Global Special Operations |
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Global Special Operations |
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WANTED
MURDER OF U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; CONSPIRACY TO MURDER U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; ATTACK ON A FEDERAL FACILITY RESULTING IN DEATH
OSAMA BIN LADEN
ALIASES:
Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin, Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mujahid Shaykh, Hajj, the Director
DESCRIPTION
Hair:Brown Place of Birth:Saudi Arabia Eyes:Brown Height:6'4" to 6'6 Sex:Male Weight:Approximately 160 pounds Complexion:Olive Build:Thin Language:Arabic (probably Pashtu) Remarks: Bin Laden is believed to be in Afghanistan. He is left-handed and walks with a cane.
CAUTION
Osama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world.
REWARDS
The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden. An additional $2 million is being offered through a program developed and funded by the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association. A total of $50 Million offered by other nations and international organizations.
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.
Brief Biography Date of Birth: July 30, 1957, Family Background: Raised in Saudia Arabia by the now deceased Saudi construction magnate of Yemeni origin. Military Experience: Bin Laden gained prominence during the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, as one of the leaders of the seven tribes of the Mujahideen. Education: Bin Laden received a degree in public administration in 1981 from King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Assets: Approximately $300 million in personal finances with which he funds a network of as many of 3,000 Islamic militants. His family's assets are reportly more than $5 billion. al Qa’ida structure: Bin Laden is the undisputed leader, called shiek, emir or prince by his followers, who must take a sworn oath to him. Violating the oath is punishable by death. Beneath him is the shura al-majlis,or consultative council, which includes his top lieutenants. His two aides are Egyptians: Ayman al-Zawahiri, a physician and leader of al-Jihad, the violent Egyptian group responsible for the tourist massacre in Luxor, