Osama bin Laden dead; Obama nails him, leads American comeback
Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN | May 2, 2011, 07.34pm ISTA similar crowd had gathered near Ground Zero in New York, where bin Laden's diabolical plan had seen terrorists plunge two airplanes into the twin World Trade Center towers, killing nearly 3000 people, and bringing America to its knees. But theUnited States had stood up, and now had its foot on the head of the key perpetrator after a daring commando operation half the world away. Retribution had been obtained. Or as their President said on television a few moments ago, "Justice had been done."
This was America's World Cup moment, a time for sheer joy and relief, matching the famed end of the World War. A cowardly, despicable, hated enemy had been hunted down and killed in the true western way.
Inside, the man who presided over the Washington's stunning intelligence coup and special action comeback had just retired for the night. But he couldn't have helped hear the chants of support outside. Stricken with political and economic crisis just days before, with critics doubting his very birth in the US, he had suddenly won a new lease of life. Not just his fortune, but the kismet of the United States could turn. It was America's 'gotcha' moment.
In his ten minute national TV address, just three hours after a team of US Navy Seals nailed bin Laden in a hail of gunfire, Barack Obama did not hesitate a moment from taking direct, personal credit. ''Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan...'' he intoned, after saying how ''I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority'' soon after taking office. There was no mistaking who he thought had gotten the job done even if the bullets were fired by Navy Seals.
But the bragging right was tempered with grace. Soon after nailing America's public enemy # 1, he had phoned his predecessors Bush and Clinton, to inform them of the deed done. In the moment of triumph, he reaffirmed that the ''The United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam.''
''Our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity,'' Obama said.
Critics and supporters were one in hailing the moment as a ''political game-changer,'' both for Obama and for America. The Presidential elections are still some 18 months away, but there is already chatter of an Obama shoo-in for a second term. There is also talk of drawing down U.S troops from Afghanistan, which many Americans are demanding, and accelerating the political process. At home, the achievement strengthens Obama's hand in making difficult choices to set right the economy.
At a broader international level, America's pride and honor, seen to have diminished in the decade after 9/11, is on track to being restored. ''This is America; We get the job done,'' grated Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was the New York Senator during 9/11, warning terrorists that ''you cannot hide from us, you cannot wait us out.''
Both Obama and Clinton were less charitable about Pakistan, although they acknowledged intelligence cooperation from the country now widely seen as a terrorist cesspool and sponsor. There was no thanks; just the barest acknowledgment of cooperation from its dodgy civilian government. Clinton very pointedly said the U.S was with the people and government of Pakistan, and the exclusion of the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment was loud and clear.
Osama bin Laden dead and buried at sea, Obama says justice is done
AP | May 2, 2011, 05.36pm ISTLong believed to be hiding in caves, bin Laden was tracked down in a costly, custom-built hideout not far from a Pakistani military academy.
``Justice has been done,'' US President Barack Obama said in a dramatic announcement at theWhite House while a crowd cheered outside and hundreds more gathered at ground zero inManhattan to celebrate the news.
The military operation took mere minutes.
US helicopters ferrying elite counter-terrorism troops into the compound identified by the CIA as bin Laden's hideout _ and back out again in less than 40 minutes. Bin Laden was shot in the head, officials said, after he and his bodyguards resisted the assault.
Three adult males were also killed in the raid, including one of bin Laden's sons, whom officials did not name. One of bin Laden's sons, Hamza, is a senior member of al-Qaida.
US officials also said one woman was killed when she was used as a shield by a male combatant, and two other women were injured.
The U.S. official who disclosed the burial at sea said it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial.
``I heard a thundering sound, followed by heavy firing. Then firing suddenly stopped. Then more thundering, then a big blast,'' said Mohammad Haroon Rasheed, a resident of Abbottobad, Pakistan, after the choppers had swooped in and then out again.
The 54-year-old bin Laden's death marks a psychological triumph in a long struggle that began with the Sept. 11 attacks, and seems certain to give Obama a political lift. But its ultimate impact onal-Qaida is less clear.
The greatest terrorist threat to the U.S. is now considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a US-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two U.S. cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.
The few fiery minutes in Abbottobad followed years in which US officials struggled to piece together clues that ultimately led to bin Laden, according to an account provided by senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation.
Based on statements given by US detainees since the Sept. 11 attacks, they said, intelligence officials have long known that bin Laden trusted one al-Qaida courier in particular, and they believed he might be living with him in hiding.
Four years ago, the United States learned the man's identity, which officials did not disclose, and then about two years later, they identified areas of Pakistan where he operated. Last August, the man's residence was found, officials said.
``Intelligence analysis concluded that this compound was custom built in 2005 to hide someone of significance,'' with walls as high as 18 feet (5 1/2 meters) and topped by barbed wire, according to one official. Despite the compound's estimated $1 million cost and two security gates, it had no phone or Internet running into the house.
By mid-February, intelligence from multiple sources was clear enough that Obama wanted to ``pursue an aggressive course of action,'' a senior administration official said. Over the next two and a half months, the president led five meetings of the National Security Council focused solely on whether bin Laden was in that compound and, if so, how to get him, the official said.
Obama made a decision to launch the operation on Friday, shortly before flying to Alabama to inspect tornado damage, and aides set to work on the details.
The president spent part of his Sunday on the golf course, but cut his round short to return to the White House for a meeting where he and top national security aides reviewed final preparations for the raid.
Two hours later, Obama was told that bin Laden had been tentatively identified.
CIA director Leon Panetta was directly in charge of the military team during the operation, according to one official, and when he and his aides received word at agency headquarters that bin Laden had been killed, cheers broke out around the conference room table.
Administration aides said the operation was so secretive that no foreign officials were informed in advance, and only a small circle inside the US government was aware of what was unfolding half a world away.
In his announcement, Obama said he had called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari after the raid, and said it was ``important to note that our counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding.''
One senior administration told reporters, though, ``we were very concerned ... that he was inside Pakistan, but this is something we're going to continue to work with the Pakistani government on.''
The compound is about a half-mile from a Pakistani military academy, in a city that is home to three army regiments and thousands of military personnel. Abbottabad is surrounded by hills and with mountains in the distance.
Critics have long accused elements of Pakistan's security establishment of protecting bin Laden, though Islamabad has always denied it, and in a statement the foreign ministry said his death showed the country's resolve in the battle against terrorism.
Whatever the global repercussions, bin Laden's death marked the end to a manhunt that consumed most of a decade that began in the grim hours after bin Laden's hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center twin towers in Manhattan and the Pentagon across the Potomac River from Washington. A fourth plane was commandeered by passengers who overcame the hijackers and forced the plane to crash in the Pennsylvania countryside.
In all, nearly 3,000 were killed in the worst terror attacks on American soil.
Former President George W. Bush, who was in office on the day of the attacks, issued a written statement hailing bin Laden's death as a momentous achievement. ``The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done,'' he said.
Will killing Osama bin Laden kill the movement he inspired?
AP | May 2, 2011, 06.02pm ISTAfter all, his heir apparent, Ayman al-Zawahri, is a harsh, divisive figure who lacks the charisma and mystique that bin Laden used to hold together al-Qaida's various factions. Without bin Laden's iconic figure running al-Qaida, intelligence officials believe the group could splinter and weaken.
But if there is one thing al-Qaida has proved it is able to do, it is adapt to adversity. Its foot soldiers learned to stay off their cellphones to avoid US wiretaps. Their technical wizards cooked up cutting edge encryption software that flummoxed American code-breakers. And a would-be bomber managed to defeat billions of dollars in airline security upgrades with explosives tucked in his underwear.
Bin Laden's death, by an American bullet to the head in a raid on his fortified Pakistani hideout early Monday, came 15 years after he declared war on the United States and nearly a decade after he carried out the worst attacks on US soil. But the al-Qaida network he leaves behind is far different from the one behind the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
Today, al-Qaida's core in Pakistan is constantly on the run, hiding from U.S. Predator drones. Communication is slow. The ability to plan, finance and carry out attacks has been greatly reduced. Al-Qaida franchises have sprung up in Yemen, Iraq and Algeria, where terrorists fight local grievances under the global banner of jihad.
In that regard, bin Laden's death could be far more damaging psychologically than operationally. Al-Zawahri has been running al-Qaida operations for years as bin Laden cut himself off from the outside world. There were no phone or Internet lines running into his compound. And he used a multi-layered courier system to pass messages. It was old-fashioned and safe but it made taking part in any operation practically impossible. Bin Laden had been reduced to a figurehead by the time US commandoes eliminated him, counterterrorism experts say.
Today, the greatest terrorist threat to the US is considered to be the al-Qaida franchise in Yemen, far from al-Qaida's core in Pakistan. The Yemen branch almost took down a US-bound airliner on Christmas 2009 and nearly detonated explosives aboard two US cargo planes last fall. Those operations were carried out without any direct involvement from bin Laden.
Al-Qaida's leadership in Yemen has also managed to do what bin Laden never could: adapt the message for Western audiences and package it in English. The terrorist magazine ``Inspire,'' coaches would-be bombers on how to make explosives. It teaches them that they don't need to seek training in Pakistan or Yemen, where they could be intercepted by US spies. Rather, they are instructed to become one-man terror cells that pick targets and carry out attacks without any instruction from al-Qaida's core leadership.
