just doing a bit of research, I see.
https://twitter.com/ciazarn/status/925776214098350081
I mean, let’s be real. The dude spent the better part of a decade sitting around in a hole trying to avoid being captured and killed by the United States government. It’s not easy to occupy yourself at the best of times, so you can’t blame him for looking at a viral video or two.
There’s absolutely no proof that these files were actually put on the computer by bin Laden himself and not by one of his cronies or handlers, but I’m going to step out and make the claim: bin Laden was a gamer.
If you want to do some digging yourself through this Valuable Content, you can absolutely do so over at the CIA’s website. That way, you can find out whether you share a taste in Game Boy Advance games.
