[general_re]

...and just as a quick follow-up to myself, if you caught the squib on the news earlier where Condi Rice called the news networks and asked them to be careful about airing video from bin Laden, then you understand that dummy codes are exactly what the White House is worried about - that in those videos there might be some innocuous-sounding phrase, or something simple like the color of his turban, or which hand his watch is on, or whatever, that seems perfectly ordinary to us, but that has a very special and specific meaning to his agents abroad...

Scary.

[NovemberCharlie]

or which hand his watch is on, or whatever, that seems perfectly ordinary to us, but that has a very special and specific meaning to his agents abroad...

Since he's a Moslem, I'd expect him to wear his watch on his right hand, since the left is 'unclean' and only to be used for wiping one's *ss.

[supercat]

...and just as a quick follow-up to myself, if you caught the squib on the news earlier where Condi Rice called the news networks and asked them to be careful about airing video from bin Laden, then you understand that dummy codes are exactly what the White House is worried about - that in those videos there might be some innocuous-sounding phrase, or something simple like the color of his turban, or which hand his watch is on, or whatever, that seems perfectly ordinary to us, but that has a very special and specific meaning to his agents abroad...

I wonder what would happen if, before the video was broadcast, the government made a few changes. I'm sure they have some pretty cool image manipulation 'toys'; with a little work they could probably rearrange the rocks and such without it being noticeable to anyone who wasn't looking for them. Of course, the effects this sort of thing might have on the message would be unpredictable, but would hopefully not benefit the terrorists.