Bin Laden was more of a symbol than anything else, said Qaribut Ustad Saeed, a long-time member of the Hezb-e-Islami rebel group led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the U.S. has labeled a terrorist. Saeed is currently a member of the Afghan High Peace Council set up to try to negotiate a peace settlement with the Taliban. Bin Laden's loss will be an inspirational one, rather than an operational one, he said.
``Osama bin Laden became a symbol and inspiration for the young Muslim extremists,'' he said. But the group has expanded into a worldwide movement that is now bigger than bin Laden,'' he said.
Even if the US manages to find and kill al-Zawahri, whose last-known sighting was in Peshawar in 2003, it won't mean the end of al-Qaida. Like Hamas and Hezbollah who have seen their leaders eliminated, al-Qaida will probably continue to exist, terrorism experts say.
Within hours of bin Laden's death, for instance, members of groups affiliated with the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network in Pakistan were already promising that the day-to-day mission on the ground would not change.
Terrorists will try to avenge Osama bin Laden: CIA chief
AFP | May 2, 2011, 07.21pm IST"The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him, and we must -- and will -- remain vigilant and resolute," he said.
US Navy SEALs led the commando operation in Pakistan that ended bin Laden's life with a bullet to the head, a US official said.
The SEALs, which stands for Sea, Air, Land, are elite troops used for some of the riskiest anti-terrorism missions, as well as behind-the-lines reconnaissance and unconventional warfare.
On loan to the CIA for the mission Sunday night into Monday, the SEAL team launched the assault from helicopters on a heavily fortified villa in a city near Islamabad that US intelligence had identified as bin Laden's hideout.
"Responsibility for the raid is Leon Panetta's; It was executed by Navy SEALs," said the official.
CNN described the operation as a "kill mission" but US officials said bin Laden "resisted as we expected."
The al-Qaida leader's body was buried at sea, two officials said on condition of anonymity.
"We wanted to avoid a situation where it would become a shrine," one of the officials said.
And there was no time for negotiations with other countries to arrange for a possible burial, the official added.
Hiding bin Laden: Finger of suspicion at ISI
Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN | May 2, 2011, 12.05pm ISTIn a ten-minute television address, Obama left no doubt that US personnel alone were involved in the action that brought bin Laden to justice. ''Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,'' Obama said, adding, ''A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.''
While Obama said ''It's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding,'' he made no mention of anyPakistani military role in the operation. US officials in background briefing made it clear that no country, much less Pakistan, was informed of the operation.
In fact, there was not even a word of thanks for Pakistan. Instead, Obama said: ''Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al-Qaida and its affiliates.''
The finger of suspicion is now pointing squarely at the Pakistani military and intelligence for sheltering and protecting Osama bin Laden before US forces hunted him down and put a bullet in his head in the wee hours of Sunday. The coordinates of the action and sequence of events indicate that the al-Qaida fugitive may have been killed in an ISI safehouse.
US analysts uniformly suggested that the Pakistani security establishment's claim of a role in the operation is clearly aimed at ducking charges of its military's possible role in hiding bin Laden. ''This is hugely embarrassing for Pakistan,'' was a common refrain on US TV channels throughout the night.
In fact, top US officials have openly suggested for months that the Pakistani military establishment was hiding bin Laden. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came closest to publicly exposing Pakistan's role last May when she accused some government officials there of harboring Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.
''I am not saying they are at the highest level...but I believe somewhere in this government are people who know where Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida and where Mullah Omar and the leadership of the Taliban are,'' Clinton said on May 10 last year, adding, ''We expect more cooperation (from Pakistan) to help us bring to justice capture or kill those who brought us 9/11.''
Taken together with President Obama's pointed reference to President Zardari and leaving out any mention of Pakistani forces' involvement, it would seem that Washington believes that Pakistan's military intelligence establishment, including the ISI, was sheltering bin Laden. The ISI was accused as recently as last week by the top US military official Admiral Mike Mullen of having terrorist links, and named as a terrorist support entity by US officials, according to the Guantanamo cables.
Lending credence to the charges is the fact that US forces homed in on bin Laden in Abbottabad, which is a cantonment just 50 kms from Islamabad, where the Pakistani military has a strong presence. The place where bin Laden was killed is only kilometers from the Kakul military academy, where many Pakistani military elites, including some of its ISI cadres, graduate from.
While US officials are tightlipped about precise details, analysts are trying to figure out whether the compound that sheltered bin Laden was an ISI safehouse. There is also speculation as to whether Hillary Clinton was referring to this when she made her pointed remarks last May.
US officials have said for years that they believed bin Laden escaped to Pakistan after the American bombing campaign in Afghanistan. But Pakistani officials, including its former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, insisted that he was in Afghanistan, even as Afghan officials would angrily refute it and say he is in Pakistan. In the end, the Americans and Afghans were right on the money.
Articles
Osama: Not a cave, not in tribal areas but 50 kms from Islamabad!
How did Osama come to be "deep inside Pak"? Did ISI provide a safe house? Qs will be asked about Pak's role
An image made from Geo TV shows flames at what is thought to be the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. Photo: AP
Not in a cave in Tora Bora, not in the hills of Afghanistan, not in the tribal areas, not even in a rural outpost, but in Abottabad - a city of a lakh of people, 50 km northeast of Pakistan's national capital - is where the "Most wanted man" in the world was found and eliminated.
Even in Abbotabad, not in a decrepit, unmarked facility, but in a million-dollar mansion on a hill, protected by 12-foot walls and barbed wires. A facility reportedly built in 2005 specifically for Osama.
Though it is not yet clear how long Osama has been residence in this particular hideout, it is well nigh impossible and inconceivable that the "world's most wanted" man was living right under the nose of the Pakistani security establishment, without official help and complicity at the highest levels.
For the greater part of the last decade, Pakistani leaders have maintained that Osama was not on Pakistani soil; and pointed to the inhospitable mountains and tribal regions of Afghanistan where the mastermind behind 9/11 could be found. That is, if he was indeed alive!
But speculation among the intelligence and strategic circles has been rife for some time now that Osama is, more probably than not, in one of the safe houses of the Pakistani ISI. The southern port city of Karachi was speculated as the most likely safe haven.
Protected by the Pakistani intelligence - as a strategic asset for bargaining with Americans and the West; as also due to the ideological affinities some of the radicalised members of Islamabad's security apparatus had developed for the Al Qaeda and other Jehadi groups operating from the Pakistani soil.
The perception among security experts that Osama could be indeed in an urban safe house in Pakistan was strengthened when the some of the top guns of Al Qaeda were indeed found hiding, not in the tribal areas, but in densely populated urban hideouts.
For instance, Abu Zubaidah in Faislabad in Punjab, Ramzi Binalshibh in Karachi and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (considered by 9/11 Commission as "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks") in Rawalpindi.
So in the coming days, the question will be asked: How did 'America's enemy no. 1' come to be living just 50 or so kilometres from Pakistan's capital without the intelligence agencies getting a whiff of it? Or, is it that the "most wanted man in the world" was emboldened to venture so "deep inside" Pakistan because he was officially protected and nurtured by elements of the ISI?
So far, this $50 million question (that is the quantum of reward offered by the US for Osama's head) has so far been only articulated by the Indian home minister P Chidambaram who went promptly to the heart of the matter.
The fact that Osama was found "deep inside Pakistan", the Indian Home Minister said, "underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan."
"We believe that the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack, including the controllers and handlers of the terrorists who actually carried out the attack, continue to be sheltered in Pakistan", and called for them to be handed over.
These and similar questions are likely to be asked in the coming days. Pakistan, and its security and military establishment, has much to answer for!
