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The story is called Appointment in Samarra. A Baghdad merchant sends a servant to buy provisions. While at the market, the servant bumps into Death, who makes a threatening gesture. The servant races back to the merchant, borrows a horse and flees to the city of Samarra for safety.
The Somerset Maughan version of the old fable about fate continues, with Death narrating: “Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, ‘Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?’ ‘That was not a threatening gesture,’ I said, ‘it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.’”
I was reminded of this story by a detail in the accounts of the killing of Osama Bin Laden: his opulent hiding place had no telephone or Internet service. Presumably to minimize the risk of revealing his location through contact with the outside world. But the very lack of such modern technology, intended to avoid attention, attracted it instead. And enabled authorities to keep their long-standing appointment.
—Steve Mirsky
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
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4 Comments
Add CommentIf modern amenities is not there how can Laden conducted vast origination which spread allover the world.Either CIA is lying or they are ignorant of modern amenities.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOsama Bin Laden's death may be a relief to some, his murder an insult to others, but it raises an important issue. Who decides who is a Terrorist and can be liquidated? Should any State in the World be entitled to do this? Could Tony Blair be liquidated by an Arab State as an alleged War Criminal? Could George Bush be liquidated on American soil as an alleged War criminal? Where will it end. We should remember "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" and of course Habeus Corpus.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMalcolm Rigg
Just a couple of comments on the no internet and phone thing...they don't require hard lines...note the sat dish in the compound...sat phones don't even require that...wifi is good for what...100 meters...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI enjoy listening to the 60 seconds science podcasts most of the time. However I must say that the "Appointment in Abbottabad" podcast has very weak connection to any branch of sciences. It only reflects the Americans' perspective to the Osama Bin Laden's death.
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