Cia releases huge trove of files seized from osama bin. The central intelligence agency on november 1 released hundreds of thousands of documents, computer files and images that were recovered during the may 2011 raid on osama bin ladens compound in. Nearly five years after george bush vowed to bring osama bin laden to justice dead or alive, its the end of the line for the cias alec station, the. Cia disbands bin laden unit world news the guardian. Since the early 1990s, several interviews of osama bin laden have appeared in the global media. The book is called the ten year search and based on the detail, confidential sources including covert cia agents with pseudonyms, and clarity of the book, it. On september 11th, 2001, carmen bin ladin heard the news that the twin towers had been struck. Exseal member who wrote book on bin laden raid forfeits. The bin laden book proved to be a very different sort of undertaking. The us government told me osama bin laden read my book. The may 1, 2011 raid on abbottabad, pakistan that culminated in the killing of osama bin laden took 40 minutes. Cia releases nearly 470,000 additional files recovered in.
Michael scheuer, chief of the cias bin laden unit from 1996 to 1999, provides something revealing in his recent book osama bin laden. Michael scheuer, a 20year veteran of the cia, was chief of the agencys osama bin laden unit from 1996 to 1999. The operation that killed bin ladin welcome to the cia. In the weeks following the raid on osama bin ladens compound in abbottabad, pakistan by united states. Bin ladens bookshelf office of the director of national intelligence. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the cia and funded by the saudis to wage jihad against the russian. As the cia on wednesday made public at least 470,000 files from computers seized during the may 2011 raid on osama bin ladens abbottabad safe house, the world got a peep into the secret life of. Cia archives contain no record of any direct contact between a cia officer and bin laden during the 1980s. A picture of the reallife cia agent at the heart of zero dark thirty director kathryn bigelows new film about the hunt for osama bin laden has emerged this week. Here is a list of pieces about osama bin laden and al qaeda from the new yorker s archive.
In this highly readable and jargonfree book, scheuer imperial hubris. Opinion why are the cia files on osama bin laden so. In the interviews, bin laden acknowledges having instigated bombings in khobar and riyadh, but denies involvement with both the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the wtc towers in new york like the videos of osama bin. Losing the war on terror, head of the cias bin laden unit from 1996 to 1999. Buy osama bin laden book online at low prices in india osama.
Allegations of cia assistance to osama bin laden wikipedia. This article details key issues and events including the rise of the taliban and the emergence of osama bin laden as a global terrorist figure. A biography offers a concise, factbased portrait of a man whose rise from obscurity to notoriety coincides with some of the most traumatic events of the 21st century. No one cared about osama bin laden when i started writing it, so i wrote it as a travelogue because i assumed that that was the only way to get people interested in the subject. His book the rise and fall of the great powers was found in and around bin ladens compound in abbottabad, where bin laden was killed in a raid by u. A bro asked the cia about osama bin ladens porn stash. Osama bin laden was the criminal mastermind behind alqaida and the worlds most soughtafter terrorist since the 1998 attacks on u.
Michael scheuer was the chief of the cias bin laden unit from 1996 to 1999. Cuban leader fidel castro has said that alqaida leader osama bin laden is a boughtandpaidfor cia agent who always popped up when. He served as an asset, when his great knowledge of afghanistan served the purpose of the west, then having proxy issues with now russ. Bin ladens reading list for americans the new york times. No and it is probably the most repeated lie concerning the man. Michael scheuer, head of the cias bin laden unit, concluded that ariana was being used as a terrorist taxi service. Osama bin laden offers a detailed biography of the saudi terrorist. The real bin laden, by mary anne weaver, january 24, 2000 hunting bin laden after the embassy. Osama bin laden books list of books by author osama bin. Bin laden and al qaeda in the archive the new yorker. This remark bookended president bushs statement to a joint session of.
This book by a uniquely qualified expert probes the depth and complexity of his. Bin ladens compound in abbottabad contained a fairly extensive stash of naughty goods, according to reuters news agency in 2011. The surprising books on osama bin ladens reading list. The missions success was the culmination of many years of complex, thorough, and highlyadvanced intelligence operations and analysis led by the cia with support from partners across the intelligence community. Declassified cia documents throw new light on osama bin laden. The nation of muhammad has responded to this appeal. He was eventually traced to a compound in abbottabad. On monday, the authors of three books apparently recommended to american readers by the leader of al qaeda in his latest communique might be wondering how one goes about returning an unsolicited endorsement to a shadowy militant. The cia declassified wednesday hundreds of thousands of documents seized in the 2011 raid of osama bin ladens compound in abbottabad, pakistan. This assertion takes substance from the days of the soviet afghan war in which the cia was covertly supporting the afghan mujahideen. Ten years after 911, the united states is still fighting a war in afghanistan against the taliban. Bin laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Osama bin laden may be dead but the objectives he strove to achieve have in a large part become a reality. One signifier of this is that initially bin laden issued a fatwa 23 february 1998 in conjunction with islamic leaders copingersymes, 2003, p.
