35 Burst results for "Bin Laden"
60 Minutes
"bin laden" Discussed on 60 Minutes
"You landed back in the United States, I mean, what did you think of all the media coverage? It was all surreal because this had all been so hush hush leading up to it. We went and did it, and that was the biggest news story ever. We got on a bus. They drove us back to work. I didn't even go in and told us we had a couple of days off and I grabbed my keys, went and got my truck and I put it in the book, but I hit Taco Bell on the way home, hit the drive-through, a couple tacos. And ate it in my car right there, and then drove on. You were part of the team that killed Osama bin Laden in the first thing you do when you get back to the United States just go to Taco Bell. Two tacos and a bean burrito. It's routine. Life has been anything but routine for Mark Owen since the publication of his book was announced. We'll have that when we come back. Days after returning from the raid in abbottabad Pakistan, Mark Owens squadron boarded an ancient C one 30 transport plane for one more mission. The men wondered why the plane was so old. Then they found out the plane had been used in 1980 in the failed attempt to rescue the American hostages in Iran. Somebody thought it was a fitting piece of American history to carry the men to their secret meeting with the president of the United States. The terrorist leader who struck our nation on 9 11 will never threaten America again. President Obama was making a speech at fort Campbell, Kentucky, and he met with the bin Laden team privately. All of the men would receive a silver star for valor. Did the president ask you guys which ones of you had shot Osama bin Laden? Yeah. He asked he asked who was the one and we told him we wouldn't tell him. You wouldn't tell him. Why not? Pulling a trigger is easy. You know, a couple pounds of pressure and your trigger finger and I've done it millions of times and it's not that hard. So it's not about who that one person was. It's who it was about the team or the helicopter pilots or the Intel folks that teed this whole thing up. Who cares who's the one person who doesn't matter? I wonder in writing this book, whether you're worried that some of your fellow seals will be angry with you. I've had nothing but an outpouring of support from the guys who know me. To quote one of my friends, he said, hey, if anybody can tell the story and do it right it's you. And I'm not taking that out on trying to toot my own horn. They know I'm doing it right. You say in the preface to the book. That if a reader is looking for secrets, this isn't their book. Absolutely not. I'm not talking secrets, I'm not talking tactics. I don't even get into any of that stuff. But I really try and give the reader a sense of what it's like to be to be there. Publicly, The Pentagon is not happy about no easy day.
60 Minutes
"bin laden" Discussed on 60 Minutes
"Time was slipping away, Mark Owen, in a couple of other members of SEAL Team 6, kneeled around a mangled body on the third floor of the house in abbottabad Pakistan. Everything the CIA analyst told them about the raid on Osama bin Laden's house had checked out exactly as she said. But was this bin Laden? You know, in my mind, he looked way younger than I thought he was going to be. His beard wasn't gray at all. I had studied a lot of photos of him and, you know, they were always gray. His beard was dark black. Identifiably he was very tall. So, okay, you know, we can kind of chalk that up as something bin Laden was about 6 foot four. His nose to me was something that I could kind of identify. So, you know, kind of looking at the profile shots and everything. I was like, okay, I was pretty sure that was him. But, you know, I'm not willing to make that call. Certainly not at that point. Not willing because Owen says they suspected the president was listening at The White House and he was right. The helicopter crash had been reported up the chain of command. Owen says the seals
60 Minutes
"bin laden" Discussed on 60 Minutes
"Now, plenty of other guys have suffered much much more force. So it's not a big deal. Within 5 minutes, Owen's team cleared the outer house, more seals entered the compound and converged on the first floor of the main building. Inside, they found another courier with an assault rifle. Those seals were in the process of shooting the second gunman. And his wife jumped in front of it. All the women on target were very hostile, something very different than what we see in Afghanistan or Iraq. You typically don't see the women that are this aggressive and hostile, even though the females had come out of this building and talked to us, they were still very combative and aggressive. And we saw that throughout the entire compound, even all the way up on the third floor. They secured the ground floor and then the second floor. The team continued to head up these stairs single file. The first seal in line is called the point man. Oh, and at this point was right behind it. Number two, going up to the third floor. The seals had been told they could expect one of Osama bin Laden's sons. Guy start making their way up the stairs and it's quiet. It's pitch black in the house. No, no lights, all night vision. Get to the second floor. Intel had said, we think that Khalid, his son lives on the second floor. This is Osama bin Laden's son. Yeah. The guy in front of me who's point man. He sees the head pop out and disappear really quick around the corner. So I go, you know, what do you think, Kelly? I don't know. He literally whispers. Not amped up, not yelling, not anything he whispered. I cleaned. Colleen, whispers, Colleen's name. Doesn't know if it's clean or not. Khalid literally looks back around the around the edge of the hall and he shoots him. What was Khalid thinking at that time? Look around the corner. You know, curiosity killed the cat.
The Eric Metaxas Show
John Zmirak and Eric Discuss the UniParty's Grab for Our Freedom
"Welcome back, talk to my Johnson miraculous here from Texas show. John, don't you find it at least interesting that Naomi wolf, who is, was very politically liberal during the Bush administration. She was pointing out precisely the same things that you were pointing out. And people like me were stupidly drifting along with the Republican herd and not seeing the dangers inherent in what we now know is the uni party and the deep state what they were doing. What George Bush and Cheney and company were doing was not consonant with the American founders vision, but the Republicans went along with it. Because one of them, we were panicked and they used 9 11 to panic us into giving up our freedoms. George Bush, one of the only true things the man ever said was that a bin Laden and the Islamists hate us for our freedoms. But unfortunately, bush was, you know, the figurehead of the movement to revoke those very freedoms and to create a deep state that the deep state as we saw what it did to the president of the United States in office. What they did to Donald Trump. He could not control them. What they did to Matt Gaetz to Devin Nunez. When he tried to investigate the Russian collusion hoax, they turned all their power on him and made him seem like a Russian agent of influence. Congress can't stop them. The president can't stop them. The courts can't stop them. The Patriot Act and I did warn about this in 2006 in my entry in the war on terror in American conservatism and encyclopedia. It's a 900 page book. I contributed the entry on the Iraq War and the war on terror and a couple other things. I said, this is not so much a repeal of the constitution as of the Magna Carta.
The Dinesh D'Souza Podcast
Why Is Biden Admin Deploying Air Marshals to the Border?
"The air marshal National Council fired off a letter to DHS secretary mayorkas, and picos and Stevenson reminding them that deploying these air Marshals to the southern border to perform humanitarian work is reckless and it's putting the nation at extreme risk. And I believe that not only is that happening, but just the pure porous border itself is putting the nation at risk. So we have a lot of different angles putting our country at risk, not only at risk of terrorists, attacking airplanes, but terrorists posing as Mexicans and coming in through the border as well as the fentanyl crisis that has just one thing that's what keeping in mind and you and I have talked about this before is that if you follow the trajectory of these attacks by and large the ground for them is paved by Democrat leadership or should I say lack of leadership. Even though the 9 11 attacks occurred under Bush, the ground for that was prepared under Clinton. Remember, the attacks on kobar towers, the attack on the USS Cole, the attack on U.S. embassies, Clinton administration does nothing. They even know what bin Laden is, but they don't go after him. And so bin Laden becomes emboldened. And then similar, so my point is that now that they have Biden there and they know that Biden doesn't care about any of this, his attention is elsewhere while his attention is such as it is. Well, I don't think he has much of it. There's not a whole lot of attention going on. I think he's one of those he's really Bernie weekends weekend at Bernie's because that's exactly what he looks like to the rest of us. I mean, it's gotten to a point where, you know, it used to be that we'd see these things we'd roll our eyes. We'd make fun of it, but they've become so routine. In other words, it is now expected that Biden says things that make no sense. He has sentences that don't conjoin one to the other. There's no logic there, and nobody even feels like they need to criticize it or explain it because it's just like this is Biden.
