OBL and the FBI's "10 Most Wanted"

[Cluricaun]

So I was checking out the FBI's 10 Most Wanted (http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm) list today just to see who's new and what's changed, and I saw Osama Bin Laden (or Usama as the Fibbers have him tagged) and I wondered, what's the point of including him on the 10 most wanted list? Am I to be vigilant as I shop for new socks at Target to make sure he's not slinking through the food court?

I've always thought of the Most Wanted list as a PR tool for the FBI. They put those on there who's capture is soon likely to make themselves seem to be stopping the worst offenders out there. I doubt highly that the FBI is about to desend on Pakistan in blacked out SUV's any time soon, so what purpose does this seem to serve? I'm not really going GQ on here, as I figured this was more an opinion stlye inquiry.

[astorian]

Slight hijack- did anybody else notice that in the movie "Hannibal," Dr. Lecter's face appears right next to Osama Bin Laden's on the Ten Most Wanted List that Giancarlo Giannini brings up on his computer?

[Gala Matrix Fire]

Does it mention the reward? Because I try a little harder when there's twenty-five million dollars on the line. Extra vigilance, as it were.

[jimmmy]

Well put Clurican, I often wondered the same myself. I have concluded it is symbolic -- he is after all Public Enemy No.1 and all that... having said that, people like Bulger and Lopez-Oroco are not (really) expected to be inside the U.S. anyway so there is some precedent

BTW you may already know this but there is an FBI Most Wanted Terrorist list which includes OBL too
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm

[MsRobyn]

The FBI list is pretty much publicity. It's basically a way to keep some attention focused on these people. Eric Rudolph, who was recently arrested and is winding his way through the federal legal system, was on that list for quite a while himself.

These people are wanted for serious crimes: child porn, drug distribution, multiple murders, that sort of thing. OBL is specifically wanted for the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, but he is a "suspect" in other terrorist attacks.

Oh, and the price on his head is up tp $27 million. The Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association have generously ponied up an extra $2 million.

Robin

[Harmonix]

I suspect there would be a public outrage if he WASN'T on the list.

[zuma]

What's also odd is the description of his crimes:


USAMA BIN LADEN IS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE AUGUST 7, 1998, BOMBINGS OF THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, AND NAIROBI, KENYA. THESE ATTACKS KILLED OVER 200 PEOPLE. IN ADDITION, BIN LADEN IS A SUSPECT IN OTHER TERRORIST ATTACKS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

Not that any one of this pig's crimes is morally worse than any other, but you'd think they'd mention the big one.