Moussaoui the Human

Wow.  This is the side of terrorism that you never hear of (or at least I never hear of):

A senior al Qaeda operative, known as Khallad, said Moussaoui broke security by phoning him every day during a trip to Malaysia in 2000.  Khallad, who was connected with the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in east Africa and masterminded the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, was eventually forced to turn off his telephone.

In testimony from Riduan Isamuddin -- better known as Hambali -- a top member of Jemaah Islamiah, an Asian group linked to al Qaeda, Moussaoui was depicted as "not bright in the head and having a bad character."

"According to Hambali, Moussaoui managed to annoy everyone he came in contact with," Hambali's testimony said, adding that Hambali said he did not trust Moussaoui.
He said Moussaoui kept speaking of dreams he had to fly a plane into the White House. Moussaoui was also constantly suggesting operations Jemmah Islamiah members thought were "ridiculous," according to the testimony.  Hambali said he eventually paid for a plane ticket to Europe in order to get Moussaoui to leave Malaysia.

Holy shit, I so totally know this guy, and they forgot to mention how he’s always bumming money all the time, inviting himself to other people’s houses, and is prone to drinking your last beer.  Not that I’ve ever done anything as extreme as turning off my phone or buying them a ticket out of the country, but that’s just because I didn’t have the money for that kind of thing.  And if you don’t know any guys like that, then you are that guy.

Terrorists are always seen as cold, calculating machines who are so filled with hatred that they don’t care about life or limb.  Yet here we see Moussaoui painted as that annoying tag-along guy that keeps including himself in your plans because nobody else wants him included.  And you can understand Khallad and Hambali’s frustration with dealing with this kind of guy.  Really puts a human face on to the whole thing.