Bin Laden’s treasure trove released, an insight for experts

Special Forces that killed Osama Bin Laden release a new cache for the public to view.

A computer recovered from the 2011 U.S Special Force operation contained a video collection that includes kid’s cartoon, Hollywood movies and three documentaries about the Al-Qaeda leader.

A summer trip to the UK as a teenager and visits to Shakespeare’s birthplace convinced Osama bin Laden that the west was decadent, the late leader of al-Qaida and architect of the 9/11 attacks wrote in his personal journal shortly before he was killed in 2011.

The journal is among 470,000 documents collected from the house where Bin Laden died that were released by the CIA on 1^st November 2017. The agency said it had released the treasure trove “in the interest of transparency and to enhance public understanding of al-Qaida and Bin Laden.”

Though there have been previous reports that Bin Laden travelled to the west, this is the first confirmation.

The files amounted to nearly 470,000 files from the seized computer, in May 2^nd 2011.  Certain materials have been withheld as they could harm the national security, are blank, corrupted or duplicate files, are pornography or are protected by copyright, said an official.

The released file of letters, videos and journals provides the citizens with an opportunity to understand the plans and workings of the terrorist group. “CIA will continue to seek opportunities to share information with the American people consistent with our obligation to protect national security,” said CIA director Mike Pompeo.

The materials were posted online. The US-based website, The Long War Journal, received some material in advance and reported that the documents give new details of Al-Qaeda’s relationship with Iran.

The documents provide an insight into the origin of differences between the Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, disagreements within the Al-Qaeda and its allies and the problems Al-Qaeda faced after the death of Bin Laden.