The Bin Laden Papers: How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth about al-Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family

by Nelly Lahoud

Overview

An inside look at al-Qaeda from 9/11 to the death of its founder—told through the words of Bin Laden and his closest circle
 
As seen on 60 Minutes
 
“A comprehensive, meticulously constructed and eye-opening look at bin Laden as husband, father and leader-in-hiding. . . . An engaging and persuasive read.”—Karen J. Greenberg, Washington Post
 
“Never less than gripping. . . . [Offers] an extraordinary insight into the inner workings of al-Qaeda, both before and after 9/11, and lays bare the terrorist organisation’s closely guarded plans, ambitions and frustrations.”—Saul David, Sunday Telegraph
 
Usama Bin Laden’s greatest fear was not capture or death but the exposure of al-Qaeda’s secrets. At great risk to themselves and the entire mission, the U.S. Special Operations Forces, who carried out the Abbottabad raid that killed Bin Laden, took an additional eighteen minutes to collect Bin Laden’s hard drives and thereby expose al-Qaeda’s secrets.
 
In this groundbreaking book, Nelly Lahoud dives into Bin Laden’s files and meticulously distills the nearly 6,000 pages of Arabic private communications. For the first time, al-Qaeda’s closely guarded secrets are laid bare, shattering misconceptions and revealing how and what Bin Laden communicated with his associates, his plans for future attacks, and al-Qaeda’s hostility toward countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan. Lahoud presents firsthand accounts of al-Qaeda from 9/11 until the elimination of Bin Laden, in his own words and those of his family and closest associates.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300260632
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	420,464
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Nelly Lahoud is associate professor of security studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at U.S. Army War College. She is also a senior fellow in New America’s International Security program. She is the author of three books, including The Jihadis’ Path to Self-Destruction.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments x

Prologue Eighteen Minutes 1

Introduction 3

Part I "Afflicted" Al-Qaeda (2001-2011)

1 "The Birth of the Idea" 15

2 Jihadis Between Borders 39

3 Global Jihad on Autopilot 54

4 Al-Qaeda "Hides" 78

5 The "Calamity" 99

6 The "Americans" 123

Part II The Rise of the "Brothers" (2004-2011)

7 Some "Brothers" Are More Brotherly Than Others 147

Part III The Family

8 The "First Martyr" 201

9 The Escapes 219

10 The Final Chapter 246

11 The Real Courier 268

Epilogue 282

Appendix 1 Usama bin Laden's Will 288

Appendix 2 Dramatis Personae 291

Endnotes 306

Glossary of Arabic Terms 334

Bibliography 337

Index 351

Editorial Reviews

A comprehensive, meticulously constructed and eye-opening look at bin Laden as husband, father and leader-in-hiding. . . . An engaging and persuasive read.”—Karen J. Greenberg, Washington Post

“A groundbreaking book [and] a remarkable insider account of al-Qaeda’s history, based on the writings of bin Laden and his inner circle.”—Peter Spiegel, Financial Times

“A revelatory book.”—Steve Coll, New Yorker

“This eye-opening book—based on information recovered from Osama bin Laden’s hard drive after his death in the raid on his Abbottabad hideaway—is the first real inside look into his mind and an organisation that changed how we live.”—Sunday Times, “50 Best Books for the Sunlounger”

“Never less than gripping. . . . [Offers] an extraordinary insight into the inner workings of al-Qaeda, both before and after 9/11, and lays bare the terrorist organisation’s closely guarded plans, ambitions and frustrations.”—Saul David, Sunday Telegraph

“The corrective insights contained in this excellent readable book merit careful attention by scholars, policy makers, soldiers, and our political leadership.”—Justin Doherty, Aspects of History

“[A] fascinating book—the first real inside look into an organisation that changed how we live. . . . It is astonishing to have such a picture of the inner workings of a terrorist group.”—Christina Lamb, Sunday Times

“An impressive accomplishment. . . . The value of Nelly Lahoud’s scholarship . . . is clear.”—Sam Sweeney, National Review

“A rich trove exposing a terrorist organization that persists even after its founder’s demise.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Make no mistake, this is an important book that should be widely read. . . . A revelation on nearly every page. . . . In terms of understanding al-Qaeda between 2001 and 2011 it’s indispensable.”—Jim Motavalli, New York Journal of Books

Selected by the International Affairs blog for its Top 10 Books Christmas reading list, 2022

“The Bin Laden Papers is a work of immense, exciting scholarship, and it sparkles with new insights about bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network. Crisply written by Nelly Lahoud, it is one of the most important histories of the war on terror.”—Peter Bergen, author of The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden

“A masterful analysis and riveting story. As though finally cleaning a window obscured by years of grime, Nelly Lahoud’s The Bin Laden Papers clarifies a man and his movement that confused and confounded much of the world for decades.”—General (ret.) Stanley McChrystal, former Commander of United States Forces Afghanistan

“Terrorist expert Nelly Lahoud reveals the hidden history of Al Qaeda in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The Bin Laden Papers paints a portrait of an ambitious and dedicated terrorist leader who is often out of touch with reality and unable to control the movement he helped spawn.”—Daniel Byman, author of Road Warriors: Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad

“Nelly Lahoud’s consummate analysis of 6,000 al-Qaeda documents is a prodigious and indispensable achievement. Deploying clinical understanding of political, religious, and family contexts, she provides a riveting inside account, the fullest likely ever to emerge, of the thoughts and motivations of a man and movement that have so malignly impacted our era.”—James Piscatori, coauthor of Islam Beyond Borders: The Umma in World Politics

“A singular achievement that stands as the definitive and original account of the trajectory of al-Qaeda from 2001 to the death of Bin Laden. This clearly presented analysis draws on the author’s unique expertise to correct the record of Bin Laden and international terrorism post 9/11.”—Martha Crenshaw, coauthor of Countering Terrorism

From the Publisher

2022-04-10
International security and terrorism expert Lahoud pores through documents retrieved from Osama bin Laden’s compound at the time of his death.

When special forces forces penetrated bin Laden’s Pakistani fortress, they were told to keep the raid under 30 minutes. With Adm. William McRaven’s approval, they spent an extra 18 minutes to round up papers, computers, and the like—about 100,000 Arabic-language files that yielded “6,000 pages of relevant materials.” These documents, notes the author, “allow us to put together a chronological account of the key events that defined al-Qaeda in the decade between 9/11 and the founder’s demise in 2011.” Much of the material involves mundane, even tedious, details of what amounts to an HR department with critical operational information: For example, they show that bin Laden was detached from daily command of al-Qaida during the years when he was hiding in the caves of Tora Bora, and they reveal a complex pattern of negotiation and calculation relative to Iran, which proved to be a counter to al-Qaida at many turns and therefore an unacknowledged ally of the U.S. Many al-Qaida leaders died early on in battle or by drones in Afghanistan, forcing bin Laden to reach out to recruit successors, so that “in 2004, Usama’s remaining associates were second-tier leaders.” Other matters of interest include plans for further terror attacks in the U.S. and in Saudi Arabia. The latter has long been accused of complicity in 9/11, given the number of Saudis involved, but Lahoud recounts that by 2008, Saudi authorities had arrested “more than 5,000 political prisoners of the jihadi variety.” Along the way, Lahoud suggests that the pornography recovered from bin Laden’s computer might have been a legacy from a previous owner, since by that time he was so financially strapped that he had to buy used, virus-laden equipment.

Sometimes a slog, but a rich trove exposing a terrorist organization that persists even after its founder’s demise.

Kirkus Reviews