Source: India Syndicate
Islamabad: Pakistan's intelligence chief on Monday confirmed the killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and one of his sons in a joint operation by U.S. and Pakistani forces. A screen grab from Express TV shows the dead body of Osama bin Laden, as seen in Islamabad, Pakistan. Photo: AP Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, told Duniya television that bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, about 60 kilometres north-east of the capital Islamabad. He was killed along with three guards and a son whose name was not given. Six other sons, three wives and four aides were arrested, Mr. Pasha said. The operation started just after midnight and continued for hours, an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity said. "The actual operation was conducted by U.S. special forces and Pakistani forces were backing them." Residents in Abbottabad, a town of around 200,000 people, said the operation started just after midnight when three helicopters tried to land in the neighbourhood Bilal Town, about 1 kilometre from the military academy. "First I heard the sounds of firearms, then I saw a helicopter catching fire and crashing into a residential area," said Ghulam Rasool, a security guard at a local market, who saw the scene from a distance. "Two planes were also flying overhead." Pakistani forces have cordoned off the area and a search operation is being conducted. Source: DPA An image made from Geo TV shows flames at what is thought to be the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. Photo: AP Osama's son killed in Pakistan Islamabad: A son of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan, a media report said. Xinhua quoted Duniya TV as saying that one of bin Laden's sons was killed in an operation. The report didn't name him. Osama bin Laden was killed Monday in a security operation in Pakistan's Abbotabad city, less than 100 km from the Pakistan capital. US President Barack Obama said that the US launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad. "A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," said Obama. Osama's six children, two wives held in Pakistan Islamabad: Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's six children and two wives have been arrested in Pakistan, a media report said. Osama bin Laden was killed Monday in a security operation in Pakistan's Abbotabad city, less than 100 km from the Pakistan capital. Sources said Osama's six children, two wives and four close friends were arrested during a search operation launched early Monday morning by the Pakistani forces in a mountainous area located some 60 km north of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Xinhua qouted Dunya TV as saying. Source: IANS Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن,ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin; March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011[1][2][3]) was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family and the founder of the jihadistorganization al-Qaeda, responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. Osama bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 US embassy bombings.[4][5][6] Since 2001, Osama bin Laden and his organization had been major targets of the U.S. War on Terror. He was believed to be hiding near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areaswith fellow al-Qaeda leaders, however, he was discovered hiding in a million-dollar three-story[7] mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan. On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan in an operation conducted by a small group of American military forces and the Central Intelligence Agency.[2][8] There is no universally accepted standard for transliterating Arabic words and Arabic names into English; bin Laden's name was most frequently rendered "Osama bin Laden." The FBI and CIA, as well as other US Governmental agencies, have used either "Usama bin Laden" or "Usama bin Ladin", both of which may be abbreviated as "UBL". Less common renderings include "Ussamah Bin Ladin" and "Oussama Ben Laden" in the French-language media. Other spellings include "Binladen" or, as used by his family in the West, "Binladin". The spellings with "o" and "e" come from a Persian-influenced pronunciation also used in Afghanistan, where bin Laden spent many years. Arabic linguistic conventions would be to refer to him as "Osama" or "Osama bin Laden", not "bin Laden" alone, as "Bin Laden" is apatronymic, not a surname in the Western manner. In its expanded form it means "Osama, son of Mohammed, son of 'Awad, son of Laden". Osama bin Laden's admirers have referred to him by several aliases and nicknames, including the Prince/Al-Amir, the Sheikh, Abu Abdallah,Sheikh Al-Mujahid, the Lion Sheik,[9] the Director.[10] Osama bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[11] In a 1998 interview, he gave his birth date as March 10, 1957.[12] His fatherMohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a wealthy businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family.[13] Osama bin Laden was born the only son of Mohammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas.[14] Osama's parents divorced soon after he was born; Osama's mother then married Mohammed al-Attas. The couple had four children, and Osama lived in the new household with three half-brothers and one half-sister.[14] Osama was raised as a devout Wahhabi Muslim.[15] From 1968 to 1976 he attended the "élite" secular Al-Thager Model School.[14][16]Osama studied economics and business administration[17] at King Abdulaziz University. Some reports suggest Osama earned a degree incivil engineering in 1979,[18] or a degree in public administration in 1981.[19] Other sources describe him as having left university during his third year,[20] never completing a college degree, though "hard working."[21] At university, Osama's main interest was religion, where he was involved in both "interpreting the Quran and jihad" and charitable work.[22] He also wrote poetry.[23] In 1974, at the age of 17, Osama married his first wife Najwa Ghanem at Latakia.[24] According to CNN national security correspondent David Ensore, as of 2002 Osama had married four women and fathered roughly 25 or 26 children.[25] Other sources report that he has fathered anywhere from 12 to 24 children.[26] His father, Mohammed bin Laden, was killed in 1967 in an airplane crash in Saudi Arabia when his American pilot, Captain Enos Fingy,[27]misjudged a landing.[28] His eldest half-brother and head of the bin Laden family, Salem bin Laden, was killed in 1988 when he accidentally flew a plane into powerlines near San Antonio, Texas, USA. The FBI described Osama bin Laden as tall and thin, between 6'4" and 6'6" (193– 198 cm) in height and weighing about 165 pounds (75 kg). Interviewees of Lawrence Wright, on the other hand, describe him as quite slender, but not particularly tall.[29] He had an olive complexion and was left-handed, usually walking with a cane. He wore a plain white turban and no longer donned the traditional Saudi male headdress.[30] In terms of personality, bin Laden was described as a soft-spoken, mild mannered man.[31] Osama believed that the restoration of Sharia law will set things right in the Muslim world, and that all other ideologies—"pan-Arabism, socialism, communism, democracy"—must be opposed.[32] These beliefs, along with violent expansive jihad, have sometimes been calledQutbism (the ideology of Sayyid Qutb).[33] He believed Afghanistan under the rule of Mullah Omar's Taliban was "the only Islamic country" in the Muslim world.[34] Osama consistently dwelt on the need for violent jihad to right what he believed were injustices against Muslims perpetrated by the United States and sometimes by other non-Muslim states,[35] the need to eliminate the state of Israel, and the necessity of forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East. He also called on Americans to "reject the immoral acts of fornication (and) homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury," in an October 2002 letter.[36] Probably the most infamous part of Osama's ideology was that civilians, including women and children, are legitimate targets of jihad.[37][38]Osama was antisemitic, and delivered warnings against alleged Jewish conspiracies: "These Jews are masters of usury and leaders in treachery. They will leave you nothing, either in this world or the next."[39] Shia Muslims have been listed along with "Heretics,... America and Israel," as the four principal "enemies of Islam" at ideology classes of bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organization.[40] In keeping with Wahhabi beliefs,[41] Osama opposed music on religious grounds,[42] and his attitude towards technology was mixed. He was interested in "earth-moving machinery and genetic engineering of plants" on the one hand, but rejected "chilled water" on the other.[43] His viewpoints and methods of achieving them had led to him being designated as a "terrorist" by scholars,[44][45] journalists from The New York Times,[46][47] the BBC,[48] and Qatari news station Al Jazeera,[49] analysts such as Peter Bergen,[50] Michael Scheuer,[51] Marc Sageman,[52] and Bruce Hoffman[53][54] and he was indicted on terrorism charges by law enforcement agencies in Madrid, New York City, and Tripoli.[55] Salafist Muslims have criticized bin Laden for adherence to Qutbism, takfir and Khaarijite deviance. Critics are said to include Muhammad Ibn Haadee al-Madkhalee, Abd-al-Aziz ibn Abd-Allah ibn Baaz, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan and Muqbil bin Haadi al-Waadi'ee.[citation needed] After leaving college in 1979 bin Laden joined Abdullah Azzam to fight the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan[56] and lived for a time in Peshawar.[57] From 1979 through 1989 under U.S. Presidents Carter and Reagan, the United States Central Intelligence Agency provided overt and covert financial aid, arms and training to Osama's Islamic Jihad Mujahideen through Operation Cyclone,[58] and The Reagan Doctrine. President Reagan often praised Osama's Mujahideen as Afghanistan's "Freedom Fighters." By 1984, with Azzam, bin Laden established Maktab al-Khadamat, which funneled money, arms and Muslim fighters from around the Arabic world into the Afghan war. Through al-Khadamat, bin Laden's inherited family fortune[59] paid for air tickets and accommodation, dealt with paperwork with Pakistani authorities and provided other such services for the jihad fighters. Osama established a camp in Afghanistan, and with other volunteers fought the Soviets. It was during his time in Peshawar that he began wearing camouflage-print jackets and carrying a captured Soviet assault rifle, which urban legends claimed he had obtained by killing a Russian soldier with his bare hands.[60] By 1988, bin Laden had split from Maktab al-Khidamat. While Azzam acted as support for Afghan fighters, bin Laden wanted a more military role. One of the main points leading to the split and the creation of al-Qaeda was Azzam's insistence that Arab fighters be integrated among the Afghan fighting groups instead of forming a separate fighting force.[61] Notes of a meeting of bin Laden and others on August 20, 1988, indicate al-Qaeda was a formal group by that time: "basically an organized Islamic faction, its goal is to lift the word of God, to make His religion victorious." A list of requirements for membership itemized the following: listening ability, good manners, obedience, and making a pledge (bayat) to follow one's superiors.[62] According to Wright, the group's real name wasn't used in public pronouncements because "its existence was still a closely held secret."[63]His research suggests that al-Qaeda was formed at an August 11, 1988, meeting between "several senior leaders" of Egyptian Islamic Jihad,Abdullah Azzam, and bin Laden, where it was agreed to join bin Laden's money with the expertise of the Islamic Jihad organization and take up the jihadist cause elsewhere after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.[64] Following the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan in February 1989, Osama bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia in 1990 as a hero of jihad, who along with his Arab legion, "had brought down the mighty superpower" of the Soviet Union.