Difference between revisions of "Osama Bin Laden"

Revision as of 20:06, May 7, 2011

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن‎, Usāmah bin Muḥammad bin ‘Awaḍ bin Lādin; (born March 10, 1957 - died May 2, 2011.), commonly known as Osama bin Laden (Arabic: أسامة بن لادن), was a radical Sunni Muslim, and the leader of al Qaeda, a worldwide terrorist group responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks, terrorist attacks on Americans in the 1990s, and other attacks on innocent civilians in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Family

Bin Laden was an Arab from a Yemeni family that made a fortune in construction in Saudi Arabia. His family disowned bin Laden in 1994 and the Saudi Arabian government revoked both his passport and citizenship. He went to Afghanistan with his network of Arab allies to fight against the Soviets in the Soviet-Afghan War. He was never aided or funded by the U.S. or the CIA.

Terrorism and Al Qaeda

In bin Laden's declarations and writings, he asserts that American attacks against Muslims justify reciprocation by Muslims, including the killing of innocents as a part of militaristic jihad. He refers to Islamic states headed by individuals friendly to the United States as usurper states which are disloyal to Islam.

Bin Laden and his followers were based in war-torn Sudan for most of the 1990s at the invitation of Hassan al-Turabi, a powerful Sudanese political leader and terrorism supporter. In the late 1990s bin Laden issued two fatahs (declarations of holy war) against the United States for the basing of troops in the Arabian Peninsula to defend against external aggression by Saddam Hussein and because of the suffering of the Iraqi people under UN economic sanctions.^[1]

In 1998, bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, then leader of the Egyptian terrorist group called the Islamic Brotherhood, announced the joining of al Qaeda and the Islamic Brotherhood to form the World Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders^[2]. In 1998, the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were destroyed by suicide bombers; the United States later indicted both bin Laden and al-Zawahiri for the attacks which killed 224 people. In retaliation the United States launched cruise missiles, however, both terrorist leaders escaped. They then fled to Afghanistan, where al Qaeda set up camps that were protected by the Taliban government. When the Taliban refused to turn al Qaeda terrorists over to justice, NATO invaded and liberated Afghanistan in Oct. 2001. He was almost captured but escaped to Pakistan, where local warlords continued to harbor him. Occasionally he released a recording giving new threats.

In the 1990s, bin Laden also gave funding to Chechen terrorists fighting against Russia^[3]. These terrorists were later responsible for the Beslan school siege of 2004. Chechens also fought in Afghanistan against U.S. forces on behalf of the Taliban^[4].

Osama's death, White House Reactions on 5/2/2011.

Bin Laden was cited by the United States government as the most wanted terrorist.

Abbottabad raid

Bin Laden was killed in a mansion outside Abbottabad, a highland town 50 km. north of Islamabad, capital of Pakistan. According to news reports, the White House, and the US Military, facial recognition, and DNA evidence confirmed the identity of the man killed as Osama bin Laden. Initial reports said the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attack did not have the opportunity to surrender:

"In the room with Bin Laden, a woman, Bin Laden's wife, rushed the U.S. assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed." CIA Director Leon Panetta said in an interview on PBS television Tuesday that he did not believe Bin Laden had a chance to speak before he was shot in the face and killed. "To be frank, I don't think he had a lot of time to say anything," Panetta said. [3]

which was disputed by Safia, bin Laden's 13 year old daughter who witnessed the events.^[5]

Initial White House reports also stated that one of his wives who was captured in the raid identified the body as well. Three men besides Bin Laden and a woman were killed during the 40-minute raid. Osama was later buried at sea in the Arabian Sea, less than a day after his death; a burial at sea leaves no marked grave (no definitive location). Several pundits have pointed out that this would prevent Islamic extremists from creating a shrine of his grave site.

Photographs of Operation and Death

To date, no pictures have been shown of the military operation, although ABC News showed photographs of Osama's compound after the operation was complete.^[6]

On May 4, 2011, Obama announced that the post-mortem photographs of bin Laden would not be released.^[7] According to CNN, the most recognizable photo of Bin Laden was taken in a hangar after the operation was complete. However, there is a massive open head wound across both eyes, and it is considered gruesome and mangled enough that it would not be appropriate to print on the front page of a newspaper.^[8]

Republican senator and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Republican senator and member of the armed services committee Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire claimed to have seen the post-mortem photographs of bin Laden^[7], however the photos they viewed were actually fake.^[9]

Reactions to Death

In the US, news of Bin Laden's death was generally met with a mixture of relief and joy, ranging from spontaneous public gatherings to celebrate the news, to more sober reactions by victims of the September 11 attacks.

But for Stella Olender of Chicago, her questions aren’t politically-motivated conspiracy theories, but rather the still-fresh wounds of losing a daughter, 39-year-old Christine, who died at the World Trade Center in the Sept. 11 attacks. “Is it true or false? I don’t know,” Olender said in a phone interview while working at her tailoring and cleaning business in the city’s Hanson Park neighborhood. Olender said she’s particularly concerned because U.S. officials have said bin Laden’s body was buried at sea but haven’t offered any photographic proof that he was killed. “To me, that seems strange, that they disposed of it and no one (besides) whoever was right there knows what happened, if it’s true or false, you know?” Olender said. [4]

About the compound in Abbottabad where Osama died, one resident said:

“That house is in an army area. What kind of standards does the Pakistan army have — they’re fools? If you think they’re fools, okay, Osama’s here,” said ur-Rehman. He said that he and others in the area have concluded that bin Laden was not there and that the United States staged a “drama.” [5]

See also

• Islamic terrorism
• Afghanistan War
• Terrorism
• FBI Most Wanted Terrorist List

External links

• Osama bin Laden Dead or Alive? by David Ray Griffin.
• Bin Laden's sea burial fuels conspiracy theories.

Further reading

• Randal, Jonathan. Osama: The Making of a Terrorist (2004). 339 pp.

References

1. ↑ bin Laden's Declaration of War, 1998.
2. ↑ http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir011003_1_n.shtml
3. ↑ [1]
4. ↑ [2]
5. ↑ http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/05/05/Bin-Laden-family-narrative-surfaces/UPI-30131304608664/
6. ↑ EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Compound Where Osama Bin Laden Was Killed ABC News, retrieved 05/03/2011
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Obama: I won't release bin Laden death photos CBS News, 05/04/2011
8. ↑ Even more details on the OBL photos CNN, 05/03/2011
9. ↑ Fake out: Senators confused over bin Laden photos MSNBC, 05/04/2011