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Isn't that the cutest little terrorist?

It is so hard, when crossing cultural lines to know whether something is intended as kitsch or not. Take the Osamaiana for sale in Southeast Asia.

Is the figure at right (first found in Paris, natch) a GI Joe for kids in the Middle East to play "terrorist training camp" (picture Osama sitting in the middle of the circle, lecturing about the inevitable realization of the will of Allah) or for lobbing fake grenades at bunkers filled with plastic army men?

It would be easier to take this doll seriously if it didn't look like Saddam Hussein with a change of clothes and a hastily applied beard. I haven't seen a transformation this transparent since Carvel turned Santa Claus into Fudgie the Whale. Special bonus: Osama sings and dances.

People may find it harder to laugh at a lighter that features images of Osama, a plane hitting the WTC, and a bulb that lights up on the 90th floor. Or "Laden v. USA," a video game with the goal of getting your low-flying plane past jet fighters to ram the towers. But it is hard to get indignant about the stuff from foreign countries when you consider what we sell here.

(Via Hit and Run)