Mark Levin
We Boosted Military Funds to Face the Merchant of Death
"Since the Britney griner trade to me it's been nothing short of fascinating to watch it play out You know not many people come with a nickname the merchant of death Think about what you have to do in life to earn the name merchant of death Gotta do some pretty special stuff To get that kind of moniker Especially throughout the national security community Yet that was exactly the earned nickname of Russian terrorist operative Victor boot Which is what he is He's a Russian terrorist operative Which you know I would get a kick out of news reports identifying him as an arms dealer I mean calling Victor booted an arms dealer is about as instructive as saying Osama bin Laden was at about Muslim I mean this guy is arguably the most notorious terrorist this side of bin Laden in the century The kind of arms this guy dealt with they were missile systems They were rocket launchers among others And the targets of those arms happened to be American forces around the world Now this is ironic in so many ways The omnibus bill that just passed Congress that Biden will sign it's being talented for all of the defense spending All of the defense spending Well maybe the reason we need to increase defense spending Along with you know the reach around club or whatever it was for the LGBT youth community Maybe it's because Biden continues to make the world a more dangerous place by the day
The Charlie Kirk Show
The FBI Is Completely Out of Control
"The FBI is completely out of control. We've talked about that at great length. And over the weekend, inexplicably with guns drawn, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided a man in Pennsylvania. A Catholic pro life speaker who was previously accused of blocking an abortion clinic with those charges dropped, by the way. And so then the United States Department of Justice run by the kraven Merrick Garland sends in a S.W.A.T. team. That's right, a S.W.A.T. team. Mark, how could this man's name? Let's get a picture of him up on stage on screen. By the way, if you listen to conservative media and they are not at least focusing one or two segments on this story, send them a message. This is one of the most outrageous things I've seen in quite some time. Father of 7, Mark hawke, with 7 kids, had his entire home rated as if he's some sort of narco drug criminal as if he's some sort of cocaine paddler as if he's smuggling fentanyl into the country. Now, in a scenario where you believe he did something wrong, of which I see no evidence. He did anything wrong. Zero. The civil case was dropped against him. The local charges were dropped against him. Why don't they just show up via his attorney on Monday morning with one or two agents say here's a warrant for your arrest? Sir, will you please come? Now, instead, they go shocking awe into this guy's house. As if they're trying to take out Osama bin Laden.
America First with Sebastian Gorka Podcast
Remembering 9/11 Through the Eyes of Rudy Giuliani
"Knew the city was under threat from bin Laden. No doubt about that. And we had done exercises and plans for how to deal with it, and even the differences between his people and the people we normally dealt with, which Islamic extremists in New Jersey who had brought about the first World Trade Center attack. And then when the second impact occurred where were you and what was the second impact occurred, I was less than a mile away, less than a minute away. I had just been on the phone with I just felt I was holding my deputy mayor Joe voter. Who told me how bad how bad it was and I told him and with the police commissioner and I told him when I got there, I wanted us to have secured a building where we had a hard launch. Telephone lines because the cell phones were erratic. Some were working, some weren't working. I said, Bernie, we got to get hard lines. Just grab a building and let's set up a right there. And with Joe, I said. We got to get the get Rudy Washington, and make sure Rudy's there because we got to get the transportation laws open right away. Because I realized it was going to be an incredible amount of equipment going in and out of there. And that could block the ambulances. And Rudy was an expert on transportation. And there were a lot of other conversations, but I can't remember. And I said, has anybody been able to get through to The White House and the answer was no, I said, well, I've tried three times, and I haven't gone through. Do we have air cover? We've already been hit by two planes. It could have been three. Four. Could have been 8. And they said, no, we haven't been able to. Shifted about that time. I hung up the phone. I heard a tremendous explosion, we look up, this is tremendous explosion in the sky. Jenny and I and the police were not sure whether it was a secondary explosion from the first one. Or a new something that looked more like a new something and almost as we're thinking that Bernie Carrick called and said, boss, it's a second plane. This is a terrorist attack.
The Dinesh D'Souza Podcast
Why Haven't the 9/11 Defendants in Guantanamo Been Put on Trial?
"Look at 9 11, and I say to myself, why is it taking so long to try some of these guys? And I'm thinking here specifically of Khalid Sheik Muhammad, who was the primary sort of organizer of 9 11. Now bin Laden was the sort of initiating force probably the guy who put up the money and certainly the head of the operation and then a man Al zawahiri his number two, but Khalid Sheik Muhammad was the guy who sort of pulled it off. And yet Khalid Sheik Muhammad is awaiting trial. And 9 years since charges were filed. First of all, it took almost a decade to file the charges. And now it's taken another decade. And we're not even close to having a trial. No data has been set. They keep having occasional hearings. They keep arguing about evidence, the defense keeps saying that you need to give us more information, the prosecutors appear to be an absolutely no hurry. Of course, there is the fact that some of these prisoners are still in Guantanamo. By the way, the Guantanamo population is really been thinned out at one point there were hundreds. I mean, almost 700 Islamic terrorists sometimes all the way from Khalid Sheik Muhammad to the ordinary fighters on the ground. Many of those people have been released. They're actually only 39. Now left in Guantanamo. And that itself has been a disgrace of its own. I mean, think, for example, about Obama and the Bergdahl deal, where he gets one lousy disorder, by the way, one basic Democrat. Back, this guy Bergdahl, complete loser, and exchanges Bergdahl for 5 season Taliban commanders. At least one of which is now sitting in the Taliban government in Afghanistan and really laughing his head off at the stupidity of the United States. Now, Khalid Sheik Muhammad has admitted his guilt. I did it. I'm the guy. And you would think that they would be a prompt military trial, and the guy would be like executed.
AJ Benza: Fame is a Bitch
Why AJ Approves of CNN's New Boss Chris Licht
"If you listen to my politics is a bit show, you know that I'm very happy with CNN's new boss Chris licked and what's he's doing with that network. He's basically getting out all the bullshit. He's getting rid of the people who had a very slanted view of news. He wants news that's more central. You know, yes, they're probably still going to lean left, but not like they were leaning in the past. He wants factual based stories. And he made a couple of big hires the other day. One of which was a guy named John Miller who is now CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst Miller used to serve as the New York police department's deputy commissioner of intelligence and counter terrorism. You might have seen a lot of him with whenever there was a terrorism story or a bin Laden story. But before that, John Miller worked as a correspondent for CBS News and ABC News, he actually landed a very rare interview with Osama bin Laden back in 1998. It was also the former co anchor of ABC's 2020 and he worked for a decade as an investigative reporter for WNBC in New York. And he's obviously going to help deliver to what Chris look says is CNN's commitment to tackling complex issues while presenting audiences with independent objective news and meaningful analysis across platforms.
