Messages to the World : The Statements of Osama Bin Laden

Despite the saturation of global media coverage, Osama bin Laden's own writings have been curiously absent from analysis of the "war on terror." Over the last ten years, bin Laden has issued a series of carefully tailored public statements, from interviews with Western and Arabic journalists to faxes and video recordings. These texts supply evidence crucial to an understanding of the bizarre mix of Quranic scholarship, CIA training, punctual interventions in Gulf politics and messianic anti-imperialism that has formed the programmatic core of Al Qaeda. In bringing together the various statements issued under bin Laden's name since 1994, this volume forms part of a growing discourse that seeks to demythologize the terrorist network. Newly translated from the Arabic, annotated with a critical introduction by Islamic scholar Bruce Lawrence, this collection places the statements in their religious, historical and political context. It shows how bin Laden's views draw on and differ from other strands of radical Islamic thought; it also demonstrates how his arguments vary in degrees of consistency, and how his evasions concerning the true nature and extent of his own group, and over his own role in terrorist attacks, have contributed to the perpetuation of his personal mythology. Introduction / by Bruce Lawrence From Sudan, 1994-1995. The betrayal of Palestine. The invasion of Arabia In Khurasan, 1996-1998. Declaration of jihad. The Saudi regime. From Somalia to Afghanistan. The world Islamic front Towards 9/11, 1998-2001. A Muslim bomb. Under Mullah Omar. To our brothers in Pakistan. The winds of faith. Terror for terror War in Afghanistan, 2001-2002. Crusader wars. The example of Vietnam. Nineteen students. To the people of Afghanistan. To the Americans. To the allies of America War in Iraq, 2003-2004. To the people of Iraq. Among a band of knights. Quagmires of the Tigris and Euphrates. Resist the new Rome. To the peoples of Europe. The towers of Lebanon. Depose the tyrants. Presents annotated English translations of the Arabic texts of statements made by Osama bin Laden between 1994 and 2004, including his comments on the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq Examines the writings of Osama bin Laden to demonstrate how his views differ from other strands of radical Islamic thought, how he has contributed to his own mythology, and how he has shaped the development of Al Qaeda.