Bin Laden wanted to attack U.S. on 9/11 anniversary

Topics: Osama bin Laden

In this 1998 file photo, Osama bin Laden holds a press conference in Khost, Afghanistan and made available Friday March 19, 2004.

(Credit: AP Photo/Mazhar Ali Khan)

Handwritten journals taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in U.S. military raid that killed him reveal that the al Qaeda mastermind wanted followers to plan an attack on the U.S. for the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, the Washington Post reports.

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The journals reveal a variety of previously unknown schemes and ideas for attacking the U.S., including targeting trains and small cities as opposed to large ones. They have variously been interpreted as evidence that bin Laden was still playing a major operational role in al Qaeda and proof that he was essentially impotent beyond his scribbled fantasies.

In one particularly macabre bit of mathematics, bin Laden's writings show him musing over just how many Americans he must kill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the Arab world. He concludes that small attacks had not been enough. He tells his disciples that only a body count of thousands, something on the scale of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, would shift U.S. policy.

He also schemed about ways to sow political dissent in Washington and play political figures against one another, officials said.

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by Riverjump May 13, 2011 8:24 PM EDT: Duh! comes to mind.; Reply to this comment


by dontbelievenothing May 13, 2011 7:14 PM EDT: A lot of folks suspect the entire war on terror is really the war on the citizens, why else are we fighting 2 wars overseas but leaving the southern border wide-open for any would-be terrorist to simply ... walk across the border alongside the illegals, ... fighting 2 wars overseas but allowing any tom, dick, or Mohammed to fly to the U.S. via the airlines from all the "terrorist" countries (what kind of military strategy is this?) all the while simultaneously stripping Americans of our rights.

And why did Fox news and several cable outlets report the week before Obama claims to have killed Bin Laden, that he was already dead? Course he's been reported dead no less than 9 times since 2001 so it's not too surprising they can't get their story straight.

And this entire con-job of trying to convince anyone as the world supposedly get more and more dangerous that we should face it unarmed by passing more gun-control laws is beyond ludicrous, far beyond ridiculous, and won't be successful, as even a simpleton understands security rests with each and every American.; Reply to this comment


by kimmyj43 May 13, 2011 10:03 AM EDT: Quoting my 16-year-old daughter when she saw yet ANOTHER magazine with this fool's picture on the cover: "Geez, I'm getting tired of seeing this crap all over the place. I mean, I'm glad that idiot is dead but move on already". LOL out of the mouths of babes. I couldn't have said it better myself baby girl!; Reply to this comment


by igualmente May 12, 2011 5:06 PM EDT: DON'T GIVE UP YOUR FREEDOMS OUT OF FEAR!!! When you are consumed w/ fear, you cannot think critically. Please use your brain and don't believe everything you hear in the media, make up your own minds.; Reply to this comment

by FrixnNuts May 12, 2011 4:55 PM EDT

Pretty good trick that a man that has been dead for nearly 10-years would be able to attack anything.

That so-called professional journalists and establishment media outlets can't find out what hundreds of millions of people around the world already know is a testament to just how corrupt our system has become.

I'm not a trained professional journalist, but the fact that I can easily find enough evidence that puts the entire story of 9/11 in serious doubt, and that so-called professionals don't even bother to ask the questions that need to be answered simply erodes all their credibility.

Of course the MSM is caught between a rock and a hard place now. There is no way they could start telling the truth about 9/11 after 10-years of supporting the myth, everyone would immediately ask where in the hell they've been for all this time?

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by canislupus16 May 12, 2011 5:56 PM EDT: what a nut job - oh, so your handle says! convenient


by egoomega May 12, 2011 4:54 PM EDT: how many people read this and miss, what i feel, is the most important part ... that he muses about how many people it would take to die in order to get the US to back out of the arab world.

we created these terrorists through our geopolitical shaping. im a f***ing republican and i realize this, i dont see how so many people are blind to the fact that WE are the problem. america needs to wise up and see that we are creating our own enemies by doing things the way we do. is looking out for our best interests the best move? yes. but do we go about it wrong? yes.

osama deserved what he had coming to him, but we should have first of all taken him alive and handed him over to the hague or something instead of kill him.

thanks a lot america for voting idiots into office (bush and obama alike) and worrying about maintaining control of the world because now as predicted by cia analysts and political analysts we are that much closer to having a dirty bomb go off on US soil thanks to continously pissing people off in the middle east.

i expect many of you, most likely those we don't educate themselves about US foreign policy and its history, to go ahead and say i am a conspiracy theorist or some b/s of that sort... in which case, go ahead and believe the lies and continue to be a part of the voting bloc that the people in charge rely on.; Reply to this comment


by MountainHomeMedia May 12, 2011 4:45 PM EDT: In the spirit of wiki leaks, I'm going to be releasing some passages of Osama's Journal, that I have personally obtained, to CBS News. Here is the first one.

"March 15, 2011

Dear Dairy, By the Grace of Almighty Allah, the One and only, a miracle has happened. Upon awakening I have been transformed from being left handed, to being right handed.This has to be a sign of great things to come, Praise be to the Great One. I immediately had Akdula record this great event on video. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the password to our YouTube channel, but very soon I will share this film with the world. My latest victory. I had wanted to show off my new gift, with a display of marksmanship, but last week we traded our weapons for some Viagra, Marijuana seeds, and some really neat green Squirt Guns . Luckily, Akdula thought of filming me watching television, using the remote, to show my new powers. Why is there nothing but old news Shows on Pakistani cable ? Curses to the Great Satan, I couldn't find a good channel anywhere.

Anyways Diary, it has been a great day of miracles, and very soon, the World will realize that Allah is telling the them , " Osama is Right ", by making me right handed, before their very eye's. I'm feeling good about this, once again I will strike fear into the Hearts of all the Infidels.

Till tomorrow -OBL "

Please keep these confidential for National security reasons.

Please keep these confidential for National security reasons.; Reply to this comment


by idiotforreading May 12, 2011 4:42 PM EDT: He want4ed to sneeze in our salad bars too, I understand.; Reply to this comment


by idiotforreading May 12, 2011 4:41 PM EDT: WEll, you know, I wanted to meet santa claus, but just because i wrote it in my diary doens't mean its going to happen. who freaking cares what he wanted, he got what he deserved.; Reply to this comment

by ewollc-2009 May 12, 2011 4:41 PM EDT

I wonder if divulging this information about what Osama Bin Laden wanted/planned to do won't encourage his followers to try what he wanted/planned. I deem it a bit irresponsible to put this information out there.

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