Mike Gallagher Podcast
Barack Obama: We're Better off With Biden Than With Trump
"How about Obama yesterday? Praising Biden, Shane, we're better off. Under Biden than we were, Donald Trump. Listen to this. You have guided us through some perilous times. You've built on and gone beyond. The work we all did together to expand healthcare, to fight climate change, to advance social justice and to promote economic fairness. Thanks to your decency and thanks to your strength, maybe most of all, thanks to your faith in our democracy and the American people. The country is better off than when you took office. Then we should all be deeply grateful for that. So thank you so much. He doesn't even believe that. You could hear it in his voice. He's reading the words on the tell. He doesn't even believe that. The country is better off than it was when you took office. Sure. And there's no secret Obama despises Joe Biden. He has no respect for him. Remember how they had to beg Obama to campaign for him? He can't stand Joe Biden. He has zero respect for Joe Biden. Joe Biden's been on the wrong side of every Joe Biden was the guy in the room with Obama that didn't want to take out Osama bin Laden. That's Joe Biden's claim to fame. The only guy and the Echelon of power that didn't want to take out Osama bin Laden when we did.
The Doug Collins Podcast
The Fight for Christian Refugees With Max Wood
"Didn't just leave because they didn't lock the conditions. The food. It was because they were under threat of death. And ISIS in particular would control, they could send literally ten to 15 people in a control thousands of people because of the brutality of what they would do. And this dark day that they talk about, they commemorate on August 6th, is literally they would kill people. They would write, they would take families away. Tell us, convey to the podcast listener, how just, you know, this wasn't an option for them, you know, in a sense of, you know, staying and fighting, they just wasn't in that position. Right. I mean, the word had already spread that they were coming. And of course they were all praying that they would go in another direction. But they came. But ISIS had incorporated a number of eschatological symbols of the Muslim faith. The black fat flag was assembled as mentioned in the Quran when the final battle is had the two first two of the first villages that they took are two villages that are mentioned in the Quran as we're great battles are going to happen during the final battle for earth. So they did this into the world appeal and got some of the wackiest of the wacky of the Islamic radicals from all around the world. And they would go into an area and just start killing people. And they would kill Muslims that didn't agree with them. We found our intelligence people after we killed Osama bin Laden, and we found and Jay sekulow covered this, I believe in his one of his books that Osama bin Laden was criticizing ISIS for being to me.
America First with Sebastian Gorka Podcast
'Black Ops' Author Enrique Prado Discusses His Fascinating Background
"A legend in the national security community. Of course I heard of him, but we are delighted to have Enrique Rick Prado on one on one here on America first. Welcome, mister Prado. Thank you very much, doctor. Thank you for having me on. And Steve may be exaggerating a little bit because he happens to be my best friend, so. That's all right. We trust seals. A little bit of embellishment is fine, but anybody who runs the butt course about course is a serious individual. So you have a fascinating background. We'll talk about how you came to America. You've got a book out called black ops, everybody has to check out this book black ops, the life of a CIA shadow warrior, former head of CTC. That's kind of terrorism, the cantors and center at the CIA. But first, just for those who aren't familiar who haven't read your book, will you tell us a little bit about your national security career in the shadows? Yes, sir, I did 24 years at CIA. I started out as a paramilitary officer. I'm a former pair of rescuing. So I came in through the paramilitary side, special activities division, which is for lack of a better word is the special operations forces for CIA. The body of this draft that is from what is now called soko. I have 6 overseas tours. I've been a chief of station. I have been a deputy chief of station twice. I am a plank owner of the bin Laden task force, which I started with Mike shoyu in 1996, January of 1996. And when 9 11 happened, I was chief of operations of the counter terrorist center. Was my boss. After those 24 years, I spent another 9 years doing exactly the same thing mostly for the military side as an SME, but actually doing the work and I just not teaching, but actually operating with the team.
The Hugh Hewitt Show: Highly Concentrated
U.S. Drone Strike in Kabul Kills Ayman Al-Zawahri
"Let's bring in syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt, Hugh you follow this a lot. This is a big, big deal, and a big get for the U.S. and frankly, for President Biden. Oh, it is. Brad, it's a huge compliment to President Biden for seeing it through. It's also a compliment to the American intelligence community and the military, which never gives up on a target. This is the 6th of 6th that they've gone after. Saddam and Zak Kali was killed under president Bush, the American military got those two in the intelligence community. President Obama, of course, famously getting bin Laden, president Trump going after him getting Al Baghdadi of ISIS and Soleimani of Iran and now Joe Biden the American military and intelligence community getting zawa here. He's always in many respects. The closure that a lot of people have been looking for. He was behind the bombing of the African embassies back in 1998 under president Clinton, and if anyone has read Lawrence writes the looming tower, they'll know. He's a malign. A malignant figure who has had smart is perhaps been Latin was not detail oriented. He was not much of a charismatic leader, but he was relentless and all hats and all honored to the American military, the intelligence committee of President Biden broke in the strike. You know,
The Ben Shapiro Show
Al Qaeda's Emir Al-Zawahiri Killed in Kabul by US Drone
"An American drone strike has now killed. You may remember, I'm in also operating from such as at 9 11 and the bombing of the Tanzania and Kenya embassies. Well, he was a key plotter on September 11th. He took over for Osama bin Laden after Osama bin Laden's untimely demise at the hands of the United States Navy seals. President Biden announced on Monday night that zahra had been killed and he was very triumphal about it and understandable. I mean, the fact is that it's a very good thing for the United States when a high ranking terrorist in Al-Qaeda is indeed killed. He was killed by drone strike in the heart of downtown Kabul over the weekend. There's a 21 year manhunt for him. Apparently he was responsible more than anyone except for bin Laden for September 11th. Biden gave a 7 minute nationally televised address from The White House here is what it sounded like. The United States successfully concluded an air strike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed the emir of Al-Qaeda. Iman elza weary. You know, is that where he was bin Laden's leader, he was with him all the whole time. He was his number two managed deputy at the time of terrorist attack 9 11. He was deeply involved in the planning of 9 11. One of the most responsible for the attacks and murdered 2977 people on American soil. Well, Joe Biden is very reliant on this particular story to shield him from criticism over Afghanistan. You'll notice that one of the things that he is focused very in on is the idea that no matter that the United States actually does not have assets on the ground in Afghanistan somehow will still be able to combat the terror threat in Afghanistan. According to The New York Times, American intelligence agencies track down ozu opry in Kabul earlier this year and spent months determining it really was him hiding out in a house in a crowded section of the Afghan capital by hiding out. We mean kind of living in the open, apparently. After receiving authorization from Biden a week ago, the CIA fired two hellfire missiles and killed Oswald free on a balcony of the house without killing anyone else, including members of his family or any nearby civilians according to American officials. A reminder, by the way, that the American military is unbelievably good at its job. That when the American military decides to take you out, they will take you out without killing anyone else while you stand on a balcony at 6 18 in the morning. I mean, that is pretty impressive stuff there from the American military.