[65] The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 had put the kingdom and its ruling House of Saudat risk. The world's most valuable oil fields were within easy striking distance of Iraqi forces in Kuwait, and Saddam's call to pan-Arab/Islamism could potentially rally internal dissent. bin Laden met with King Fahd, and Sultan, Minister of Defense of Saudi Arabia, telling them not to depend on non-Muslim troops, and offered to help defend Saudi Arabia with his mujahideen fighters. Bin Laden's offer was rebuffed, and after the American offer to help repel Iraq from Kuwait was accepted, involving deploying U.S. troops in Saudi territory,[66] he publicly denounced Saudi Arabia's dependence on the U.S. military, as he believed the presence of foreign troops in the "land of the two mosques" (Mecca and Medina) profaned sacred soil. Bin Laden's criticism of the Saudi monarchy led that government to attempt to silence him. Shortly after Saudi Arabia permitted U.S. troops on Saudi soil, bin Laden turned his attention to attacks on the west. On November 8, 1990, the FBI raided the New Jersey home of El Sayyid Nosair, an associate of al Qaeda operative Ali Mohamed, discovering a great deal of evidence of terrorist plots, including plans to blow up New York City skyscrapers, marking the earliest uncovering of al Qaeda plans for such activities outside of Muslim countries.[67] Nosair was eventually convicted in connection to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and for the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane on November 5, 1990. Bin Laden continued to speak publicly against the Saudi government for harboring American troops, for which the Saudis banished him. He went to live in exile in Sudan, in 1992, in a deal brokered by Ali Mohamed.[68] In Sudan, bin Laden established a new base for mujahideen operations, in Khartoum. Bin Laden continued his verbal assault on King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, and in response, on March 5, 1994, Fahd sent an emissary to Sudan demanding bin Laden's passport. His family was persuaded to cut off his monthly stipend, the equivalent of $7 million a year.[69] By now bin Laden was strongly associated with Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), which made up the core of al-Qaeda. In 1995 the EIJ attempted to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The attempt failed, and the EIJ was expelled from Sudan. As a result of his dealings in and advocacy of violent extremist jihad, Osama bin Laden lost his Saudi citizenship in 1994 and was disowned by his billionaire family.[70] Sudan also began efforts to expel bin Laden. The 9/11 Commission Report states: "In late 1995, when Bin Laden was still in Sudan, the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) learned that Sudanese officials were discussing with the Saudi government the possibility of expelling Bin Laden. CIA paramilitary officerBilly Waugh tracked down Bin Ladin in the Sudan and prepared an operation to apprehend him, but was denied authorization.[71] US Ambassador Timothy Carney encouraged the Sudanese to pursue this course. The Saudis, however, did not want Bin Laden, giving as their reason their revocation of his citizenship. Sudan's minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand Bin Laden over to the United States. The Commission has found no credible evidence that this was so. Ambassador Carney had instructions only to push the Sudanese to expel Bin Laden. Ambassador Carney had no legal basis to ask for more from the Sudanese since, at the time, there was no indictment outstanding."[72] The 9/11 Commission Report further states: "In February 1996, Sudanese officials began approaching officials from the United States and other governments, asking what actions of theirs might ease foreign pressure. In secret meetings with Saudi officials, Sudan offered to expel Bin Laden to Saudi Arabia and asked the Saudis to pardon him. US officials became aware of these secret discussions, certainly by March. Saudi officials apparently wanted Bin Laden expelled from Sudan. They had already revoked his citizenship, however, and would not tolerate his presence in their country. Also Bin Laden may have no longer felt safe in Sudan, where he had already escaped at least one assassination attempt that he believed to have been the work of the Egyptian or Saudi regimes, or both." In May 1996, under increasing pressure on Sudan, from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States, bin Laden returned to Jalalabad, Afghanistan aboard a chartered flight, and there forged a close relationship with Mullah Mohammed Omar.[73][74] When Bin Laden left Sudan, he and his organization were significantly weakened, despite his ambitions and organizational skills.[75] In Afghanistan, bin Laden and Al-Qaeda raised money from "donors from the days of the Soviet jihad", and from the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to establish more training camps for Mujahideen fighters .[76] It is believed that the first bombing attack involving bin Laden was the December 29, 1992 bombing of the Gold Mihor Hotel in Aden in which two people were killed.[77] It was after this bombing that al-Qaeda was reported to have developed its justification for the killing of innocent people. According to a fatwa issued by Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, the killing of someone standing near the enemy is justified because any innocent bystander will find their proper reward in death, going to Jannah (Paradise) if they were good Muslims and to Jahannam (hell) if they were bad or non-believers.[78] The fatwa was issued to al-Qaeda members but not the general public. In the 1990s bin Laden's al-Qaeda assisted jihadis financially and sometimes militarily in Algeria, Egypt and Afghanistan. In 1992 or 1993 bin Laden sent an emissary, Qari el-Said, with $40,000 to Algeria to aid the Islamists and urge war rather than negotiation with the government. Their advice was heeded but the war that followed killed 150,000–200,000 Algerians and ended with Islamist surrender to the government. Another effort by bin Laden was the funding of the Luxor massacre of November 17, 1997,[79][80][81] which killed 62 civilians, but so revolted the Egyptian public that it turned against Islamist terror. In mid-1997, the Northern Alliance threatened to overrun Jalalabad, causing Bin Laden to abandon his Nazim Jihad compound and move his operations to Tarnak Farms in the south.[82] A later effort that did succeed was an attack on the city of Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. Bin Laden helped cement his alliance with his hosts the Taliban by sending several hundred of his Afghan Arab fighters along to help the Taliban kill between five and six thousand Hazarasoverrunning the city.[83] In 1998, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri co-signed a fatwa in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders which declared the killing of North Americans and their allies an "individual duty for every Muslim" to "liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque(in Jerusalem) and the holy mosque (in Mecca) from their grip".[84][85] At the public announcement of the fatwa bin Laden announced that North Americans are "very easy targets." He told the attending journalists, "You will see the results of this in a very short time."[86] In December 1998, the Director of Central Intelligence Counterterrorist Center reported to the president that al-Qaeda was preparing for attacks in the USA, including the training of personnel to hijack aircraft.[87] At the end of 2000, Richard Clarke revealed that Islamic militants headed by bin Laden had planned a triple attack on January 3, 2000 which would have included bombings in Jordan of the Radisson SAS Hotel in Amman and tourists at Mount Nebo and a site on the Jordan River, the sinking of the destroyer USS The Sullivans in Yemen, as well as an attack on a target within the United States. The plan was foiled by the arrest of the Jordanian terrorist cell, the sinking of the explosive-filled skiff intended to target the destroyer, and the arrest of Ahmed Ressam.[88] A former U.S. State Department official in October 2001 described Bosnia and Herzegovina as a safe haven for terrorists, after it was revealed that militant elements of the former Sarajevo government were protecting extremists, some with ties to Osama bin Laden.[89] In 1997,Rzeczpospolita, one of the largest Polish daily newspapers, reported that intelligence services of the Nordic-Polish SFOR Brigade suspected that a center for training terrorists from Islamic countries was located in the Bocina Donja village near Maglaj in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992, hundreds of volunteers joined an "all-mujahedeen unit" called El Moujahed in an abandoned hillside factory, a compound with a hospital and prayer hall. According to Middle East intelligence reports, bin Laden financed small convoys of recruits from the Arab world through his businesses in Sudan. Among them was Karim Said Atmani who was identified by authorities as the document forger for a group of Algerians accused of plotting the bombings in the USA.[90] He is a former roommate of Ahmed Ressam, the man arrested at the Canadian-U.S. border in mid-December 1999 with a car full of nitroglycerin and bomb-making materials.[91][92] He was convicted of colluding with Osama bin Laden by a French court.[93] A Bosnian government search of passport and residency records, conducted at the urging of the United States, revealed other former mujahideen who are linked to the same Algerian group or to other groups of suspected terrorists who have lived in this area 60 miles (97 km) north of Sarajevo, the capital, in the past few years. Khalil al-Deek, was arrested in Jordan in late December 1999 on suspicion of involvement in a plot to blow up tourist sites; a second man with Bosnian citizenship, Hamid Aich, lived in Canada at the same time as Atmani and worked for a charity associated with Osama Bin Laden. In its June 26, 1997 Report on the bombing of the Al Khobar building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, The New York Times noted that those arrested confessed to serving with Bosnian Muslims forces. Further, the captured men also admitted to ties with Osama bin Laden.[94][95][96] In 1999 it was revealed that Osama bin Laden and his Tunisian assistant Mehrez Aodouni were granted citizenship and Bosnian passports in 1993 by the Government in Sarajevo. This information was denied by the Bosnian government following the 9/11 attacks, but it was later found that Aodouni was arrested in Turkey and that at that time he possessed the Bosnian passport. Following this revelation, a new explanation was given that bin Laden "did not personally collect his Bosnian passport" and that officials at the Bosnian embassy in Vienna, which issued the passport, could not have known who bin Laden was at the time.[94][95][96] The Bosnian daily Oslobođenje published in 2001 that three men, believed to be linked to Osama Bin Laden, were arrested in Sarajevo in July 2001. The three, one of whom was identified as Imad El Misri, were Egyptian nationals. The paper said that two of the suspects were holding Bosnian passports.[94] In 1998 it was reported that bin Laden was operating his Al Qaeda network out of Albania. The Charleston Gazette quoted Fatos Klosi, the head of the Albanian intelligence service, as saying a network run by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden sent units to fight in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Confirmation of these activities came from Claude Kader, a French national who said he was a member of bin Laden's Albanian network. By 1998 four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) were arrested in Albania, and extradited to Egypt at the urging of the CIA. It is believed that the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Africa occurred as retaliation for these arrests.