US
officials have published a trove of files found at his Pakistan
hideout the night the al-Qaeda chief was killed.They include Arabic
correspondence with his lieutenants, a love letter to one of his wives and an application form to join the terror group.He also had
English language books on economic and military theory.In one of the letters,
Bin Laden instructs one of his deputies to tell "our brothers" that
they must remained focused on fighting Americans.Their "job is to uproot
the obnoxious tree by concentrating on its American trunk, and to avoid being
occupied with the local security forces," he writes.The Office of the
Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said a "rigorous" review had
taken place before the spy agency ordered the release of the documents.
There are 103 papers and videos in all, including a number of
translated letters, notes, and other materials detailing al-Qaeda operations.
Many of the documents also have a version available in Arabic. One letter mocks
President George W Bush's War on Terror, with Bin Laden writing that it had not
created stability in Iraq or Afghanistan.
There is also section entitled Materials Regarding France, which
includes a number of academic reports and articles about France's military,
politics and economy. Also listed is a document described as a "suicide
prevention guide", several English language books including Bob Woodward's
Obama's Wars, several maps, and a few video game guides. He made a video letter
to one of his wives, in which he says: "Know that you do fill my heart
with love, beautiful memories, and your long-suffering of tense situations in
order to appease me and be kind to me."
Analysis - Gordon Corera, BBC security
correspondent
They say you can tell a lot about a
person from their bookshelf. But what can we tell about the leader of al-Qaeda
from his? Firstly, he wanted to know his enemy - he seems to have read plenty
on America including bestsellers like Obama's Wars by Bob Woodward.Unsurprisingly,
he also seemed to favour books which were critical of American power such as by
Noam Chomsky or Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins which
recounted the author's claims of American companies exploiting the developing
world.
There's also an element of trying to
learn his opponents' weaknesses and vulnerabilities - retired British colonel
John Hughes-Wilson's book on military intelligence blunders makes an appearance
as do books on guerrilla warfare. There also some books which perhaps suggest a
bit of wish fulfilment - The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
for instance.Also on the list is Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer - the CIA
analyst who first ran the unit dedicated to tracking Osama Bin Laden back in
the middle 90s and also, rather oddly, a book entitled A Brief Guide to
Understanding Islam.
Also on the list was Checking Iran's Nuclear Ambitions by
Patrick Clawson. When asked by the BBC about his feelings when he heard, Mr
Clawson replied sarcastically: "Wonderful, I am glad it is read in such
high circles."
Among
the documents appears to be an application to join the ranks of al-Qaeda,
including questions about hobbies and a willingness to be a martyr.The
documents are being released in the wake of President Obama's calls for greater
transparency, said Jeffrey Anchukaitis, a spokesman for the ODNI.
"The intelligence community will be reviewing hundreds more
documents in the near future for possible declassification and release,"
he said.
Some
of the material that has been included in the trove was previously declassified
for use in federal prosecutions.
In
2012, some documents recovered in the raid were released by the research wing of the US
military academy, West Point.
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