In an article published in The Washington Post, Center on National Security Director Karen J. Greenberg discusses the implications of Nelly Lahoud’s recent publication that delves deeply into Osama bin Laden’s political and personal identity.
On May 1, 2011, nearly 10 years after the devastating attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Barack Obama and his national security team huddled in the Situation Room, eyes glued to a video screen, as U.S. Navy SEALs in full combat gear entered Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Less than an hour later, bin Laden was dead.
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Now, Nelly Lahoud, a seasoned expert on the global jihadist movement, has given us “The Bin Laden Papers: How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth About al-Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family,” a comprehensive, meticulously constructed and eye-opening look at bin Laden as husband, father and leader-in-hiding. Unusual and somewhat off-putting, Lahoud relies on first names throughout — “Usama” for bin Laden; “Ayman” for al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian who succeeded bin Laden as head of al-Qaeda; “Abu Musab” for al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Nonetheless, it is an engaging and persuasive read.
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When all is said and done, Lahoud leaves us wondering: If bin Laden’s “post-9/11 goals did not go beyond empty threats, unexecuted plans, and more than a little wishful thinking,” then how are we to understand the persistent, ever-expanding U.S. policy focused on al-Qaeda and its supposed existential threat?
Lahoud contends that the misassessments “diverted valuable resources away from other more threatening jihadi groups,” allowing “the Islamic State to eclipse al-Qaeda.” Retired four-star general Joseph Votel, formerly head of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command, concludes, “Our involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan might have been different,” noting, “We might have overestimated our foe.”
But an even more fundamental concern emerges from Lahoud’s analysis, one that deserves as much scrutiny as these archives: Is it possible for the United States to avoid making these miscalculations in the future? If not, how much more blood and treasure might we lose, and how many more unintended consequences may come our way?