[97] "Allah knows it did not cross our minds to attack the towers but after the situation became unbearable and we witnessed the injustice and tyranny of the American-Israeli alliance against our people in Palestine and Lebanon, I thought about it. And the events that affected me directly were that of 1982 and the events that followed – when America allowed the Israelis to invade Lebanon, helped by the U.S. Sixth Fleet. As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me punish the unjust the same way (and) to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and to stop killing our children and women." – Osama bin Laden, 2004[98] After reports of repeated initial denials,[99] in 2004 Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.[100][101][102] The attacks involved the hijacking of four commercial passenger aircraft,[103] the subsequent destruction of those planes and the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, severe damage to The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia,[104] and the deaths of 2,974 people and the nineteen hijackers.[105] In response to the attacks, the United States launched a War on Terror to depose the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and capture al-Qaeda operatives, and several countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation to preclude future attacks. The CIA's Special Activities Division was given the lead in tracking down and killing or capturing bin Laden.[106] The Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated that classified[107] evidence linking Al-Qaeda and bin Laden to the attacks of September 11 is clear and irrefutable.[108] The UK Government reached a similar conclusion regarding Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden's culpability for the September 11, 2001, attacks although the government report notes that the evidence presented is insufficient for a prosecutable case.[109]Bin Laden initially denied involvement in the attacks. On September 16, 2001, bin Laden read a statement later broadcast by Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite channel denying responsibility for the attack.[110] In a videotape recovered by US forces in November 2001 in Jalalabad, bin Laden was seen discussing the attack with Khaled al-Harbi in a way that indicates foreknowledge.[111] The tape was broadcast on various news networks on December 13, 2001. The merits of this translation have been disputed. Arabist Dr. Abdel El M. Husseini stated: "This translation is very problematic. At the most important places where it is held to prove the guilt of bin Laden, it is not identical with the Arabic."[112] In the 2004 Osama bin Laden video, bin Laden abandoned his denials without retracting past statements. In it he stated he had personally directed the nineteen hijackers.[101][113] In the 18-minute tape, played on Al-Jazeera, four days before the American presidential election, bin Laden accused U.S. President George W. Bush of negligence on the hijacking of the planes on September 11.[101] According to the tapes, bin Laden claimed he was inspired to destroy the World Trade Center after watching the destruction of towers in Lebanon by Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War.[114] In two other tapes aired by Al Jazeera in 2006, Osama bin Laden announces, I am the one in charge of the nineteen brothers ... I was responsible for entrusting the nineteen brothers ... with the raids [5 minute audiotape broadcast May 23, 2006],[115] and is seen with Ramzi bin al-Shibh, as well as two of the 9/11 hijackers, Hamza al-Ghamdi and Wail al-Shehri, as they make preparations for the attacks (videotape broadcast September 7, 2006).[116] On March 16, 1998, Libya issued the first official Interpol arrest warrant against Bin Laden and three other people for killing two German citizens in Libya on March 10, 1994, one of which is thought to have been a German counter-intelligence officer. Bin Laden was still wanted by the Libyan government.[117][118] Osama bin Laden was first indicted by the United States on June 8, 1998, when a grand jury indicted Osama bin Laden on charges of killing five Americans and two Indians in the November 14, 1995 truck bombing of a US-operated Saudi National Guard training center in Riyadh.[119] Bin Laden was charged with "conspiracy to attack defense utilities of the United States" and prosecutors further charged that bin Laden is the head of the terrorist organization called al Qaeda, and that he was a major financial backer of Islamic fighters worldwide.[119] Bin Laden denied involvement but praised the attack. On November 4, 1998, Osama bin Laden was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on charges of Murder of US Nationals Outside the United States, Conspiracy to Murder US Nationals Outside the United States, and Attacks on a Federal Facility Resulting in Death[120] for his alleged role in the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The evidence against bin Laden included courtroom testimony by former Al Qaeda members and satellite phone records, from a phone purchased for him by al-Qaeda procurement agent Ziyad Khaleel in the U.S.[121] Bin Laden became the 456th person listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, when he was added to the list on June 7, 1999, following his indictment along with others for capital crimes in the 1998 embassy attacks. Attempts at assassination and requests for the extradition of bin Laden from the Taliban of Afghanistan were met with failure prior to the bombing of Afghanistan in October 2001.[122] In 1999, US President Bill Clinton convinced the United Nations to impose sanctions against Afghanistan in an attempt to force the Taliban to extradite him. Years later, on October 10, 2001, bin Laden appeared as well on the initial list of the top 22 FBI Most Wanted Terrorists, which was released to the public by the President of the United States George W. Bush, in direct response to the attacks of 9/11, but which was again based on the indictment for the 1998 embassy attack. Bin Laden was among a group of thirteen fugitive terrorists wanted on that latter list for questioning about the 1998 embassy bombings. Bin Laden remains the only fugitive ever to be listed on both FBI fugitive lists. Despite the multiple indictments listed above and multiple requests, the Taliban refused to extradite Osama Bin Laden. It wasn't until after the bombing of Afghanistan began in October 2001 that the Taliban finally did offer to turn over Osama bin Laden to a third-party country for trial, in return for the US ending the bombing and providing evidence that Osama bin Laden was involved in the 9/11 attacks. This offer was rejected by George W Bush stating that this was no longer negotiable with Bush responding that "There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty."[123] Capturing Osama bin Laden had been an objective of the United States government since the presidency of Bill Clinton.[124] Shortly after the September 11 attacks it was revealed that President Clinton had signed a directive authorizing the CIA (and specifically their elite Special Activities Division) to apprehend bin Laden and bring him to the United States to stand trial after the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Africa; if taking bin Laden alive was deemed impossible, then deadly force was authorized.[125] On August 20, 1998, 66 cruise missiles launched by United States Navy ships in the Arabian Sea struck bin Laden's training camps nearKhost in Afghanistan, narrowly missing him by a few hours.[126] In 1999 the CIA, together with Pakistani military intelligence, had prepared a team of approximately 60 Pakistani commandos to infiltrate Afghanistan to capture or kill bin Laden, but the plan was aborted by the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état;[126] in 2000, foreign operatives working on behalf of the CIA had fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a convoy of vehicles in which bin Laden was traveling through the mountains of Afghanistan, hitting one of the vehicles but not the one in which bin Laden was riding.[125] In 2000, prior to the September 11 attacks, Paul Bremer characterized the Clinton administration as "correctly focused on bin Laden", whileRobert Oakley criticized their "obsession with Osama".[88] According to The Washington Post, the US government concluded that Osama bin Laden was present during the Battle of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in late 2001, and according to civilian and military officials with first-hand knowledge, failure by the US to commit enough US ground troops to hunt him led to his escape and was the gravest failure by the US in the war against al Qaeda. Intelligence officials have assembled what they believe to be decisive evidence, from contemporary and subsequent interrogations and intercepted communications, that bin Laden began the battle of Tora Bora inside the cave complex along Afghanistan's mountainous eastern border.[127] The Washington Post also reported that the CIA unit composed of their special operations paramilitary forces dedicated to capturing Osama was shut down in late 2005.[128] US and Afghanistan forces raided the mountain caves in Tora Bora between August 14–16, 2007. The military was drawn to the area after receiving intelligence of a pre-Ramadan meeting held by al Qaeda members. After killing dozens of al Qaeda and Taliban members, they did not find either Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri.[129] Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, US government officials named bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda organization as the prime suspects and offered a reward of $25 million for information leading to his capture or death.[10][130] On July 13, 2007, this figure was doubled to $50 million.[131] The Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association had offered an additional $2 million reward.[132] U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said in December 2009 that officials had had no reliable information on Bin Laden's whereabouts for "years". One week later, General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said in December 2009 that al-Qaeda will not be defeated unless its leader, Osama Bin Laden, is captured or killed. Testifying to the U.S. Congress, he said bin Laden had become an "iconic figure, whose survival emboldens al-Qaeda as a franchising organization across the world", and that Obama's deployment of 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan meant that success would be possible. "I don't think that we can finally defeat al-Qaeda until he's captured or killed", McChrystal said of Bin Laden. "Killing or capturing bin Laden would not spell the end of al-Qaeda, but the movement could not be eradicated while he remained at large."[133] Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush stated that he now hoped to "kill or capture" Bin Laden. Subsequently, Bin Laden retreated further from public contact to avoid capture. Since that time, numerous speculative press reports had been issued concerning various hearsay stories about his whereabouts, and also about alleged evidence of his death. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda had continued to release time-sensitive and professionally-verified videos demonstrating Bin Laden's continued survival as recently as August 2007.[134] Most recently, U.S. Army General Stanley A. McChrystal had emphasized the continued importance of the capture or killing of bin Laden, thus clearly indicating that the US high command continued to believe that Bin Laden was probably still alive. Some of the conflicting reports regarding both his his continued whereabouts and previous mistaken claims about his death have included the following: Many claims as to the location of Osama bin Laden were made in the wake of 9/11, although none were ever definitively proven and some placed Osama in different locations during overlapping time periods. After military offensives in Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11 failed to uncover his whereabouts, Pakistan was regularly identified as his suspected hiding place. A December 11, 2005, letter from Atiyah Abd al-Rahman to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi indicates that bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership were based in the Waziristan region of Pakistan at the time. In the letter, translated by the United States military's Combating Terrorism Center atWest Point, "Atiyah" instructs Zarqawi to "send messengers from your end to Waziristan so that they meet with the brothers of the leadership ... I am now on a visit to them and I am writing you this letter as I am with them..." Al-Rahman also indicates that bin Laden and al-Qaeda are "weak" and "have many of their own problems." The letter has been deemed authentic by military and counterterrorism officials, according to The Washington Post.