Letters seized during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 have been released. The documents detail the al-Qaeda leader’s concerns that one of his wives was being tracked after she attended a dental appointment. One letter was written to his wife after she had a filling replaced while in Iran. He unveils his paranoia by asking her to “let me know of any suspicions” after she attended the appointment.
I was told that you went to a dentist in Iran, and you were concerned about a filling she put in for you. Please let me know in detail … any suspicions that any of the brothers may have about chips planted in any way.
Other documents that were taken by U.S Navy Seals and translated, show further concerns about his relationship with militants. According to The Washington Post, some documents refer to the estrangement bin Laden had with militants who later broke off from al-Qaeda and formed the Islamic State (IS). It has been revealed that, although wanting to form an islamic state, bin Laden was afraid of achieving this too quickly for fear it would fail due to the U.S having been successful in taking down past regimes.
The Huffington Post reports that, although keen to launch attacks on the U.S, the letters reveal that bin Laden hadn’t developed any concrete plans to do so. Instead it indicates that a plan to coordinate a media campaign to coincide with the tenth anniversary of 9/11 was being constructed. The media campaign was to apparently indicate the financial prosperity al-Qaeda gained after the attacks.
Voice of America reports that Osama bin Laden was clearly ‘losing touch’ which the documents showed. Al-Qaeda were executing volunteers accused of spying only to admit later that they were probably innocent. He also appeared to be attempting to recruit pilots in the hope of orchestrating another possible terrorist attack similar to 9/11 in the future. Senior U.S intelligence officials say this is an example of bin Laden’s lack of reality regarding his “organization’s capabilities”.
More documents are planned to be disclosed later this year.
