WASHINGTON, 15 December — The long-awaited Osama Bin Laden home movie finally made its debut Thursday, horrifying the nation — as reflected in the following summary of nationwide editorials:

"Television, the medium of faces, yesterday brought us face to face with evil. It turns out that this particular face of evil wasn’t exactly menacing, monstrous or demonic. There were no fire-red eyes or hideous green flesh," writes Tom Shales in yesterday’s Washington Post.

"It was the heavily bearded face of Osama Bin Laden, noted terrorist and probably the most famous murderer in the world right now…

"Although Bin Laden and his radical extremist wing of the Islamic faith have the technological ability to commit wholesale slaughter, they aren’t any better at operating a video camera than Cousin Jethro or Aunt Lavinia. There were generous views of the floor, wild pans and zany zooms in and out. Most of the time the camera was focused (just barely) on one of Bin Laden’s aides and not on Big Bin himself...

"They referred to one another as ‘the brothers,’ and to their terrorist atrocity as an ‘operation.’ They looked like a seedy, sinister bowling team and not the kind of monsters who could perpetrate a crime that would shock and sadden the whole world…"

The Chicago Tribune’s lead editorial notes: "…The extent of denial in the Arab world has been mystifying. A surprisingly large number of Arabs have preferred to believe conspiracy theories that Jews were warned to evacuate the World Trade Center just before the attack there, or that America’s real agenda is to capture Afghanistan’s supposedly vast riches in gold and other resources by force—or, in recent days, that Hollywood created this videotape for propaganda purposes…

"…Even before release of the tape, most Arab-Americans believed that no serious person could doubt Bin Laden’s complicity, nor that of his terrorist network. And in Asia, even the angry anti-American demonstrations that roiled Pakistan after Bin Laden was targeted by the US have died down.

"Still, in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the Arab world — where governments have supported the US-led war in Afghanistan — skeptics are already claiming the new videotape of Bin Laden proves nothing. They argue that the sound quality on the tape is poor and that even native Arab speakers must rely on an official US translation, which raises suspicions in the Arab world.

"Fine," concludes the Chicago Tribune. "For some, there will never be enough evidence to convince them of what they cannot, or will not, believe. But more thoughtful Arabs, Muslims and others around the world can no longer doubt that Bin Laden has blood on his hands. And that he must face justice—soon."

Yesterday’s Boston Globe continues on the same theme: "Throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds, there has been a lamentable willingness to deny the reality of what happened on Sept. 11. Instead of blaming Bin Laden and Islamic extremists, one widely credited theory has been that Israel in fact engineered the attack…

"Perhaps the most charitable thing one can say about that view is that too much of Islamic culture has retreated to a comforting denial rather than acknowledge the stark and uncomfortable truth about Islamic terrorism.

"There can no longer be any excuse for that denial," concludes the Boston Globe.

The New York Post also seems to be writing for international consumption: "So much for those — particularly in Europe and the Arab world — who’ve insisted that Osama Bin Laden’s guilt in the mass murder of Sept. 11 had yet to be proven.

"This wasn’t a domestic offense, a robbery gone bad or a drive-by shooting. This was the worst act of mass murder in American history — and an act of war..."

The Los Angeles Times editorial, entitled: "Cult Leader and his Toadies," discussing the tape, writes: "In one of his characteristically oblique comments, Bin Laden notes that people will always rally round a strong horse and disdain a weak one.

"Like each of his messianic forebears, he reveals no foresight as to how quickly evil men lose the reins of power… Now, the Taleban has collapsed and Al-Qaeda is on the run; Bin Laden, serene and supremely creepy on tape, seemed clueless as to how far his star had fallen since his big day in September."

And finally, the Washington Times chips in: "Bin Laden’s laughter provides focus for America’s strength. The tape makes clear that those like him respect no human life and make death man’s most glorious purpose.

"In the face of such blatant evil, America must unify. America has wept. Now it must conquer."