The Central Intelligence Agency has said that while it will take months to comb through the “mother lode of information†it has in its possession from the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, it is clear that the Al Qaeda leader was involved in running the terror group.
This breaks the myth that Bin Laden was "a superannuated figurehead whose value to his organization was solely symbolic and inspirational," said The Independent.
The files being pored over by the CIA also reveal that Bin Laden wanted to stage a 9/11-like strike "that this time would finally drive the Western infidel from Arabia," according to the British newspaper.
This information has been gleaned from the laptops, digital storage devices and papers taken by the Navy SEALs after their raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 1. They are being studied by CIA analysts at the organization’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia in the US in the hope that they will provide clues to any attacks Al Qaeda was planning.
Bin Laden is said to have been in regular contact with key operatives in the terror group and was involved "in conceiving and planning major operations," according to officials who spoke to The Independent.
The paper writes about Bin Laden’s personal items now in possession with the CIA, one of which was his diary, which, the Los Angeles Times reported, contained "aspirational guidance" on how to achieve US withdrawal from the Arab world.
Bin Laden reportedly wrote, "What was needed was the mass murder of thousands in an attack comparable, in size if not in method, to 9/11." He also said his operatives should not focus on just major cities, but smaller ones as well.
It appears perhaps he was planning an attack in the US on a major holiday like Independence Day, July 4, or even on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Bin Laden also rallied for enlisting new followers amongst America’s "oppressed" minorities, writes the paper. Officials, however, say there are no signs of concerted recruitment campaigns of that nature.
"It’s not like they have talent scouts at mosques in the US," an official told The Washington Post.
This new information appears to contradict the images of a Bin Laden hunched in front of TV screen watching images of himself in a compound with reportedly no access to communication.
The Independent reports that Bin Laden was in touch with his deputy and likely successor Ayman Al Zawahiri and Attiyah Abdel Al Rahman, for whom the Americans are offering a reward of $1 million, dead or alive.
Bin Laden was also allegedly in touch with Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, whose most prominent figure is Anwar Al Awlaki. The Yemen branch is considered the most deadly organization.
While officials still do not know how much Bin Laden was involved in various groups’ activities, they seem sure he planned recent Al Qaeda plots that have been uncovered by Western investigators.
But, it appears, in the end, "Bin Laden got lazy and complacent," one official told The Washington Post. "I don’t think he thought he would meet his Maker in that house, and he certainly had made no preparations to escape from a raid and destroy the information we found inside."
Analysts now wonder whether the various groups will splinter into smaller offshoots or whether his death will deter new followers.
Friday’s attack in Charsadda, Pakistan that killed 80 people at a training base is the first to seek vengeance for Bin Laden’s death, according to the Taliban that claimed responsibility for the attack.
Next week, US President Barack Obama plans to speak on the Middle East and is expected to unveil, a "unified vision for the region after the death of the world’s most wanted terrorist, and in the light of the pro-democracy uprisings rippling through the Arab world," according to The Independent.