AP News Radio
Al-Zawahri's path went from Cairo clinic to top of al-Qaida
"Rumors persist of unease in the Taliban ranks particularly between the powerful group known as the Haqqani network which apparently sheltered amun Al Sari and other Taliban figures One Pakistani intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press as he isn't authorized to speak publicly to reporters says that the killing of Al zawahiri has raised many questions Had taken over as Al-Qaeda's leader after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in 2011 in an operation by the navy seals the official ads the Taliban were aware of his presence in Kabul And if they were not aware of it they needed to explain their position I'm Charles De Ledesma
AP News Radio
Biden: Killing of al-Qaida leader is long-sought 'justice'
"As another 9 11 anniversary approaches President Biden says one of the attacks key planners has been killed Justice has been delivered The president says a weekend drone strike in Afghanistan killed eamon Al warri who was Osama bin Laden's top Al-Qaeda deputy during the attacks before taking over the group to the families of 9 11 victims Is my hope that this decisive actual bring one more measure of closure The president described alls of wari as a vicious killer whom U.S. intelligence tracked down in a Kabul house The operation is a significant counter terror win for the Biden administration the early a year after American troops left Afghanistan military officials said Al-Qaeda was trying to rebuild and still wanted to attack the U.S. Sagar Meghani Washington
AP News Radio
Biden hopes al-Qaida strike brings comfort to 9/11 victims
"President Biden says a weekend drone strike in Afghanistan killed Al-Qaeda's leader in his words delivering justice to a key 9 11 planner Aim and all zawari was Osama bin Laden's top deputy and took over Al-Qaeda in 2011 after navy seals killed bin Laden in Pakistan 11 years later this terrorist leader is no more The president says U.S. intelligence tracked all zawari to Kabul where he was hiding with his family sources say a CIA strike killed him there Sunday He will never again never again Allow Afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we're going to make sure that nothing else happens The president says he hopes also Ari's killing brings one more closure to families of 9 11 victims Sagar Meghani Washington
AP News Radio
Watch Live: Biden speaks after al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri killed in airstrike
"An AP source says a U.S. strike in Afghanistan killed top Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al zawahiri A source tells The Associated Press top Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al zawahiri was killed over the weekend in a U.S. Military strike in Afghanistan No other details were immediately available but The White House announced president Joe Biden would address the nation Monday night Al zawari was thought to have succeeded Osama bin Laden as Al-Qaeda's leader at his retirement news conference in June 2011 defense secretary Robert Gates said bin Laden had an advantage over Al Sari He had a peculiar charisma that
The Eric Metaxas Show
Pat Castle Is a Very Accomplished Man of Faith
"Have you heard of life runners? Yes, you have. If you're listening to the program, I'm talking to the founder of life runners, you can go to life runners dot org, the founder is pat castle now, pat. I got a, I got a note here that tells me you're not just the founder of life runners. You graduated from the air force academy and you went on to get a PhD in nano analytical chemistry. And if I had a dime for everybody who claimed to have a PhD in nano analytical chemistry, I would have one dime. Right now. No, it's just kind of funny because you're obviously a brainy guy and you were involved militarily. I mean, just reading this, you did ten military assignments, including the weapons of mass destruction, defense officer at the base closest to Osama bin Laden on the September 11th. You were an air force academy chemistry professor. You've been doing all kinds of stuff. You have raced 22 marathons, you love Jesus. And you are, I mean, my most impressive thing is that you got a two 53 in the Marine Corps marathon. Hats off to you, my friend. That's awesome to run a sub three hour marathon. I've never run a marathon, but I just want to say, I plan to. But let me ask you just a few things. When did you were you raised in the faith or did something happen along the way that suddenly made you get serious about God? Raised in the faith. I remember in third grade when a sleepover, bob O'Connor said, pat, do you really think God is real? I remember thinking, what a silly question. Look around, of course God's real. And as you blend what you just shared, you know, my PhD in nano analytical chemistry, people would think, like, wow, you know, that must have been tough, keeping the faith. Not at all.
Between The Lines
"bin laden" Discussed on Between The Lines
"It is unique because it allows us to be a fly on the wall if you like in the bin Laden household. And during those months, the family met every day, sometimes twice a day to discuss the events of the Arab Spring as they were preparing the northern public statement because he needed to respond to the events. And on the pages of his family notebook, we could really observe the dynamics in the household. We can virtually hear bin Laden soliciting the input of his family to his public statement, we can observe the dynamics that he had with his daughters, particularly sommelier, this is really vividly on display in the notebook. So Maya comes across as someone who did not hesitate to push her father to confront challenging issues. She often provided her own perspectives. And I'm not talking about live issues. For instance, at one point early on in the notebook, she was her father's attention to the fact that there's hardly any mention of Al-Qaeda in the news. And that's in relation to the Arab Spring. And we find bin Laden defensively responding well, I heard somebody did. But she goes on to comment also on the style of the public statement on the content and very challenging issues. Let's talk about the Arab Spring for a moment. Of course it was the last few months ultimately have been Adam's life. When he witnessed what was going on with the Arab Spring, what was going on with the First Nations to support those uprisings. Then what was his reaction do we know what were his hopes here after all was a kind of popular uprising that may well have chimed with some of his aspirations. You're right. I mean, initially, bin Laden rejoiced that error protesters brought down dictators that he and his organizations had been fighting for decades to defeat. But he was also challenged by the unpredictability of the situation, also because the protesters achieved through peaceful protests where he couldn't achieve through the Jihad was also another question mark. At some point, his daughter utterly points out to the father that in light of what's happening, we need to address him the relevance if she had, and your response, because some among the new generation are going to think that political change could occur through peaceful protests rather than Jihad. So it was a, it was mixed, his reaction was mixed. Can we just talk a little more about the raid itself? And I guess how we all know how that popular narrative has unfolded about what happened to bin Laden and how he was found. I mean, there's been a lot of speculation about how close his hiding place was to this elite Pakistani military academy. And suggestions that at some level the Pakistani government or at least the Pakistani intelligence services must have been complicit in the hiding of bin Laden. Did the papers reveal anything along those lines? Absolutely not. I mean, bin Laden went to great lengths to hide from the Pakistani authorities. The family was confined to the compound and adopted stringent security measures to avoid the authorities. For instance, the children were not allowed to step outside and play in the courtyard without an adult supervising them because they didn't want to draw attention to the fact that Arabs were living in the compound. And by the way, 9 out of the 16 people who lived in the bin Laden household were.
