Seventeen declassified documents obtained in the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden were published on Thursday by the Combating Terrorism Center (CTC).
The 175 pages of electronic letters and drafts represent a small fraction of the 6,000 documents taken from bin Laden's compound, but they do provide a glimpse into the mind of al-Qaeda's founder and some of his confidants between September 2006 and April 2011.
We've gone through the cache and chose 10 items that shed light on the intentions and frustrations of bin Laden's global jihad movement.
Osama bin Laden watched news and understood the influence of the media on popular opinion
In a letter addressed to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi and most likely written by bin Laden or his close confidant Jamal Ibrahim Ishtiwi al-Misrati (i.e. Atiyya), the author(s) discuss media strategy:
"… a huge part of the battle is the media… If the cable channels concentrate on promoting a specific person, they will have success, and the opposite is correct. If those channels do not want that person to be successful, they will destroy him. This shows that we are at odds with most of the channels and al-Jazeera has a different agenda than ours. It would be better for us to stay neutral, even though this channel sometimes commits mistakes against us. These mistakes are limited, and if we confront it, al-Jazeera will raise propaganda against us and could hurt our image within the Muslim world."
And he tried to use mainstream media to win over the people of the West
A October 2010 letter from bin Laden to Atiyya explains plans for the 10th anniversary of 9/11:
"Enclosed is a special chip for the media. It contains Statement to the American People... Tell the brothers that this statement should be broadcasted before the American congressional election. Also, a copy of the statement should be given to the correspondent of al-Jazirah- English. Also, another copy of it should be given to an American news agency."
"We should also look for an American channel that can be close to being unbiased, such as CBS, or other channel that has political motives that make it interested in broadcasting the point of view of al- Mujaheddin. Then, we can send to the channel the material that we want the Americans to see."
We already know how al-Qaeda's American spokesman Adam Gadahn felt about Fox News and Keith Olbermann, but here's what Gadahn said about Catholics:
"The conclusion is that, in general, the Catholics are a fertile ground for call of God and to persuade them about the just case of the Mujaheddin, particularly after the rage expanding against the mother church (Vatican) as a result of its scandals and policies refused by many of its public."
bin Laden received a strong critique from a 'brother' in 2006 that seems to have heavily influenced al-Qaeda's strategy
In a September 14, 2006, letter to bin Laden from “a loving brother" who signed it "Riyadh" (i.e. the capital of Saudi Arabia), the author strongly advised bin Laden to change his policy in the Arabian Peninsula:
"There is no doubt that the peninsula is unique and different in terms of supporting jihad through cadre, financially, and morally. The peninsula is considered the rear base for all jihadi work in the world, starting from Afghanistan and Chechnya, all the way to Iraq and Palestine. Attacking this base has a very clear and apparent effect on all jihadi work."
"… the battle has shifted from ... America to the regimes. This was a colossal strategic error that caused many losses in exchange for a very limited number of gains. These gains do not compare to what was sacrificed for them... Public opinion polls in the Muslim world prove that support to you among the Arab and Muslim people has shrunk after you targeted the peninsula."
"... stay away from operating inside Muslim countries in order to protect the reputation of the mujaheddin, protect their acceptance within Muslim societies, prevent any harm to the mujaheddin and supporters of jihad, prevent the secularists and liberals from exploiting these events, and direct the souls of the youth for the great battle against the head of the snake."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
Please follow Military & Defense on Twitter and Facebook.