William Burroughs tells a good story about Hassan I Sabbah, the old man of the mountains, the head of the Assassins/Hashishin. The Assassins were infamous for not engaging in all out warfare with their enemies, but employing stealth and infiltration instead.
So when Alamout, the Assassins’ mountaintop HQ (situated in what is now the north of Iran) was under siege, they didn’t need to come out all guns blazing wild-west style. One morning the leader of the invading army woke up to find the handle of a dagger poking out of the ground outside his tent. He increased the guard. The next morning, there was a dagger sticking out of his bedpost. He doubled the guard again, including many of his most trustworthy agents inside his living quarters. The next morning, he found a dagger under his pillow. He realised what was in store for him when the sun rose again and ordered his troops to leave…
Many parallels have been (erroneously) drawn between Hassan I Sabbah and Osama Bin Laden. Here probably isn’t the place to get into all that, and it must be said that Uncle Bill’s take on all this is somewhat, uh, mytho-poetic and a-historical.
But that aside, there are some interesting parallels between the above story and the news yesterday that comedian Aaron Barschak managed to con his way into Prince William’s 21st birthday celebrations, dressed as Osama Bin Laden.
Perhaps, next time, not a kiss on both cheeks, but…?