Mark Levin
Dinesh D'Souza: '2000 Mules' Reports on Electrion Fraud in 5 States
"What states are involved in this film where you have these meals Well we focus through the vote bought data in 5 states And not even for the whole state They bought the democratic urban areas in the states So it's Atlanta which encompasses about four counties And then on to Phoenix Maricopa County on to Detroit Michigan Milwaukee area of Wisconsin and finally the greater Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania This is where the 2020 election was decided And in each one of those instances there is video there is not video from all those states there's video from Georgia there's some video from Arizona There's some from Michigan in Wisconsin they were supposed to take video They said they would but they didn't But see that geo tracking evidence by itself is decisive and the reason mark is that all our cell phones have a unique and distinctive ID Now I can give my phone to my wife Debbie and maybe she's going to go from Dropbox to Dropbox But the fact that my cell phone was at that location is not open to dispute This exact same geo tracking was used to catch bin Laden It was used to arrest January 6th defendants It's used in law enforcement every single day If there's a murder in a park and it's completely dark and there's no cameras and nobody saw anything the cops will do geo tracking and say you know what there were 5 cell phones in that vicinity Let's figure out who those cell phones belong to Those are 5 suspects Let's start there So what I'm getting at is we're using a technology here that is completely familiar and used in
Lex Fridman Podcast
"bin laden" Discussed on Lex Fridman Podcast
"A kind of partial embrace of some aspects of the rebelliousness of some of these figures, some of the time by some people under certain conditions. Well, the terrifying thing to me. So yeah, there is a longing in the human heart to belong to a group and a charismatic leader somehow especially when you're young, just the catalyst for all of that. I tend to think that perhaps it's actually hard to be Hitler. So a leader still charismatic that he can rile a nation to war. And bin Laden, perhaps we're lucky, was not sufficiently charismatic. I feel like if his writing was better if his speeches were better, if his ideas were stronger, but more viral. And then there would be more people kind of young people uniting around him. So it's almost like accidents of history have just how much charisma. How much charisma particular evil person has? I think it's fair. Evil works I think. Do you think bin Laden is evil? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I mean, he was a mass murderer. I'm just saying that his ideas were more complex than we've tended to acknowledge. They had they have a wider potential resonance than we would acknowledge. And also, I guess what I'm just one fundamental point is that thinking about the complexity of bin Laden is also a way of removing him from Islam. He is not an Islamic thinker. He is a cosmopolitan thinker who plays and all kinds of modern ideologies, which have proven to mobilize people in the past. So anti semitism populism environmentalism. And the urging to do something about humanity, do something about suffering. That's why I think the actual ask about what motivates people to do this kind of stuff. I think that's why if one goes below the level of leadership, and this is being reported if you look at the trial ongoing Alan Paris of the buttock murders, I think. The court allowed some discussion of the backgrounds of the accused. And they come from different backgrounds, but if there's any common bond, it's kind of had some background in petty crime. Famously, in the 7 7 bombings in London, the police, UK authorities looked at all those guys. And what people want is this idea that they must be very pious. They must be super Islamic to do this kind of stuff. They must be fanatical true believers. But what they found with those guys was that.
The Lawfare Podcast
"bin laden" Discussed on The Lawfare Podcast
"From western pakistan to eastern pakistan. Now anyone who is involved in planning that attack on the indian parliament knew that at a minimum that would happen a maximum. It might have started a war between india and pakistan and one of the most interesting unresolved questions yves talks about it. But he doesn't have the answer. I don't have the answer either. Is who made that happen. Who came up with that decision. And what role did osama bin laden play that. Sorry to disappoint you. the answer. That question is not in this book. It's probably in the archives of the isi and those are planned to be open to the world sometime. Well actually. there is no plan to ever open simpler. Let's step back from this for a minute. Because i think one of the interesting things you do at the end of the book is contrast president bush's handling of this operation in tora bora in two thousand one with president obama's handling of the raid to go after osama bin laden in two thousand eleven. And just quote what you say. Ultimately the manner in which george w bush and barack obama interacted with their military subordinates shaped the outcomes of their operations to kill or capture osama bin laden president bush's and secretary rumsfeld's absent role in the battle of tora. Bora insured bin. Laden's escape will president obama's active involvement in the book about raid prevented the operation from going iraq. Say a little more about contrasting styles and what president obama did. The president. Bush didn't do share. I do want to point out initially that these are very different. Circumstances nation was at war in a moment of crisis in nine eleven and at tora bora that was not the same case in two thousand eleven. And planning the raid. They're different circumstances but what brings them together is. Both presidents had an opportunity to go. After bin laden there was a level of uncertainty and both had to deal with the military and going forward. I mentioned a little bit already. That president bush and secretary rumsfeld were not engage at all at what was going on tora bora in contrast when you look at the way. President obama handles the military. He had a level of active active involvement. That really got out down into practically every detail as you may know when the abbad rate occurred at the two helicopters were moving towards the compound. The first one went down and it actually crashed at to crash. Land was disabled. while during the planning process. President obama looked at the resources dedicated for the battle. And he said i'm sorry. This is not enough. We don't have enough individuals to allow the seals to battle the way out of pakistan. If they have to. And we don't have enough resources in case something goes wrong. So he specified that up to four additional helicopters. Were to go on the raid to landed in the middle of nowhere and pakistan's at a riverbed and waited too on the afghan side. That first helicopter went down. The other one was ready to go came over immediately. It's about a. I think a ninety minute flight. I'm sorry maybe forty five minute flight about about it took the pakistani military much less than that time to respond to the the downed aircraft message. So had there not been those those helicopters there we have been looking at a major international incident where navy seals were battling pakistani military forces. They could have been an extraordinarily different difficult circumstance and because president obama really got down in the details we can say the operation went off without a major hitch. I do want to say so that this can be looked at really politically. And i don't mean for it to be that case. Because president obama or president bush really felt filled his role and stepped into it. As you got more involved into his into his presidency. If you look at the way that he handled the surge in two thousand six in two thousand seven he listened to the military advice and he overruled them and so he did get down into the details. He did examine the information necessary. And i think he did the right thing so. I hope that it's not considered a political comparison. Because it's just two different instances in time where they're both going after bin laden underscore that point. This is this is not an advertisement for the dnc and after president obama's now running again so it'd be a waste of the dnc. He's tired what it is trying to do. Is take a look at leadership role of leadership and the lessons that we can learn from all of this to be fair to the bush administration. They were responding to an extraordinary event. The attack of nine eleven which created a sense of panic in the united states. They nervous breakdown if you wanted to. There was a sense that any moment there could be another attack on the united states of america. President obama in two thousand eleven was in a very different place. There wasn't a sense of imminent threat to the united states homeland and he had the opportunity to spend as much time as he wanted to before he decided to send in the seals. If he'd wanted to wait another month he there was. Nobody was no pressure coming from the outside world because none of us knew what he and his inner circle knew that they had a reasonable belief that they'd found a lot so accepting these differences. I think that the other big question. That i just want to close my part of this interview with you is. What are the lessons learned if you look at two thousand one. A failure of the counter terrorism mission. What lessons can we learn from out about future counterterrorism missions and future military operations and intelligence operations like this show actually like to go back to point and very quickly before i address it. One of my professors who i consider close mentor wasn't a high level position during this time in two thousand and one and he was at the nine eleven site a couple of weeks later with vice president. Cheney and he gets a call from stephen hadley who was the deputy national security advisor saying that the biotoxin detectors in the white house had gone off and apparently it was botulinum and in twenty four hours. Everybody in the white house would be dead if it was an actual attack so he had to go over while at the nine eleven site. That is still smoldering and tell the vice president that and begin to plan for the chain of succession then..
