October 7, 2001
The Präzisions-Scharfschützen-Gewehr 1 (PSG-1), manufactured by the German company Heckler and Koch, is a seventeen-pound, magazine-fed, semi-automatic sniper rifle. It was developed in response to the Munich Massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics. It is said to be one of the most accurate semiautomatic weapons in the world.
At this very evening, one of these rifles is in the hands of an olive-skinned, web-winged gargoyle lying prone on a high ridge. The gargoyle wears a tactical vest, a Kevlar helmet, and a headset which is wired to a radio.
He peers through a Hensoldt 6×42 scope. He can see the camp below, with Quonset huts and Jeeps and armed men standing guard or patrolling the grounds.
The gargoyle's eyes glow when he sees a tall man with a long beard on his chin and a turban on his head.
Osama bin Laden.