[135][136] In 2009, a research team led by Thomas W. Gillespie and John A. Agnew of UCLA used satellite-aided geographical analysis to pinpoint three compounds in Parachinar as bin Laden's likely hideouts.[137] In March 2009, the New York Daily News reported that the hunt for bin Laden had centered in the Chitral District of Pakistan, including theKalam Valley. According to the report, author Rohan Gunaratna states that captured Al Qaeda leaders have confirmed that Chitral is where bin Laden is hiding.[138] In the first week of December 2009, a Taliban detainee in Pakistan said he had information that Bin Laden was in Afghanistan in 2009. The detainee said that in January or February (of 2009) he met a trusted contact who had seen Bin Laden about 15 to 20 days earlier in Afghanistan. However, on December 6, 2009. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that the U.S. had had no reliable information on the whereabouts of Bin Laden in years.[139] Pakistan's Prime Minister Gillani rejected claims that Osama bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan.[140] On January 15, 2010, the FBI published digitally aged pictures of Osama bin Laden showing what he may look like after a decade of aging. Spanish newspaper El Mundo subsequently revealed that the FBI had used a photo of Spanish politician Gaspar Llamazares from Google Images to create the image. The FBI admitted to using the photo and removed it from its website. Llamazares has responded by stating that he was "stupefied by the FBI's decision to use his photograph to compose its latest image of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden" and that he is considering taking legal action if the FBI does not provide an explanation.[141] An internal investigation has been launched by the FBI to find out if this was done intentionally.[142][143] On February 2, 2010, an anonymous official of the Saudi Foreign Ministry declared that the kingdom had no intention of getting involved in peacemaking in Afghanistan unless the Taliban would sever ties with extremists and expel Osama bin Laden.[144] This condition was announced as the Afghan president Karzai arrived in the kingdom for an official visit, for a discussion of a possible Saudi role in his plan to reintegrate Taliban militants.[144] On June 7, 2010, the Kuwaiti Al Siyassa reported that Bin Laden was hiding in the mountainous town of Savzevar, in north eastern Iran.[145]The Australian newspaper online published the claim on June 9.[146] On October 18, 2010, an unnamed NATO official suggested that bin Laden was "alive and well and living comfortably" in Pakistan, protected by elements of the country's intelligence services. A senior Pakistani official denied the allegations and said the accusations were designed to put pressure on the Pakistani government ahead of talks aimed at strengthening ties between Pakistan and the United States.[147] American reaction to Osama bin Laden's various attacks and failed plots against the United States and other Western powers has not always been measured and proportionate. Public statements by some politicians such as U.S. Representative Peter T. King (New York)[148] andRepublican-aligned media hosts on Fox News Channel about Muslims and other minority groups has sometimes been inflammatory. Fox News hosts such as Gretchen Carlson and Steve Doocy have provided friendly and unchallenging platforms for a pastor who expressed abusive views of Muslims, Mormons and gay people, for example.[149] This environment has encouraged the passage with little debate[150] of possibly unconstitutional laws[151] such as the Patriot Act and to a widespread willingness to override or ignore civil liberties such as the right of judicial due process for detainees whom the United States had labelled as enemy combatants. On May 1, 2011 in Washington, D.C. (May 2, Pakistan Standard Time), U.S. President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden was killed by "a small team of Americans" acting under Obama's direct orders, in a covert operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan,[8][152] about 50 km (31 mi) north of Islamabad.[153] According to U.S. officials a team of 20–25 US Navy SEALs under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command and working with the CIA stormed bin Laden's compound in two helicopters. Bin Laden and those with him were killed during a firefight in which U.S. forces experienced no injuries or casualties.[154] According to one US official the attack was carried out without the knowledge or consent of the Pakistani authorities.[155] In Pakistan some people were reported to be shocked at the unauthorized incursion by US armed forces.[156] The site is a few miles from the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul.[157] In his broadcast announcement President Obama said that U.S. forces "took care to avoid civilian casualties."[158] Details soon emerged that three men and a woman were killed along with Bin Laden, the woman being killed when she was "used as a shield by a male combatant".[155] DNA from bin Laden's body, compared with DNA samples on record from his dead sister,[159] confirmed bin Laden's identity.[160] The body was recovered by the US military and was in its custody[152] until, according to one US official, his body was buried at sea according to Islamic traditions.[153][161] One U.S. official stated that "finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult."[162] U.S State Department issued a "Worldwide caution" for Americans following Bin Laden's death and U.S Diplomatic facilities everywhere were placed on high alert, a senior U.S official said.[163] Crowds gathered outside the White House and in New York City's Times Square to celebrate Bin Laden's death.[164] There is no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition of terrorism.[1][2] Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for a religious, political or ideological goal, deliberately target or disregard the safety ofnon-combatants (civilians), and are committed by non-government agencies. Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. The use of similar tactics by criminal organizations for protection rackets or to enforce a code of silence is usually not labeled terrorism though these same actions may be labeled terrorism when done by a politically motivated group. The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged,[3] and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. Studies have found over 100 definitions of "terrorism".[4][5]The concept of terrorism may itself be controversial as it is often used by state authorities to delegitimize political or other opponents,[6] and potentially legitimize the state's own use of armed force against opponents (such use of force may itself be described as "terror" by opponents of the state).[6][7] Terrorism has been practiced by a broad array of political organizations for furthering their objectives. It has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments.[8] An abiding characteristic is the indiscriminate use of violence against noncombatants for the purpose of gaining publicity for a group, cause, or individual.[9] "Terror" comes from the Latin verb terrere meaning "to frighten".[10] The terror cimbricus was a panic and state of emergency in Rome in response to the approach of warriors of the Cimbri tribe in 105 BC. The Jacobins cited this precedent when imposing a Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.[11][12] After the Jacobins lost power, the word "terrorist" became a term of abuse.[6] Although the Reign of Terror was imposed by a government, in modern times "terrorism" usually refers to the killing of innocent people[13] by a private group in such a way as to create a media spectacle.[14] This meaning can be traced back to Sergey Nechayev, who described himself as a "terrorist".[15] Nechayev founded the Russian terrorist group "People's Retribution" (Народная расправа) in 1869. In November 2004, a United Nations Secretary General report described terrorism as any act "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act".[16] The definition of terrorism has proved controversial. Various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of terrorism in their national legislation. Moreover, the International community has been slow to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding definition of this crime. These difficulties arise from the fact that the term "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged.[17] In this regard, Angus Martyn, briefing the Australian Parliament, stated that "The international community has never succeeded in developing an accepted comprehensive definition of terrorism. During the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations attempts to define the term foundered mainly due to differences of opinion between various members about the use of violence in the context of conflicts over national liberation and self-determination."[1] These divergences have made it impossible for the United Nations to conclude a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that incorporates a single, all-encompassing, legally binding, criminal law definition terrorism.[18] Nonetheless, the international community has adopted a series of sectoral conventions that define and criminalize various types of terrorist activities. Moreover, since 1994, the United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly condemned terrorist acts using the following political description of terrorism: "Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them."[19] Bruce Hoffman, a well-known scholar, has noted that: Nonetheless, Hoffman himself believes it is possible to identify some key characteristics of terrorism. He proposes that: A definition proposed by Carsten Bockstette at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security Studies, underlines the psychological and tactical aspects of terrorism: Walter Laqueur, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that "the only general characteristic of terrorism generally agreed upon is that terrorism involves violence and the threat of violence".[citation needed] This criterion alone does not produce, however, a useful definition, since it includes many violent acts not usually considered terrorism: war, riot, organized crime, or even a simpleassault.[citation needed] Property destruction that does not endanger life is not usually considered a violent crime,[according to whom?] but some have described property destruction by the Earth Liberation Front[23] and Animal Liberation Front[24] as violence and terrorism; see eco-terrorism. Terrorist attacks are usually carried out in such a way as to maximize the severity and length of the psychological impact.[25] Each act of terrorism is a "performance" devised to have an impact on many large audiences. Terrorists also attack national symbols,[26] to show power and to attempt to shake the foundation of the country or society they are opposed to. This may negatively affect a government, while increasing the prestige of the given terrorist organization and/or ideology behind a terrorist act.[27] Terrorist acts frequently have a political purpose.[28] Terrorism is a political tactic, like letter-writing or protesting, which is used by activists when they believe that no other means will effect the kind of change they desire.[according to whom?] The change is desired so badly that failure to achieve change is seen as a worse outcome than the deaths of civilians.[citation needed] This is often where the inter-relationship betweenterrorism and religion occurs. When a political struggle is integrated into the framework of a religious or "cosmic"[29] struggle, such as over the control of an ancestral homeland or holy site such as Israel and Jerusalem, failing in the political goal (nationalism) becomes equated with spiritual failure, which, for the highly committed, is worse than their own death or the deaths of innocent civilians.