Summary
Highlights
Osama bin Laden was born on March 10, 1957, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, into an immensely wealthy family. His father, Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, was a successful construction contractor who founded the Saudi Binladin Group. Osama's mother, Hamida al-Attas, was Mohammed's tenth wife, and Osama was their only child, born when she was just 14. Despite his parents' separation, Osama grew up in privilege and his father played a significant role in instilling conservative religious fervor. He attended Al-Thager Model School and even took an English language course at Oxford University. He displayed typical interests of young boys, including being an Arsenal football fan and an interest in military history.
Osama entered King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah in 1976 to study economics and business administration but developed a strong interest in religion, poetry, and Arab literature. He was married at 17 to his first cousin, Najwa Ghanem, and would have many more wives and children. During the mid-to-late 1970s, he developed a pan-Islamist ideology, advocating for Muslim unity against Western influence in the Middle East, particularly spurred by the creation of Israel. A significant influence was Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian Islamic scholar whose writings advocated for Islamic jihad and the imposition of Sharia Law, viewing the United States as materialistic and godless. Qutb's brother, Muhammad, was a teacher at Abdulaziz University while Osama was a student.
Osama finished his studies in 1979 amidst significant turmoil in the Islamic world, including the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He traveled to Pakistan and came under the influence of Palestinian jihadist Abdullah Azzam, who encouraged him to join the Mujahidin fighting the Soviets. Bin Laden used his inheritance to recruit and train Mujahidin, though this was dwarfed by US and Saudi funding. The war became a brutal guerrilla conflict, displacing millions and causing widespread deaths. In 1984, Bin Laden and Azzam established Maktab al-Khidamat to fund and train Mujahidin, gaining Bin Laden a reputation, especially after the Battle of Jaji in 1987. As the Soviet war waned, this organization evolved into Al-Qaeda in 1988, with the goal of waging holy war against non-Muslims and removing American influence from the Middle East.
After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia and tried to leverage his family's business to support Al-Qaeda. However, his radical views clashed with the Saudi government's pro-American stance, particularly regarding the South Yemen Civil War and the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. Bin Laden's public denouncements of the Saudi royal family led to his expulsion from the country in 1991.
Expelled from Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden settled in Sudan in 1992, where he was welcomed by the Islamist regime. He established training bases and a well-defended compound, leading to Sudan being designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the US. US monitoring of his activities increased, and by 1996, Sudanese pressure, influenced by US sanctions, forced him to leave. He returned to Afghanistan, where the Taliban, now in power, granted him refuge. From there, he declared war on the United States, fueled by the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia and support for Israel. Al-Qaeda's terrorist activities escalated, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing attempt, the 1992 Gold Mihor Hotel bombing, and potentially the 1997 Luxor Massacre, culminating in the simultaneous bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, which killed hundreds and injured thousands.
Bin Laden's grievances against the US, primarily the presence of American troops in the Arabian Peninsula, led Al-Qaeda to plan an even more substantial attack on American soil. In late 1998 or early 1999, Bin Laden approved Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's plan to target the World Trade Center. Nineteen hijackers, including Mohamed Atta and Hani Hanjour, were selected and formed cells in the US by 2000. The targets were the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and possibly the US Capitol Building. The attacks were set for September 11, 2001, a date chosen for its symbolic historical significance as the day of the Siege of Vienna's conclusion, marking a shift in power towards Christian nations. On that day, four commercial planes were hijacked, with American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 hitting the Twin Towers, American Airlines Flight 77 striking the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 crashing in Pennsylvania after passengers resisted. These attacks resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people and had an unparalleled psychological impact globally.
Initially, Bin Laden denied involvement in 9/11, but later admitted responsibility through various videos. Following the attacks, he was believed to be hiding in the White Mountains of Afghanistan. US President George W. Bush authorized military action against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regime, which had harbored Bin Laden. US and British forces began bombing Afghanistan in October 2001, working with the Northern Alliance. A swift initial victory saw the collapse of the Taliban regime by December, but Bin Laden evaded capture during the Battle of Tora Bora, escaping into Pakistan. A reward of $25 million (later $50 million) was offered for his capture, but he continued to pose a threat.
For years after 2001, Bin Laden reportedly hid in Waziristan, a mountainous region of northern Pakistan, and later in a specially built compound in Abbottabad. Despite official Pakistani opposition, he enjoyed tacit support from elements within the government and security services. Al-Qaeda continued its terrorist activities, particularly targeting Western interests in the Middle East, especially during the US invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Al-Qaeda engaged in a counter-insurgency, trying to incite civil war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and carrying out attacks like the bombing of the Al-Askari Shrine in 2006.
In 2009, US intelligence tracked Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, a trusted courier for Bin Laden, to Abbottabad. Further surveillance identified Bin Laden's compound, although concrete proof of his presence was elusive. By early 2011, circumstantial evidence convinced the US of his hideout. On May 1, 2011, President Barack Obama authorized Operation Neptune Spear. Two Black Hawk helicopters carrying Navy Seals raided the compound in the early hours of May 2nd. One helicopter crashed, but the Seals proceeded, encountering and killing several of Bin Laden's associates before finding him on the third floor. Bin Laden was shot and killed. His body was swiftly disposed of at sea within 24 hours to prevent his burial site from becoming a shrine, adhering to Islamic tradition.
Bin Laden's death did not diminish the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. Al-Qaeda was already being eclipsed by more extreme groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq, founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006. This group's brutal tactics led to a split with Al-Qaeda, which many fundamentalists began to view as too moderate. Following the Arab Spring and US withdrawal from Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerged, declaring an Islamic Caliphate and bringing new levels of brutality. While ISIL's control in Iraq and Syria was eventually fractured by counter-offensives, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism has shifted to other regions like the Sahel, and the Taliban has returned to power in Afghanistan. Bin Laden remains arguably the most significant figure in modern Islamic fundamentalism, whose actions profoundly changed the world and led to ongoing global security challenges.