Bin Laden statements, 1994-2004

[Kryptos]

Secrecy News, a blog run by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), has obtained a CIA document that provides a compilation of Osama bin Laden statements and interviews, spanning 10 years from 1994 to 2004.

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2008/09/bin_ladin_statements.html

Some of the information in the document is preliminary and unconfirmed, including sections of the document that talk about 1996 interviews with Ros al-Yusuf, an Egyptian publication, where it says the interviews took place in London. Also, the content of what Bin Laden supposedly said to Ros al-Yusuf seems dubious, mentioning how he was residing in Turkey at the time when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. At the time, Bin Laden was a student at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. The CIA document admits uncertainty regarding this interview, saying that interview "allegedly took place in London."

Another issue is that these are all English translations. Translating from Arabic to English and conveying meaning of statements is difficult, due to the nuanced nature of the Arabic language.

It's an interesting read, though details need to be taken with a grain of salt and corroborated with other sources. Listening to or reading his statements helps give understanding of his motives for the 9/11 attacks, and how he tries to justify killing women, children, and other civilians.

 

[Baylor]

Secrecy News, a blog run by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), has obtained a CIA document that provides a compilation of Osama bin Laden statements and interviews, spanning 10 years from 1994 to 2004.

http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2008/09/bin_ladin_statements.html

Some of the information in the document is preliminary and unconfirmed, including sections of the document that talk about 1996 interviews with Ros al-Yusuf, an Egyptian publication, where it says the interviews took place in London. Also, the content of what Bin Laden supposedly said to Ros al-Yusuf seems dubious, mentioning how he was residing in Turkey at the time when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. At the time, Bin Laden was a student at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. The CIA document admits uncertainty regarding this interview, saying that interview "allegedly took place in London."

Another issue is that these are all English translations. Translating from Arabic to English and conveying meaning of statements is difficult, due to the nuanced nature of the Arabic language.

It's an interesting read, though details need to be taken with a grain of salt and corroborated with other sources. Listening to or reading his statements helps give understanding of his motives for the 9/11 attacks, and how he tries to justify killing women, children, and other civilians.

Interesting Kryptos, but is this yet another example of "beating a dead horse?" Bin Laden's Fatwa was well-known (to those who watch the news) well before 9/11.

On a side note, truthers weren't interested in a pre-9/11 bin Laden; up until then, he didn't kill enough people for truthers to manufacture conspiracies around him.