Where is Mullah Mohammed Omar? A question many are asking, and so far the only clear answer is, “Not on the wanted poster that bears his name.” Instead, the poster depicts Maulvi Hafizullah, an Afghani villager who is currently hiding from enthusiastic bounty hunters out to claim their $5-million (U.S.) reward. Sure, the two men have thick dark beards, but the image that graced the hundreds of thousands of leaflets U.S. forces scattered around Afghanistan differs in the overlooked fact that Taliban leader Omar has only one eye, the second having fastened itself to a Russian rocket in 1986. Hafizullah has two.

Calling the CIA “stupid and blind,” Hafizullah has taken to staying indoors out of fear that “soldiers or villagers will tear me to pieces so they can get the money.”

Despite their error, U.S. officials instead chose to focus on the positive, saying the mistake at least “shows that this kind of poster drop certainly is effective.” :

» Scott Saxon