Journal of Bin Laden thoughts is released
Al Qaeda leader welcomed chaos in Arab world, according to files held by CIA.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A journal made public by the CIA and apparently handwritten by one of Osama bin Laden’s daughters offers a glimpse into how the late Al Qaeda leader viewed the world around him and reveals his deep interest in the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolutions that were unfolding in the months before a U. S. raid killed him.
The 228- page journal meanders among discussions, thoughts and reflections Bin Laden shared with his family about how to exploit Mideast uprisings, what to make of the rapid changes unfolding in the Arab world and when Al Qaeda should speak out.
“This chaos and the absence of leadership in the revolutions is the best environment to spread Al Qaeda’s thoughts and ideas,” Bin Laden is quoted as telling his family in the document.
The CIA released the journal on Wednesday as part of a trove of material recovered during the May 2011 raid that killed Bin Laden, and then took down the files, saying they were “temporarily unavailable pending resolution of a technical issue.”
The journal appears to cover conversations between Bin Laden and his daughters Miriam and Somiya, his wife and his sons Khaled and Hamza — the latter of whom would go on to become a potential successor to lead the group his father founded.
The journal is titled “Special diaries for Abu Abdullah: Sheikh Abdullah’s points of view — a session with the family,” which refers to Bin Laden by his traditional Arabic name. The conversations took place between February and April 2011, with the journal entries dated according to the Islamic calendar.
During that time, uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt had ousted longtime autocratic rulers, touching off protests in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria. The Middle East was on the cusp of unstoppable change, chaos and turmoil.
The ref lections, jotted down in blue ink at times and at others in red, refer repeatedly to news reports of what was happening across the region.
At one point, they criticize Al Jazeera TV’s broadcast of gruesome images from a deadly protest in Yemen, saying that a warning should have been given in order to shield children from viewing them. However, the Qatari- backed channel is also hailed for “working on toppling regimes” and for “carrying the banner of the revolutions.”
Bin Laden appears concerned by the speed of some of the region’s revolts, believing that a gradual approach would help avoid the backlash of a counterrevolution as government leaders sought to hold on to power at all cost.
“I am upset by the timing of the revolutions. We told them to slow down,” Bin Laden is quoted as saying, though it’s not entirely clear which countries he is referring to.
In the early pages of the document, Bin Laden is asked about his thoughts on jihad and replies that he first considered it “in secondary school.”
From a young age, he appeared to be unfazed by worldly spoils, recounting a story about declining a new watch from his wealthy father.
He recalls a summer spent studying in Britain when he was 14, including a visit to the home of William Shakespeare. His time in Britain left him feeling uneasy, and he decided not to return the following summer.
“I saw that they were a society different from ours and that they were morally corrupt,” he is quoted as saying.