NEW DELHI: The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released an unprecedented number of documents from what U.S. officials have described as the treasure-trove picked up by the Navy Seals when Osama Bin Laden was killed following the raid on Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011.
As stated by the ODNI, the release of the documents, which followed a rigorous interagency review, aligns with President Obama’s call for increased transparency–consistent with national security prerogatives–and the 2014 Intelligence Authorization Act, which required the ODNI to conduct a review of the documents for release.
The release contains two sections. The first is a list of non-classified, English-language material found in and around the compound. The second is a selection of now-declassified documents.
The English-language material is largely books and publications, and provides some insight into what Bin Laden was thinking. It is reproduced below:
- The 2030 Spike by Colin Mason
- A Brief Guide to Understanding Islam by I. A. Ibrahim
- America’s Strategic Blunders by Willard Matthias
- America’s “War on Terrorism” by Michel Chossudovsky
- Al-Qaeda’s Online Media Strategies: From Abu Reuter to Irhabi 007 by Hanna Rogan
- The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast
- The Best Enemy Money Can Buy by Anthony Sutton
- Black Box Voting, Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century by Bev Harris
- Bloodlines of the Illuminati by Fritz Springmeier
- Bounding the Global War on Terror by Jeffrey Record
- Checking Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions by Henry Sokolski and Patrick Clawson
- Christianity and Islam in Spain 756-1031 A.D. by C. R. Haines
- Civil Democratic Islam: Partners, Resources, and Strategies by Cheryl Benard
- Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
- Conspirators’ Hierarchy: The Committee of 300 by John Coleman
- Crossing the Rubicon by Michael Ruppert
- Fortifying Pakistan: The Role of U.S. Internal Security Assistance (only the book’s introduction) by C. Christine Fair and Peter Chalk
- Guerilla Air Defense: Antiaircraft Weapons and Techniques for Guerilla Forces by James Crabtree
- Handbook of International Law by Anthony Aust
- Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance by Noam Chomsky
- Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer
- In Pursuit of Allah’s Pleasure by Asim Abdul Maajid, Esaam-ud-Deen and Dr. Naahah Ibrahim
- International Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific by John Ikenberry and Michael Mastandano
- Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions since World War II by William Blum
- Military Intelligence Blunders by John Hughes-Wilson
- Project MKULTRA, the CIA’s program of research in behavioral modification. Joint hearing before the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session, August 3, 1977. United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Intelligence.
- Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies by Noam Chomsky
- New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11 by David Ray Griffin
- New Political Religions, or Analysis of Modern Terrorism by Barry Cooper
- Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward
- Oxford History of Modern War by Charles Townsend
- The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy
- Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower by William Blum The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly Hall (1928)
- Secrets of the Federal Reserve by Eustace Mullins
- The Taking of America 1-2-3 by Richard Sprague
- Unfinished Business, U.S. Overseas Military Presence in the 21st Century by Michael O’Hanlon
- The U.S. and Vietnam 1787-1941 by Robert Hopkins Miller
- “Website Claims Steve Jackson Games Foretold 9/11,” article posted on ICV2.com (this file contained only a single saved web page)
The rest of the material includes the largest repository of correspondence ever released between members of bin Laden's immediate family and communications between bin Laden and terrorist figures, including other leaders of Al Qaeda.
Bin Laden, in fact, in an undated letter to militants in North Africa says jihadist need to stop "insisting on the formation of an Islamic state" and instead attack U.S. embassies in Sierra Leone and Togo and American oil companies. The same advice was meted out to militants in Yemen, who were advised to stop focusing on Yemeni authorities and instead redirect their energies to American targets.
In a letter to Hakimullah Mehsud, bin Laden advised the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader to prevent against further dividing and fragmenting an already heterogenous jihadist organisation.
“There are many operating groups and local Taliban groups who have joined, and there is Tehreek-i-Taliban or those who did not join (us). Those who did not join are no less than those who have joined (us),” bin Laden wrote. “We looked at the movement list you sent to us, asking us for our opinion. We have previously written to brother Qari (Husayn)... and had asked him to inform you of the matter, but I do not know if he did or not.” As Dawn news reports, Bin Laden advises Mehsud not to try to “control the movement”, telling him that his experience showed that such moves have a negative impact and would produce results “different to what we need”.
“It will become a reason for the flare-up of many problems that you do not need now,” says the Al Qaeda leader to his TTP counterpart, promising to send him a detailed response later.
Some of the letters include the communication between bin Laden’s family, including his four wives and 20 children. The full list of documents can be found on: http://www.odni.gov/index.php/resources/bin-laden-bookshelf?start=1