[30] Very often, the victims of terrorism are targeted not because they are threats, but because they are specific "symbols, tools, animals or corrupt beings"[citation needed] that tie into a specific view of the world that the terrorists possess. Their suffering accomplishes the terrorists' goals of instilling fear, getting their message out to an audience or otherwise satisfying the demands of their often radical religious and political agendas.[31] Some official, governmental definitions of terrorism use the criterion of the illegitimacy or unlawfulness of the act.[32][non-primary source needed]to distinguish between actions authorized by a government (and thus "lawful") and those of other actors, including individuals and small groups. Using this criterion, actions that would otherwise qualify as terrorism would not be considered terrorism if they were government sanctioned.[citation needed] For example, firebombing a city, which is designed to affect civilian support for a cause, would not be considered terrorism if it were authorized by a government.[original research?] This criterion is inherently problematic and is not universally accepted,[attribution needed] because: it denies the existence of state terrorism;[33] the same act may or may not be classed as terrorism depending on whether its sponsorship is traced to a "legitimate" government; "legitimacy" and "lawfulness" are subjective, depending on the perspective of one government or another; and it diverges from the historically accepted meaning and origin of the term.[34][35][36][37] Among the various definitions there are several that do not recognize the possibility of legitimate use of violence by civilians against an invader in an occupied country.[citation needed] Other definitions would label as terrorist groups only the resistance movements that oppose an invader with violent acts that undiscriminately kill or harm civilians and non-combatants, thus making a distinction between lawful and unlawful use of violence.[citation needed] According to Ali Khan, the distinction lies ultimatedly in a political judgment.[38] An associated, and arguably more easily definable, but not equivalent term is violent non-state actor.[39] The semantic scope of this term includes not only "terrorists", but while excluding some individuals or groups who have previously been described as "terrorists", and also explicitly excludes state terrorism. According to the FBI terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.[citation needed]This definition is infamous for the fact that some believe that United States President George W. Bush fulfilled this criteria during the 2003 invasion of Iraq[attribution needed]. The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" (someone who engages in terrorism) carry strong negative connotations.[40] These terms are often used as political labels, to condemn violence or the threat of violence by certain actors as immoral, indiscriminate, unjustified or to condemn an entire segment of a population.[41] Those labeled "terrorists" by their opponents rarely identify themselves as such, and typically use other terms or terms specific to their situation, such as separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerrilla,rebel, patriot, or any similar-meaning word in other languages and cultures. Jihadi, mujaheddin, and fedayeen are similar Arabic words which have entered the English lexicon. It is common for both parties in a conflict to describe each other as terrorists.[42] On the question of whether particular terrorist acts, such as killing civilians, can be justified as the lesser evil in a particular circumstance, philosophers have expressed different views: while, according to David Rodin, utilitarian philosophers can (in theory) conceive of cases in which the evil of terrorism is outweighed by the good which could not be achieved in a less morally costly way, in practice the "harmful effects of undermining the convention of non-combatant immunity is thought to outweigh the goods that may be achieved by particular acts of terrorism".[43] Among the non-utilitarian philosophers, Michael Walzer argued that terrorism can be morally justified in only one specific case: when "a nation or community faces the extreme threat of complete destruction and the only way it can preserve itself is by intentionally targeting non-combatants, then it is morally entitled to do so".[43][44] In his book Inside Terrorism Bruce Hoffman offered an explanation of why the term terrorism becomes distorted: The pejorative connotations of the word can be summed up in the aphorism, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".[42] This is exemplified when a group using irregular military methods is an ally of a state against a mutual enemy, but later falls out with the state and starts to use those methods against its former ally. During World War II, the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army was allied with the British, but during the Malayan Emergency, members of its successor (the Malayan Races Liberation Army), were branded "terrorists" by the British.[48][49] More recently, Ronald Reagan and others in the American administration frequently called the Afghan Mujahideen "freedom fighters" during their war against the Soviet Union,[50] yet twenty years later, when a new generation of Afghan men are fighting against what they perceive to be a regime installed by foreign powers, their attacks are labelled "terrorism" by George W. Bush.[51][52] Groups accused of terrorism understandably prefer terms reflecting legitimate military or ideological action.[53][54][55] Leading terrorism researcher Professor Martin Rudner, director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Ottawa's Carleton University, defines "terrorist acts" as attacks against civilians for political or other ideological goals, and said: Some groups, when involved in a "liberation" struggle, have been called "terrorists" by the Western governments or media. Later, these same persons, as leaders of the liberated nations, are called "statesmen" by similar organizations. Two examples of this phenomenon are theNobel Peace Prize laureates Menachem Begin and Nelson Mandela.[57][58][59][60][61][62] WikiLeaks whistleblower Julian Assange has been called a "terrorist" by Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.[63][64] Sometimes states which are close allies, for reasons of history, culture and politics, can disagree over whether or not members of a certain organization are terrorists. For instance, for many years, some branches of the United States government refused to label members of theIrish Republican Army (IRA) as terrorists while the IRA was using methods against one of the United States' closest allies (Britain) which Britain branded as terrorism. This was highlighted by the Quinn v. Robinson case.[65][66] For these and other reasons, media outlets wishing to preserve a reputation for impartiality try to be careful in their use of the term.[67][68] In early 1975, the Law Enforcement Assistant Administration in the United States formed the National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. One of the five volumes that the committee wrote was entitled Disorders and Terrorism, produced by the Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism under the direction of H.H.A. Cooper, Director of the Task Force staff.[69] The Task Force classified terrorism into six categories. Several sources[74][75][76] have further defined the typology of terrorism: Attacks on 'collaborators' are used to intimidate people from cooperating with the state in order to undermine state control. This strategy was used in the USA in its War of Independence and in Ireland, in Kenya, in Algeria and in Cyprus in their independence struggles. Attacks on high profile symbolic targets are used to incite counter-terrorism by the state to polarise the population. This strategy is used by Al Qaeda in its attacks on the USA in September 2001. These attacks are also used to draw international attention to struggles which are otherwise unreported such as the Palestininian airplane hijackings in 1970 and the South Moluccan hostage crises in the Netherlands in 1975. Abrahm suggests that terrorist organizations do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness.[77] Individual terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and undefined.[77] The relationship between domestic terrorism and democracy is very complex. Terrorism is most common in nations with intermediate political freedom, and is least common in the most democratic nations.[78][79][80][81] However, one study suggests that suicide terrorism may be an exception to this general rule. Evidence regarding this particular method of terrorism reveals that every modern suicide campaign has targeted a democracy–a state with a considerable degree of political freedom.[82] The study suggests that concessions awarded to terrorists during the 1980s and 1990s for suicide attacks increased their frequency.[83] Some examples of "terrorism" in non-democracies include ETA in Spain under Francisco Franco,[84] the Shining Path in Peru under Alberto Fujimori,[85] the Kurdistan Workers Party when Turkey was ruled by military leaders and the ANC in South Africa.[86] Democracies, such as the United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Indonesia, India, Spain and the Philippines, have also experienced domestic terrorism. While a democratic nation espousing civil liberties may claim a sense of higher moral ground than other regimes, an act of terrorism within such a state may cause a dilemma: whether to maintain its civil liberties and thus risk being perceived as ineffective in dealing with the problem; or alternatively to restrict its civil liberties and thus risk delegitimizing its claim of supporting civil liberties.[87] For this reason,homegrown terrorism has started to be seen as a greater threat, as stated by former CIA Director Michael Hayden.[88] This dilemma, some social theorists would conclude, may very well play into the initial plans of the acting terrorist(s); namely, to delegitimize the state.[89] Religious terrorism is terrorism performed by groups or individuals, the motivation of which is typically rooted in faith-based tenets. Terrorist acts throughout the centuries have been performed on religious grounds with the hope to either spread or enforce a system of belief, viewpoint or opinion.[90] Religious terrorism does not in itself necessarily define a specific religious standpoint or view, but instead usually defines an individual or a group view or interpretation of that belief system's teachings. The perpetrators of acts of terrorism can be individuals, groups, or states. According to some definitions, clandestine or semi-clandestine state actors may also carry out terrorist acts outside the framework of a state of war. However, the most common image of terrorism is that it is carried out by small and secretive cells, highly motivated to serve a particular cause and many of the most deadly operations in recent times, such as the September 11 attacks, the London underground bombing, and the 2002 Bali bombing were planned and carried out by a close clique, composed of close friends, family members and other strong social networks. These groups benefited from the free flow of information and efficient telecommunications to succeed where others had failed.[91] Over the years, many people have attempted to come up with a terrorist profile to attempt to explain these individuals' actions through their psychology and social circumstances. Others, like Roderick Hindery, have sought to discern profiles in the propaganda tactics used by terrorists. Some security organizations designate these groups as violent non-state actors.[92] A 2007 study by economist Alan B. Kruegerfound that terrorists were less likely to come from an impoverished background (28% vs. 33%) and more likely to have at least a high-school education (47% vs. 38%). Another analysis found only 16% of terrorists came from impoverished families, vs. 30% of male Palestinians, and over 60% had gone beyond high school, vs. 15% of the populace.[93] To avoid detection, a terrorist will look, dress, and behave normally until executing the assigned mission. Some claim that attempts to profile terrorists based on personality, physical, or sociological traits are not useful.