WASHINGTON — Newly released documents recovered from the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed show that al-Qaeda’s leaders were frustrated in their efforts to manage an emerging group of distant affiliates that showed little discipline or willingness to take direction.
The letters include chilling admonitions to remain focused on killing Americans, cast doubt on suspicions that the governments of Pakistan and Iran collaborated with the terrorist group, and reveal bin Laden’s suspicions about a U.S.-born cleric who was rising through the ranks of al-Qaeda’s group in Yemen.
The documents provide an intriguing, up-close glimpse into the aging al-Qaeda founder’s thoughts as his life neared its end.
“Our strength is limited,” bin Laden wrote in a 2010 letter that compares the United States to a tree with branches that project across the world. “So, our best way to cut the tree is to concentrate on sawing the trunk.”
The details are embedded in a collection of 17 files that were made available online by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, an organization that had exclusive access to the materials for several months and issued a report summarizing its findings. The release came one year and one day after bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs
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Deep divisions at top
At a time when U.S. intelligence officials regard al-Qaeda’s regional affiliates as a more pressing threat than the core group based in Pakistan, the documents show deep divisions among al-Qaeda leaders over how to handle the disparate groups.
In the 2010 letter to one of his top deputies, bin Laden expressed alarm over the “increased mistakes” committed by the “brothers” in countries such as Iraq and Yemen, and he pushed to bring the groups in line. Bin Laden and others were frustrated with the groups’ attacks on Muslims, clumsy media operations and reluctance to focus their energies on attacking the United States and its Western allies.
Bin Laden appeared to harbor doubts about Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born propagandist for al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen. When the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP as the affiliate is known, proposed that Awlaki take over the leadership role, bin Laden said no.
Awlaki should “remain in his position,” bin Laden said, and instructed AQAP chief Nasir al-Wuhayshi to provide a fuller résumé for Awlaki, and wait until he had been tested in battle. Awlaki was killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen last year.
Name change weighed
One document suggested that the name al-Qaeda had “lessened Muslims’ feelings that we belong to them” and lacked any religious connection. The name, Arabic for “The Base,” was first used to refer to some of the mujahedeen fighting the Soviets in the 1980s.
The document proposed a variety of possible alternatives with Islamic themes, including Monotheism and Jihad Group, Muslim Unity Group, Islamic Nation Unification Party and Al-Asqa Liberation Group. Such names, the unknown author argued, would make the U.S.-led war against al-Qaeda into more of a war on Islam.
The documents provide at least partial answers to lingering questions about al-Qaeda’s relationship to the governments of Pakistan and Iran.
The West Point report notes that “there are no explicit references to any institutional Pakistani support for al-Qaeda and its operatives.”
The letters also portray a suspicious, antagonistic relationship between al-Qaeda and Iran, which detained a significant number of jihadis and their relatives in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, including members of bin Laden’s family.
The Combating Terrorism Center acknowledged, however, that it had no access to the thousands of bin Laden records yet to be declassified. A White House spokesman said Thursday no additional releases were planned.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
