Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

US to Release Osama Documents: Bernnan

US to Release Osama Documents: Bernnan

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration plans to release this week some of the documents US Navy commandoes seized from Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan last year, a top official said on Monday.
US commandos unearthed the documents when they raided Osama's safe haven in Pakistan's northwestern city of Abbottabad last year. While making the announcement, Assistant to US President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan said in the documents they seized, Osama had confessed to "disaster after disaster."

He even urged his close aides to flee the tribal areas and go to places "away from aircraft photography and bombardment," added Brennan.

Washington's revelation comes on the eve of Osama's death anniversary, who was shot by American commandoes on May 2 last year. Based on the documents, American counterterrorism experts learnt Al Qaida was facing trouble to replace most of its skilled and experienced commanders who were killed in US operations.

"The rise of lower leaders who are not as experienced would lead to the repeat of mistakes. Al-Qaida leaders continue to struggle to communicate with subordinates and affiliates.
"Under intense pressure in the tribal regions of Pakistan, they have fewer places to train and groom the next generation of operatives," Brennan said in his address at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank.

"They are struggling to attract new recruits. Morale is low, with intelligence indicating that some members are giving up and returning home, no doubt aware that this is a fight they will never win. In short, al-Qaida is losing, badly. And bin Laden knew it," added Brennan.

"For all these reasons, it is harder than ever for the Al-Qaida core in Pakistan to plan and execute large-scale, potentially catastrophic attacks against our homeland, he said adding that it is increasingly clear that, compared to 9/11, the core Al-Qaida leadership is a shadow of its former self.

"Al Qaida has been left with just a handful of capable leaders and operatives, and with continued pressure is on the path to its destruction. And for the first time since this fight began, we can look ahead and envision a world in which the Al-Qaida core is simply no longer relevant," he claimed.

A year after Osama's death, Brennan said, the US had always been clear that the end of the terror mastermind would neither mark the end of Al-Qaida nor its resolve to destroy it.

In Pakistan, Al Qaida's leadership ranks have continued to suffer heavy losses. This includes Ilyas Kashmiri, one of Al-Qaida's top operational planners, killed a month after Osama, he said.

It includes Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, killed when he succeeded Ayman al-Zawahiri as Al-Qaida's deputy leader. It includes Younis al-Mauritani, a planner of attacks against the US and Europe -- until he was captured by Pakistani forces, he said.