[94] The physical and behavioral description of the terrorist could describe almost any normal person.[95] However, the majority of terrorist attacks are carried out by military age men, aged 16–40.[95] A state can sponsor terrorism by funding or harboring a terrorist organization. Opinions as to which acts of violence by states consist of state-sponsored terrorism vary widely. When states provide funding for groups considered by some to be terrorist, they rarely acknowledge them as such. As with "terrorism" the concept of "state terrorism" is controversial.[97] The Chairman of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee has stated that the Committee was conscious of 12 international Conventions on the subject, and none of them referred to State terrorism, which was not an international legal concept. If States abused their power, they should be judged against international conventions dealing with war crimes, international human rights and international humanitarian law.[98] Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that it is "time to set aside debates on so-called 'state terrorism'. The use of force by states is already thoroughly regulated under international law"[99] However, he also made clear that, "regardless of the differences between governments on the question of definition of terrorism, what is clear and what we can all agree on is any deliberate attack on innocent civilians, regardless of one's cause, is unacceptable and fits into the definition of terrorism."[100] State terrorism has been used to refer to terrorist acts by governmental agents or forces. This involves the use of state resources employed by a state's foreign policies, such as using its military to directly perform acts of terrorism. Professor of Political Science Michael Stohl cites the examples that include Germany's bombing of London and the U.S. atomic destruction of Hiroshima during World War II. He argues that "the use of terror tactics is common in international relations and the state has been and remains a more likely employer of terrorism within the international system than insurgents." They also cite the First strike option as an example of the "terror of coercive diplomacy" as a form of this, which holds the world hostage with the implied threat of using nuclear weapons in "crisis management." They argue that the institutionalized form of terrorism has occurred as a result of changes that took place following World War II. In this analysis, state terrorism exhibited as a form of foreign policy was shaped by the presence and use of weapons of mass destruction, and that the legitimizing of such violent behavior led to an increasingly accepted form of this state behavior.[101][102][102] State terrorism has also been used to describe peacetime actions by governmental agents such as the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.[103] Charles Stewart Parnell described William Ewart Gladstone's Irish Coercion Act as terrorism in his "no-Rent manifesto" in 1881, during the Irish Land War.[104] The concept is also used to describe political repressions by governments against their own civilian population with the purpose to incite fear. For example, taking and executing civilian hostages or extrajudicial elimination campaigns are commonly considered "terror" or terrorism, for example during the Red Terror or Great Terror.[105] Such actions are often also described as democide or genocide which has been argued to be equivalent to state terrorism.[106]Empirical studies on this have found that democracies have little democide.[107][108] State sponsors have constituted a major form of funding; for example, PLO, DFLP and some other terrorist groups were funded by the Soviet Union.[109][110] "Revolutionary tax" is another major form of funding, and essentially a euphemism for "protection money".[109] Revolutionary taxes are typically extorted from businesses, and they also "play a secondary role as one other means of intimidating the target population".[109] Other major sources of funding include kidnapping for ransoms, smuggling, fraud and robbery.[109] The Financial Action Task Force is an inter-governmental body whose mandate, since October 2001, has included combatting terrorist financing.[111] Terrorism is a form of asymmetric warfare, and is more common when direct conventional warfarewill not be effective because forces vary greatly in power.[112] The context in which terrorist tactics are used is often a large-scale, unresolved political conflict. The type of conflict varies widely; historical examples include: Terrorist attacks are often targeted to maximize fear and publicity, usually using explosives orpoison.[113] There is concern about terrorist attacks employing weapons of mass destruction. Terrorist organizations usually methodically plan attacks in advance, and may train participants, plant undercover agents, and raise money from supporters or through organized crime. Communications occur through modern telecommunications, or through old-fashioned methods such as couriers. Responses to terrorism are broad in scope. They can include re-alignments of the political spectrum and reassessments of fundamental values. Specific types of responses include: The term counter-terrorism has a narrower connotation, implying that it is directed at terrorist actors. According to a report by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin in the Washington Post, "Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States."[114] Media exposure may be a primary goal of those carrying out terrorism, to expose issues that would otherwise be ignored by the media. Some consider this to be manipulation and exploitation of the media.[115] The internet has created a new channel for groups to spread their messages. This has created a cycle of measures and counter measures by groups in support of and in opposition to terrorist movements. The United Nations has created its own online counter-terrorism resource.[116] The mass media will, on occasion, censor organizations involved in terrorism (through self-restraint or regulation) to discourage further terrorism. However, this may encourage organizations to perform more extreme acts of terrorism to be shown in the mass media. ConverselyJames F. Pastor explains the significant relationship between terrorism and the media, and the underlying benefit each receives from the other.[117] There is always a point at which the terrorist ceases to manipulate the media gestalt. A point at which the violence may well escalate, but beyond which the terrorist has become symptomatic of the media gestalt itself. Terrorism as we ordinarily understand it is innately media-related. —Novelist William Gibson[118] The history of terrorism goes back to Sicarii Zealots — Jewish extremist group active in Iudaea Province at the beginning of the first century AD. After Zealotry rebellion in the 1st century AD, when some prominent collaborators with Roman rule were killed,[119][120] according to contemporary historian Josephus, in 6 AD Judas of Galilee formed a small and more extreme offshoot of the Zealots, the Sicarii.[121] Their terror also was directed against Jewish "collaborators", including temple priests, Sadducees, Herodians, and other wealthy elites.[122] The term "terrorism" itself was originally used to describe the actions of the Jacobin Club during the "Reign of Terror" in the French Revolution. "Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible," said Jacobin leader Maximilien Robespierre. In 1795, Edmund Burke denounced the Jacobins for letting "thousands of those hell-hounds called Terrorists...loose on the people" of France.[123] In January 1858, Italian patriot Felice Orsini threw three bombs in an attempt to assassinate French Emperor Napoleon III.[124] Eight bystanders were killed and 142 injured.[124] The incident played a crucial role as an inspiration for the development of the early Russian terrorist groups.[124] Russian Sergey Nechayev, who founded People's Retribution in 1869, described himself as a "terrorist", an early example of the term being employed in its modern meaning.[15] Nechayev's story is told in fictionalized form by Fyodor Dostoevsky in the novel The Possessed. German anarchist writer Johann Most dispensed "advice for terrorists" in the 1880s.[125] The following terrorism databases are or were made publicly available for research purposes, and track specific acts of terrorism: The following publicly available resource indexes electronic and bibliographic resources on the subject of terrorism: The following terrorism databases are maintained in secrecy by the United State Government for intelligence and counter-terrorism purposes:
Pakistani intelligence chief says Osama, one son killed
Osama bin Laden
This article is about a person who has recently died. Some information, such as that pertaining to the circumstances of the person's death and surrounding events, may change as more facts become known.
Osama bin Laden
أسامة بن لادنMarch 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011 (aged 54) Place of birth Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Place of death Abbottabad, Pakistan Allegiance Al-Qaeda Battles/wars Variations of Osama bin Laden's name
Childhood, education and personal life
Beliefs and ideology
Militant activity
Mujahideen in Afghanistan
Formation and structuring of Al-Qaeda
Sudan and return to Afghanistan
Early attacks and aid for attacks
Balkan wars
September 11 attacks
Criminal charges
Attempted capture by the United States
Clinton administration
Bush administration
Obama administration
Activities and whereabouts after the September 11 attacks
Impact on United States civil society
Death
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References
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It has been suggested that Terror be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)
Contents
[hide] Origin of term
Definition
Pejorative use
" On one point, at least, everyone agrees: terrorism is a pejorative term. It is a word with intrinsically negative connotations that is generally applied to one's enemies and opponents, or to those with whom one disagrees and would otherwise prefer to ignore. 'What is called terrorism,' Brian Jenkins has written, 'thus seems to depend on one's point of view. Use of the term implies a moral judgment; and if one party can successfully attach the label terrorist to its opponent, then it has indirectly persuaded others to adopt its moral viewpoint.' Hence the decision to call someone or label some organization terroristbecomes almost unavoidably subjective, depending largely on whether one sympathizes with or opposes the person/group/cause concerned. If one identifies with the victim of the violence, for example, then the act is terrorism. If, however, one identifies with the perpetrator, the violent act is regarded in a more sympathetic, if not positive (or, at the worst, an ambivalent) light; and it is not terrorism.[45][46][47] "
" There is the famous statement: 'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.' But that is grossly misleading. It assesses the validity of the cause when terrorism is an act. One can have a perfectly beautiful cause and yet if one commits terrorist acts, it is terrorism regardless.[56] " Types of terrorism
Motivation of terrorists
Democracy and domestic terrorism
Religious terrorism
Perpetrators
Terrorist groups
State sponsors
State terrorism
" Civilization is based on a clearly defined and widely accepted yet often unarticulated hierarchy. Violence done by those higher on the hierarchy to those lower is nearly always invisible, that is, unnoticed. When it is noticed, it is fully rationalized. Violence done by those lower on the hierarchy to those higher is unthinkable, and when it does occur is regarded with shock, horror, and the fetishization of the victims. " Funding
Tactics
Responses
Mass media
History
Terrorism databases
See also
References
Cited in Richardson, Louise (2006). What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Terrorist Threat. London, UK: John Murray. p. 33. ISBN 0719563062. External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Terrorism
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