The list also provides a vivid picture of the pressures on bin Laden’s
followers. Abdul Rauf al-Maghribi “broke down psychologically” and
is recorded as betraying some of the “brothers in Saudi Arabia”.
Meanwhile, four al-Qaeda members are registered as being “martyred in
Chechnya”, where they apparently travelled to fight the Russian army
during the war in that breakaway region in the 1990s.
Another, named as Ahmed Hussein, is recorded as being “discharged”,
suggesting that al-Qaeda had a procedure for allowing those who had served
the movement to have an honourable retirement. Some appear to have done
their utmost to resume normal lives. Abu Majid, who appears as member number
79, is down as going to “Yemen to study”.
bin Laden worried about Al-Qaeda attacks causing “unnecessary”
Muslim casualties and advised his deputies to take more care to spare
civilian lives.
The Al-Qaeda chief, killed in a US raid a year ago, underscores “the need
to cancel other attacks due to the possible and unnecessary civilian
casualties” in Muslim countries, according to the letter.
“We ask every emir in the regions to be extremely keen and focused on
controlling the military work,” he wrote, referring to Al-Qaeda
attacks.
Bin Laden expressed concern about his network losing the sympathy of Muslims
and described operations killing Muslims as “mistakes,” adding
that was important that “no Muslims fall victim except when it is
absolutely essential.”
“It would lead us to winning several battles while losing the war at the
end,” he wrote.
Until the end, bin Laden remained focused on attacking Americans and coming up
with plots, however improbable, to kill U.S. leaders. He wished especially
to target airplanes carrying Gen. David Petraeus and even President Barack
Obama, reasoning that an assassination would elevate an “utterly
unprepared” Vice President Joe Biden into the presidency and plunge the
U.S. into crisis.
But a U.S. analysts’ report released along with bin Laden’s correspondence
describes him as upset over the inability of spinoff terrorist groups to win
public support for their cause, their unsuccessful media campaigns and
poorly planned plots that, in bin Laden’s view, killed too many innocent
Muslims.
Bin Laden adviser Adam Gadahn urged him to disassociate their organization
from the acts of al-Qaida’s spinoff operation in Iraq, known as AQI, and bin
Laden told other terrorist groups not to repeat AQI’s mistakes.
The correspondence includes letters by then-second-in-command Abu Yahya
al-Libi, taking Pakistani offshoot Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan to task over
its indiscriminate attacks on Muslims. The al-Qaida leadership “threatened
to take public measures unless we see from you serious and immediate
practical and clear steps towards reforming (your ways) and dissociating
yourself from these vile mistakes that violate Islamic Law,” al-Libi
wrote.
And bin Laden warned the leader of Yemeni AQAP, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, against
attempting a takeover of Yemen to establish an Islamic state, instead saying
he should “refocus his efforts on attacking the United States.”
Bin Laden also seemed uninterested in recognizing Somali-based al-Shabab when
the group pledged loyalty to him because he thought its leaders were poor
governors of the areas they controlled and were too strict with their
administration of Islamic penalties, like cutting off the hands of thieves.
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