Bergen came away from that meeting struck by bin laden s raw hatred for the united states. Bergen is highly qualified to write the definitive account of the hunt for and assassination of osama bin laden having actually interviewed him for cnn in 1997 when he was a jihadist fighting the soviet union occupation of afghanistan. The cia released a new batch of files seized during the may 2011 raid on osama bin ladens compound, revealing new details about the al qaeda leaders activities behind the high walls surrounding. Bowden uses high end details in this nonfictional novel to outline the process that barack obama, his cabinet, and high ranking military officers took to search for an locate. Its not like the cia to let an asset like that wither on the vine, especially considering the welldocumented connections between bush republicans and osama bin laden going back 20 or more years. Thought to be isolated from alqaedas daily operations, bin ladens direction may no longer be a relevant factor in the groups effectiveness. The best books on osama bin laden five books expert. What is in the latest osama bin laden files released by. In this book, scheuer, the first head of the cias bin laden unit, provides a closely reasoned portrait of bin laden. Bin ladens appears to have worked in some manner with cia or other operatives he would never be in in the cia. The finish, the killing of osama bin laden by mark bowden initially begins by describing the first explosion of the north tower and reactions of millions of americans. While oprahs seal of approval on a book cover is sought after in america, osama bin ladens is, to put it mildly, not.
The osama bin laden file national security archive. Osama bin laden s former sisterinlaw provides a penetrating, unusually intimate look into saudi society and the bin laden familys role within it, as well as the treatment of saudi women. The bnd informed the cia that bin laden was in pakistan and bild am. After 911 you explained the worldview of osama bin laden to others in. What to read on bin laden and al qaeda foreign affairs. The navy seal who wrote the controversial book detailing the assassination of osama bin laden credits a feisty female cia analyst for leading them to their target, after spending five years. Bowden was trying to tell the story just months after it happened. In the early morning hours of may 2nd in pakistan, a u. Why the west is losing the war on terror, head of the cias bin laden unit from 1996 to. And the fact that he is viewed as a hero by millions in the islamic. As well as training and recruiting afghan nationals to fight the soviets, the cia permitted its isi allies to recruit muslim extremists from around the world. Osama bin laden, the founder and first leader of the islamist terrorist group, al qaeda, was. Osama bin laden was born in jeddah, saudi arabia in 1957, the 17th of 2025 sons of mohamed bin laden, who had 5254 children in total.
Osama bin laden, our new public enemy number 1, is the personification of blowback. Langley, va the cia today released to the public nearly 470,000 additional files recovered in the may 2011 raid on usama bin ladins compound in abbottabad, pakistan. Author interview with william murray, former cia director, virginia, october 2014. The first book, and, to date, the definitive one, that looks at the osama bin laden raid from president obamas perspective. At dawn, bin laden was loaded into the belly of a flipwing v22 osprey, accompanied by a jsoc liaison officer and a security detail of military police. Is the female cia agent who tracked down bin laden the. Osama bin laden available biographies depict osama bin laden as a historical figure, the mastermind behind 911, but no longer relevant to the world it created. This book by a former washington post correspondent is less a biography of bin laden than a history of the contemporary jihadi movement, which mr. Among these was an interview by middle east specialist robert fisk.
Scheuer, the former head of the cias bin laden unit, offers a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of the al qaeda leader and convincingly demonstrates his importance in shaping the. This propulsive biography is not bin laden for beginners, but its central point is clear. This undated artist rendering handout provided by the cia shows the abbottabad compound in pakistan where osama bin laden, the al qaeda leader behind 911 and other terrorist attacks, had been living. Osama bin laden by michael scheuer, paperback barnes. Career intelligence professionals executed this interagency effort, with cia as executive agent. I n the weeks following the raid on osama bin laden s compound in abbottabad, pakistan, by united states forces, u. The finish describes a new kind of war fightingthe fusion of intelligence from vast and scattered sourcesto track and apprehend, or kill, the enemy. Randal argues was inadvertently strengthened by american hubris, ignorance and missteps in the middle east and persian gulf. Randal chronicles bin ladens combat experiences as an antisoviet. Grenier did not make this claim, as written, in his book. Scheuer imperial hubris, chief of the cias osama bin laden unit from 1996 to 1999, argues that the west chronically underestimates bin ladens piety, generosity, personal bravery, strategic ability, charisma and patience. The al qaeda leader osama bin laden, killed in pakistan by u. Osama bin laden is the founder and leader of the international terrorist network alqaeda, and the u.
It follows bin ladens story from his life in saudi society in the 1960s and 1970s to his religious conversion, his emergence as a jihadist leader, his horrifying terrorist attacks, and his. The al qaeda leader and 911 mastermind spent years in hiding after the united states invaded afghanistan. The stunning inside story of osama bin laden and al. Reuters reported that officials were unsure about the. According to cnn journalist peter bergen, known for conducting the first television interview with osama bin laden in 1997, bin laden had his own money, he was antiamerican and he was operating secretly and independently. Assuming that he is still alive, which i believe him to be, if captured, what should be done to him. Why the woman who tracked down bin laden was denied.