Fresh Air
"bin laden" Discussed on Fresh Air
"How did he play hidden in creating his image. At the height of the of the war against the soviets the might have been three hundred. Arab circled afghan arabs on the battlefield. Meanwhile the you know somewhere between one hundred seventy five thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand afghans at any moment fighting the soviet. So the arabs. Virtually no impact on in any you know strategically or even operationally on the war in afghanistan. But in bouma's mind. There is no doubt that he himself fought with almost suicidal bravery against the soviets in nineteen eighty seven. He and Some of his kind of follow us set up a military camp quite near a soviet base and they fought for two or three weeks against soviet special up special forces But you know bin laden setup this military camp you didn't have any strategic impact when the war the afghans don't really need help with fighting but imbalanced mind the his arabs. The people his follows helped defeat a superpower. I think this was absolutely delusional One of many delusions he had but it was a delusion that he felt very strongly and wish ed by others. Because you know. John lewis came to cover bin laden including Jamal kashogi who of course was quoted by the saudis in two thousand eighteen in istanbul. But jamal kashogi was the first mainstream journalists to cover bin laden and wrote a pretty low masterpiece and our big annan english documenting bin laden and his efforts and bear in mind that there are several thousand members of the saudi royal family. None of whom were fighting in afghanistan here is bin laden a member of a prominent a saudi family fighting himself personally against the soviet some recruiting people to fight against this and so it was kind of a heroic story and there's no doubt that dan lavin four with some bravery but what affected it have on the larger war. The answer is virtually nothing. You're right that he formed al qaeda there actually documents that show this. I guess in nineteen eighty eight Moves to sedan and operates there and eventually is forced to leave because he's creating problems with the saudi regime and they They exert pressure to get to force him to leave. He relocates in afghanistan and in this period. He's angry about american troops intervening after the iraqi invasion of kuwait. He doesn't like to see all these american troops in muslim countries and he begins planning mass attacks that will kill large numbers of civilians. Do we know why he chose that. Approach the why questions are very difficult in history. Why bin laden went down the path. He did i. I i try and explain to the reader. How did he get that. Because i think how is is perhaps more clear way of explaining it. So i i think there was nothing inevitable about how bin laden this shy religious teenager then becomes the leader of a group dedicated a mass motor..
Fresh Air
"bin laden" Discussed on Fresh Air
"He reminded me a little bit of hitler. You're moving around these divisions at the end of world war two. that didn't exist. We need to take a break here. Let me reintroduce it. We are speaking with peter. Bergen his new book is the rise and fall of osama bin laden will continue our conversation in just a moment. This is fresh air. This is fresh air and our guest. Is peter bergen. He's journalist and author. Who's written several books about al-qaeda and other jihadist movements. His new book is a biography of osama bin laden called the rise and fall of osama bin laden. You write about his early life and this is interesting stuff. I mean he came from a wealthy family The money was from this construction company that his father founded he became a close friend of the saudi royal family and they became enormously rich. What kind of relationship. That osama bin laden half with his two parents well with his father mohammad bin laden founded this you know basically came to saudi arabia in one thousand nine hundred ninety just before you know this huge gosh of petrodollars landed on the kingdom and yeah. He adeptly kind of took advantage of that but to become the largest construction magnet in in the saudi kingdom bin. Laden's relationship with his father. Was i think virtually non-existent. I mean this is a bin laden. Had fifty four siblings And bin laden's father married his his mother in in syria when she was a teenager he was the belongs. Father was around fifty when they go married And build on soil his father. It looks like he only met with his the five times in his entire life. His father died When bin laden was ten bin laden appears had only one one one meeting with his father. So you know. The parents divorced when bin laden was only two so his his his relationship with his father was nonexistent really but he did believe that he was kind of a filling an important mission his father his father supposedly said that one of his songs would sort of fight jihad holy war and bin laden felt that he was kind of fulfilling his father's wishes his relationship with his mother was very warm You know he we kiss her hands he would make small talk with our complimentary like on a cooking always remained very very close to her. Even when he was on the ron in sudan and afghanistan in the nineties he would communicate with her to extend that he could so hit very warm relationship with his mother so he grew up in this family that had enormous wealth. And you know some wealthy missed. Middle eastern families would send their children to be educated in western countries Many of the united states and many were known for a very lavish lifestyle. There's a photo you have in the book. It's really this remarkable photo of. I guess maybe twenty or so members of the bin laden family on vacation in sweden in nineteen seventy one. You want to describe this photo and you included it. This is a pretty well known photo. All the bin laden family on vacation. I think there were twenty three bin laden siblings in the picture one of whom maybe osama bin laden there's some debate about it But the launch point is is that salem bin laden who took over the family the oldest brother took over the family business when his father mohammed bin laden died In a plane crash You know he was a very westernized Guy he People would a house in orlando kind of state. He basically Play the guitar play. Where have all the flowers gone on these kinds of nineteen sixties hits so..
Fresh Air
"bin laden" Discussed on Fresh Air
"Bin laden For all his many vices and all the evil that he Death and destruction that he calls he was something of a family man and he wanted to have family around him And in fact the folks of the cia who really tracking bin laden even the best. You know the fact that he this mysterious group of people who are living in this compound seemed to include many family members for them. That was towel that it might well be bin laden because bin laden had always had at least Three or four wives with him at any given moment despite the fact that you know even when he was living in exile in sudan in the nineties and then in afghanistan and in the five years before nine eleven He was surrounded by family members. Despite the risks of even even before nine eleven he was very much wanted by the united states so he had this You know. Sort of significant entourage. I mean it's understating it to say he was security conscious What kind of restrictions did he impose on. All these wives grandchildren bodyguards. Their their their families. Interesting it was a it was a prison of his. Oh making and he was the chief warden in his sound son he himself. The was extremely careful about what he did. He would walk around the garden With a cowboy hat on so that nobody could recognize him if there was a satellite overhead yet a healthy respect for american spy capabilities. And you know. His family members went out leaving the compound. He never left the compound if in fact he was hiding to such a degree that one of the bodyguards wives wasn't aware that it was osama bin laden living amongst them even though she was living on the same compound and one time bin laden appeared on tv and One of the daughters nine year old daughters of the bodyguard asked you know kind of. Isn't that the guy who's living here And at that point the body..
