You all remember Vogue’s gushing profile, and accompanying photo-op, of the hippest family in Syria, the Assads, in a story, titled “A Rose in the Dessert”, which was quite comical even before the fashionably dressed Baathist dictator (check out those jeans!) took to slaughtering peaceful protesters on the streets:

As Harry’s Place pointed out,Vogue was apparently embarrassed by the negative publicity, as the link to the story has suddenly disappeared from the fashion magazine’s website, but the above image came to mind when I saw the following photo of a hip, relaxed, tanned, and evidently well-rested Osama Bin Laden – taken sometime during his glory days when the caliphate’s return seemed near – which accompanied a CiF essay by Mark Weisbrot (Osama Bin Laden: Cold War Veteran, May 3.)

While the essay itself represents the Guardian Left world-view at its worst – as Mr. Weisbrot seems to share Bin Laden’s broad goal of  ”bring[ing] down the US empire” – I couldn’t help but think that the only thing about the photo which was lacking was that it didn’t include, ala Vogue, an intimate portrait of Bin Laden with his four wives, nor a candid shot of the devout Wahhabi father playing with one or more of his 24 children.

Perhaps Guardian fashion editor, Jess Cartner-Morley, having no doubt recovered from the humiliation following her spirited defense of John Galliano, is on the case.