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I saw a post on Facebook with these pictures:

Three pictures of Osama Bin Laden

They apparently show Osama Bin Laden with Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Are these authentic pictures of actual meetings?

Cotton Headed Ninnymuggins
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    [Interesting copy-edit challenge: Which of these names can I just assume are universally known, and which should be backed up with context as to who they are for people who don't know them - especially non-American teenagers.] – Oddthinking Jun 11 '20 at 06:01
  • Thanks for the edit to clarify names as well. – Cotton Headed Ninnymuggins Jun 11 '20 at 06:14
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    Note the antisemitic content of the fake Hillary Clinton photo. – Colin Jun 11 '20 at 08:00
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    @Colin: The Full Fact article linked in my answer explains an image was created as part of an on-line competition, and then later the Stars of David were added. – Oddthinking Jun 11 '20 at 08:57
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    You even have to ask? Note the Star of David on Hillary Clinton, how'd that get there? – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jun 12 '20 at 14:38
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    I mostly asked because I know if I don’t have concrete evidence against *someone’s* post, they will likely still believe what they saw is authentic. – Cotton Headed Ninnymuggins Jun 12 '20 at 14:54
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    @Harper-ReinstateMonica - I think the more remarkable Star of David is around _Bin Laden's_ neck.... essentially alleging he's both a Muslim and a Jew. – Clockwork-Muse Jun 12 '20 at 16:05
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    Good point. It's just unbelievable that you should even need to argue that. Anybody who gives these credence is probably unconvinceable. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jun 12 '20 at 16:09
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    Osama Bin Laden and Obama at a luau? – RobertF Jun 12 '20 at 19:59
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    Note that whether or not the photos are real may not make a difference - I have a relative that posted a doctored Hillary/Bin Laden picture. When they were informed it wasn't real, the reply was "It doesn't matter". – Clockwork-Muse Jun 12 '20 at 20:13
  • @Clockwork-Muse But that doesn't mean it's that way for everyone though. It's probably true for some and there's always confirmation bias at play. But it might make a difference for some people even if not all. – Pryftan Jun 13 '20 at 00:26
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    Wow, that was some party... – RBarryYoung Jun 13 '20 at 02:56
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    You should be asking the person who posted the images what their source was before doing anything else. – iono Jun 14 '20 at 09:42
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    Height is another indicator. Bin Laden was 6 foot 5 inches and Hilary Clinton is 5 foot 5 inches and in the picture "she" looks 6 foot plus. – StephenG - Help Ukraine Jun 14 '20 at 11:19
  • This Facebook post doesn’t make a claim, other that it will be quickly deleted. – Andrew Grimm Jun 15 '20 at 12:42
  • @Clockwork-Muse Yep. Had a friend reply "dgaf" when I proved to him that some anti-Trump claim was a fake. Had an old uncle reply "Thanks for your opinion" when I proved a notable reporter did not say certain things about Obama. Another anti-socialism post tried to convince some silly story about shared class grades really happened. His reply was "Still makes a point" [no, it doesn't]. The large majority of people sharing these things will not learn from you outing them. They will simply ignore you. –  Jun 16 '20 at 17:27
  • @Clockwork-Muse (and Cotton and others): Not only is the Star of David around Bin Laden's neck an obvious indicator that the pic is fake, but so are the Stars of David by themselves. I've never seen anybody wear a Star that large (though maybe [Flavor Flav](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavor_Flav) would ). I've never even seen one until I just found something similar (https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32878735587.html). Is it supposed to be a necklace? If so, it's hanging too low, at least for her. Or a medal? It just seems quite unnatural / out of place, even if it was just Hillary wearing it. – Solomon Rutzky Jun 30 '20 at 16:32

1 Answers1

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  • Hillary Clinton: Fake

    Snopes explains

    A photograph of Hillary Clinton shaking hands with terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden has circulated online (divorced from its original context) ever since it was created for a Photoshop contest held back in 2007 by the web site FreakingNews.com

  • Barack Obama: Fake

    Full Fact found the original image:

    enter image description here

  • Condoleezza Rice: Fake

    The same Full Fact article found the source image:

    The picture featuring former Secretary of State Condoleeza (sic) Rice, was also an entry to an April Fools’ Day Photoshop competition on [Freaking News] in 2007.

Oddthinking
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    I have no idea how you fact checked this so quickly. Whenever I use Snopes, it seems like I'm being too specific or something. – Cotton Headed Ninnymuggins Jun 11 '20 at 06:12
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    @CottonHeadedNinnymuggins Try Google or Tineye's reverse image search. – user91988 Jun 12 '20 at 16:21
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    how do we know that somebody didn't enter the real thing into those contests? \ – Michael Jun 13 '20 at 03:44
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    @Michael Interesting to note, the best thing would be if someone didn't win with an original photo. Would it be because they didn't photoshop *funny enough*? It couldn't be because the photo wasn't *realistic* enough since original photos are original photos. If it's not realistic, it's the photographer's fault I guess. – Cotton Headed Ninnymuggins Jun 13 '20 at 06:06
  • @CottonHeadedNinnymuggins - I think an entry that makes a statement about how big a jerk the entrant is, vs the quality of their technical editing skills, is more germane to whether they win a contest like this or not. – PoloHoleSet Jun 22 '20 at 16:57
  • @PoloHoleSet yep probably – Cotton Headed Ninnymuggins Jun 22 '20 at 18:36