Fresh Air
"bin laden" Discussed on Fresh Air
"Here's dave when navy seals shot osama bin laden in that two thousand eleven raid in pakistan to confirm his identity that compared his face to one in photos they were carrying and they noticed a discrepancy. The osama in the photos had a greybeard the beard on the man before them was jet black the reason bin laden had been using just for men hair dye. That's one of the details. You'll find a new book about bin laden by our guest. Peter bergen as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the september eleventh attacks. Bergen is publishing a biography of the founder of al qaida. Bergen has spent much of his career reporting on al qaeda in the global jihadist movement in nineteen ninety seven. He travelled to afghanistan for cnn to produce the first television interview of bin laden. He's published six previous books including several about al qaeda and he was the only journalist to get inside bin. Laden's compound after the us raid before it was demolished. His new book is based in part on material seized in the raid on on hundreds of interviews including conversations with a dozen of bin laden's inner circle. Bergen writes in the new book that he wanted to understand why bin laden created an organization dedicated to the mass murder of civilians. Peter bergen is still a national security analyst for cnn. He's also vice president for global studies fouls at the think tank new america. And he's a professor at arizona state university where he co directs the center on the future of war. His new book is the rise and fall of osama bin laden. Will peter bergen. Welcome back to fresh air. You've written so much about osama bin laden. What kind of new source material were you able to draw on this new research. Well a key tool this was it was only in late. Two thousand seventeen. The trump administration released the four hundred. Seventy thousand files were about about pakistan included in which was Something that was described by the cia. As bin laden's journal it turned out to be something slightly different It's also handwritten in arabic. It was the kind of a family journal that the bin laden family kept essentially in the law. Several weeks of bin laden's life and it's kind of good window into you know both what he was thinking of the time and also what. His two older wives were thinking and his and his adult children because they basically were kind of perplexed about what to do about the events of the arab spring which bin laden well understood as the most important event you're in the middle east arguably in centuries was his own view of it And yet you know his ideas. His followers were were absent in in. At least the you know the first several months of the arab spring right yet. There's a lot of fascinating material here about those last months before the us raid in pakistan At this compound where bin laden was was hiding you know he was. I guess the most haunted man on earth at that point and he had a lot of people living with him. How many who were they. Well the total was twenty seven Sixteen of his own family and eleven yet two bodyguards and their families. So you know typically when we think of a fugitive we don't think of a fugitive taking Three wives and dozen kids and grandkids with them bin laden. You know one of the teams. The book has bin laden For his many vices and y'all the evil that he an indefinite destruction that he calls he was something of a family man and he wanted to have his family around him. And in fact the folks of the cia who really tracking bin laden do the best. You know the fact that he this mysterious group of people who are living in this compound Seemed to include many family members. You know for them. That was a towel that it might..
Fresh Air
"bin laden" Discussed on Fresh Air
"So i mean he he had a bunch of delusions they started with kind of what the american reaction would be to nine eleven They continued with when he was on the wrong about you know. Basically he believed that al qaeda would be able to mountain other attack on the united states. He was very hopeful about this and You know he seemed not to understand that. Al qaeda basically being largely decimated in the media off nine eleven. I quote one of his longtime associates in the book. Who says that. All the one thousand nine hundred arab fighters who are living in afghanistan. A time of nine eleven sixteen sixteen hundred of them were killed or captured in the immediate often. Off the nine eleven attacks there was other people in al-qaeda understand understood that the nine eleven attacks had been sort of account makasi mission for al-qaeda and bin laden was telling them you need you need to kill president barack obama will kill general david portrayals or don't although vice them vice president joe biden because he's not prepared to be president but he was sort of inciting them to do these attacks and who's going to do that I quote john. James clapper who was the director of national intelligence. The time of bin laden's death who said you know. He reminded me a little bit of hitler. You're moving around these divisions at the end of two didn't exist. There's little view. That's i guess somewhat widely held that the pakistanis must have known where bin laden was and must have been hiding him or assisting in deciding. We're turning a blind eye would is your research. Say i mean it's hard to prove negatives but as far as i can tell this is simply no evidence for for for that view bin laden was hiding from people on the were living with him. On the compound. He was extremely paranoid. There was no reason for him to inform somebody in the pakistani government about where he was in fact. Al-qaeda took a very hostile view of the pakistani government Planning military operations against pakistani targets bin laden in the four hundred seventy thousand files that have been released publicly from about about There is simply no evidence that bin laden was being protected by pakistani officials was in communication with pakistani officials That pakistani officials knew where he was So the reason. I think this view Arises is you know he was living relative close close to the pakistan's equivalent of west point and so people sort of say well the pakistani must've known but in fact they were befuddled by The fact that he was living in about a bodice as anybody else and in fact the united states was listening. In on pakistani communications the night of bin laden was died and pakistani leaders. Were clearly kind of sort of finding the situation very strange and didn't understand what was going on. So there's no evidence that bin laden was being protected by pakistani officials. it's a widespread view But that doesn't mean it's true. We need to take a break here. Let me reintroduce you again. We are speaking with peter. Bergen he's an author and journalist who spent years studying al-qaeda and other jihadist movements. His new book is a biography of bin laden. It's called the rise and fall of osama bin laden..
Fresh Air
"bin laden" Discussed on Fresh Air
"So bin laden was hiding from people on his own compound. These two guys that were working there are sometimes described as bodyguards. They were really much more than that. Right yeah i mean you know. Bin laden didn't treat them particularly well. One of the interesting things that comes out of these documents is how how angry. They were about You know basically. They were being paid one hundred dollars a month. In in currency bin laden always always been something of a miser and they were taking these an almost risks looking after the two worlds most wanted man and his family members and they were very concerned they were concerned that they would be found. They were telling bin laden. He couldn't bring additional family members into the compound. His third wife who'd been living under house arrest in iran showed up and bodyguards. Said they wouldn't go and pick her up and bring her into the compound in the end. She appeared I'd the compound against Sort of the the better judgement of the bodyguards and bin laden was at one point. She wrote a formal letter. Two bodyguards on january fifteenth. Two thousand eleven few months before he was killed. Saying you know. I understand that. Our disagreements become so profound that even though you live on the same compound. I'm writing you this letter to kind of acknowledge what we've agreed which is You know let me find new protectors and of course bin laden would also have to leave the this. This compound that he so catholic planned with it's eighteen foot walls places to go somewhere else because the the compound itself was registered in a in one of the bodyguards name so his relations with with the two people who are really keeping al qaeda On him afloat Really beginning to fray in the last several months of his life. You would think someone who you relied so so many ways on to keep you safe. You might pay a little better and treat a little better. I mean the compound was registered in their names right ed. They burned their own trash there right. They grew a lot of their own food. Anybody ever leave. What did the kids go to school. The kids were home schooled. Do you know one of the kind of interesting things about the book is the extent to which bin laden's two older wives pillay such an important role in his life because two of them have phd's Which i think might be surprising to some to some listeners who may sort of assume that bin laden was not going to marry kind of highly educated women One had a phd in child psychology and other one to gain koranic grammar and so they were the two older wives. Were homeschooling kids. And they've been doing this for years even before but before nine. Eleven bin laden like afghantistan bin laden was sending his kids to school before nine eleven And these wives were also playing an important part in kind of helping bin laden. Think through complicated. Strategic problems related to kind of the future direction of kaieda. There was no internet access. There is that right. I mean could watch television. Listen to the radio. They could watch Aljazeera on satellite. Tv and bin laden washed a lot of out zero. Because of course he was kind of a news junkie..
