Osama bin-Laden interview, June 1999: entering the mind of an adversary

Military Review, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Youssef H. Aboul-Enein

There are indications that the religious and political views of the 15 Saudis among the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center were shaped by Al-Hawali's tapes. Another popular militant Saudi cleric, Skeikh Salman Al-Auda, has written a book, The End of History, which highlights the decay of Western civilization and uses Muslims to accelerate the collapse of the West. (5)

Ismail: Will there be a response to the cruise-missile attacks on Afghanistan of 1998?

Bin-Laden: With Allah's grace we have formulated with many of our brothers around the globe the World Islamic Front for the Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders. The Front's organization and coordination is coming along in an exceptional manner. It will have a wider ability to move and achieve victory for the faith and take revenge on the Jews, Christians, and Americans.

Assessment: Bin-Laden's response demonstrates his patience and unwillingness to strike without careful planning and coordination. This is not the answer of an impulsive person.

Ismail points out to Bin-Laden that there have been no operations carried out since the announcement at the World Islamic Front.

Bin-Laden: [This organization] has not gained firm roots, and its members come from varied backgrounds around the world. They have wide activities within the movement. It is also not necessary to announce every operation they have attempted or succeeded in.

Important Lessons from the Interview

Several concepts contained in Bin-Laden's interview must be highlighted to help the reader understand the rationale behind Bin-Laden's thoughts. He claims that 75 percent of Americans supported President Bill Clinton's 1998 and 1999 operations against Afghanistan and Iraq. He considers U.S. civilians and soldiers to be one and the same, thereby justifying killing U.S. civilians. Bin-Laden admits that he set up military training camps and trained over 15,000 men--the majority from Arab countries--during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Ismail asked Bin-Laden about his being implicated in Sheikh Abdullah Azzam's assassination. Bin-Laden never directly answered this question but, instead, lavished praise on Azzam as a key leader in the Islamic militant movement. Azzam organized the first Arab resistance against the Soviet Union during the invasion of Afghanistan. Azzam's Maktab-al-Khadamat-al-Mujahidden (Mujahideen Services Office) also known as Al-Qaeda al-Sulba (the firm base) became the core of Bin-Laden's organization.

When asked about his health, Bin-Laden said he could ride a horse 70 kilometers without needing a rest. This statement is meant to appeal to the romantic image of Arabs as warriors and skilled horsemen. Bin-Laden says it is the right of Muslims to acquire nuclear technology and that the West can no longer monopolize it. He believes veterans of the Soviet war against Afghanistan bear a high responsibility. With only small numbers of rocket-propelled grenades, Kalshnikovs, and antitank mines, they were able to crush the greatest superpower known to mankind. Bin-Laden is convinced that the United States is weaker than the former Soviet Union, citing the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Somalia as a sign of American weakness. He has created an alternate history that claims that U.S. forces, under the banner of the United Nations, killed 13,000 Somalis. Bin-Laden refuses to believe that U.S. forces were in Somalia to feed starting refugees and deter warlords from using food as a weapon to control them.