Fresh Air
"bin laden" Discussed on Fresh Air
"In today for terry gross. When navy seals shot osama bin laden in that two thousand and eleven rate in pakistan to confirm his identity that compared his face to one in photos they were carrying and they noticed a discrepancy. The osama in the photos had a gray beard. The beard on the man before them was jet black. The reason bin laden had been using just for men hair dye. That's one of the details. You'll find in a new book about bin laden by our guest. Peter bergen as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the september eleventh attacks. Bergen is publishing a biography of the founder of al qaeda. Bergen has spent much of his career reporting on al qaeda in the global jihadist movement. In one thousand nine hundred seven. He travelled to afghanistan for cnn to produce the first television interview of bin laden. He's published six previous books including several about qaeda and he was the only journalist to get inside bin. Laden's compound after the us raid before it was demolished. His new book is based in part on material seized in the raid and on hundreds of interviews including conversations with a dozen of bin. Laden's inner circle. Bergen writes in the new book that he wanted to understand why bin laden created an organization dedicated to the mass murder of civilians. Peter bergen is still a national security analyst for cnn. he's also vice president for global studies and fellows at the think tank new america and he's a professor at arizona state university where he co directs the center on the future of war. His new book is the rise and fall of osama bin laden peter. Bergen welcome back to fresh air. You've written so much about osama bin laden. What kind of new source material were you able to draw on this new research. Well key to all this was it was only in late. Twenty seventeen that the trump administration released four hundred. Seventy thousand files were recovered in about about pakistan included in which was Something that was described by the cia is bin laden's journal turn out to be something slightly different It's also handwritten in arabic. It was the kind of a family journal that the bin laden family kept essentially in the last several weeks of bin laden's life and it's kind of good window into you know both what he was thinking of the time And also what his two older wives thinking and his and his adult children because they basically were kind of perplexed about what to do about the events of the arab spring which bin laden well understood as the most important event You're in the middle east doggedly. In centuries was his own view it And yet you know his ideas. His followers were were absent in. At least the you know the first several months of the arab spring right yet. There's a lot of fascinating material here about those last months before the us raid in pakistan At this compound where bin laden was was hiding you know he was. I guess the most haunted man on earth at that point and he had a lot of people living with them. How many who were they. Well the total was twenty seven. Sixteen of his own family eleven two bodyguards and their families so you know typically when we think of fugitive we don't think of a fugitive taking Three wives and a dozen kids and grandkids with them But bin laden you know one of the themes of the book has bin laden For all his many vices and all the evil that he an indefinite destruction that he calls..
The Lawfare Podcast
"bin laden" Discussed on The Lawfare Podcast
"April came into view when he made the decision to kind of green light but bin laden raid. I think part of his we know from his memoirs and from my disgusted with with others. Who are part of this process. There was a concern that he would bin laden would leave now. They didn't know that actually bin laden had agreed with his bodyguards that he could leave as l. He could separate as early july twenty eleven. But we know this from the documents were covered in about about. So where would he have gone his team at found a thirty five year. Old pakistani local guy with some kids who'd had some experience buying selling properties he wasn't necessarily pot of qaeda But they don't they don't profit one person who might be substitute protector. And then where would he have gone knows you know presumably. He had some cash that he would have been able to find place somewhere in northern pakistan But but president obama's decision to kind of pull the trigger on the bin laden raid authorizing. It turns out to be all the better decision because we now know that bin laden was really he could have separated from his body causes early of july. Two thousand eleven which would meant that. He would have had to find some of the hiding place going back before that. There were rumors for years of bin laden. Finding a way to get to places as far-flung as yemen his family's ancestral home in the hunter amount or to the southern philippines where al-qaeda had supported the islamic insurgency and jihad operations. There did you find anything in all of these recently released documents. That bin laden was seriously exploring any of those options or was he really wed to staying in northern pakistan or just across the border in afghanistan. He was really wet to staying about part of the world after we spent much of his adult life in pakistan afghanistan..
The Lawfare Podcast
"bin laden" Discussed on The Lawfare Podcast
"Document says the extent which bin laden was freaking out about the drone program. Whatever you think about the drone program and sunny. The civilian casualties particularly the beginning of the program. It was basically destroying his middle management and many of his leaders. He was you know thinking about moving al qaeda while the pots of pakistan Much kinda was headquartered in tribal areas between pakistan afganistan at the time and the non was noodling with the idea of moving them deeper into pack. Sano back into afghanistan other members of al-qaeda would telling him yeah. We're thinking the same thing. So the drones were not very much his mind one of his sons Saab bin laden had been killed by ci drone in two thousand nine. He was very concerned that might be the fate of other of his sons who are in the tribal regions He was constantly advising them not to travel except on cloudy days when the drones had less visibility so that i think that's point one point two. He was extremely concerned about al-qaeda's record of killing muslim civilians. When i say qaeda the al qaeda and and also at lied groups pakistani taliban the documents so full of examples of bin laden one of his deputies chastising al qaeda affiliates all al qaeda allies like the pakistani taliban about killing muslims and in fact as the tenth on advisory of nine eleven came into view. Bin laden was thinking of issuing an apology to It was sort of basically rebranding al qaeda as a group that would not kill civilians. Awful the stated goal of al qaeda was to protect muslim civilians. And so you know. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed by al-qaeda at its affiliates in the muslim world in iraq and pakistan elsewhere. I think that was really way on his mind. But the big thing. I would say in the last months and weeks of his life and this comes out of the bin laden family john that was released at the end of twenty seventeen two hundred twenty eight pages of handwritten arabic Which is kind of difficult to interpret which i think has received enough attention from scholars and researchers but this was an almost daily recording of the discussions between bin laden and his two older wives both of them have phd's and also his adult children two daughters and one son who basically would gather before dinner every night and sometimes In compensation that would continue often Try and figure out what the hell to say about the arab spring after will bin laden's goal was.
The Lawfare Podcast
"bin laden" Discussed on The Lawfare Podcast
"Goodbye it sure is hello. It's fascinating how much al-qaida the organization is a reflection in some ways of bin laden's personality and experiences growing up. It's a big surprise for many to learn that al-qaeda was highly bureaucratic organization. Why did this make sense. Given bin laden's previous experiences bin laden studied business administration at university. He started working in his family business when he was in his late teens. Young when when he was still in high school. And i believe is he came out of this business background. He'd worked in his family business and he bought some of that kind of experience to to al-qaeda wished did operate in a very bureaucratic manner. You know it kept pretty decent records which is one of the reasons we can have this conversation with some degree of certainty. You know people how to fill out rather elaborate application forms to join al qaeda. So that i think it's not simple terrorist groups to get things dominate have to organize themselves a conscious be Something that's sort of totally ad hoc and al qaeda i think is a good example of pretty bureaucratic terrorist group. We've learned a lot. Just in the last few years from that huge trove of documents and other files released after the most interesting perhaps is how bin laden was still managing. Some might say micromanaging relationships with affiliates from the time after nine eleven in the initial hunt for bin laden up into the raid in about abbad. Talk a little bit about that bin. Laden's management style and even how he was sometimes quirky and even bizarre with his commands out to various followers and affiliates. Bin laden sunday was he was trying to micromanage an organization that.
The Lawfare Podcast
"bin laden" Discussed on The Lawfare Podcast
"Learned from the four hundred. seventy thousand some files and his interviews. The made him change his mind about a few things regarding al-qaeda and osama bin laden. It's the law fair. Podcast august fourth. Peter bergen reassessing osama bin laden. Peter it is a pleasure to have you back on the law fair. Podcast i have to ask you to start off. Here you've written about bin laden extensively holy warring is one of the most read books on bin laden if not the most red book. So why this full cradle-to-grave biography and why now. Yeah good question. i you know. Part of it was prompted by. I teach students at arizona state and i realized that a lot of them even bone on nine eleven for them. Nine eleven is assistant an event as the korean war is for myself or other people of my generation. One of the bright student sauce me. You know what's the difference between al qaeda and the taliban and i was like well. You know this quite a lot to unpack there then. I also realized people who are volunteering for the us military today. one bono. Nine eleven. I though you know babies when nine eleven happened so that was one element. The second element was it was only in december in late thousand seventeen that the trump administration released in full four hundred seventy thousand files that were found at.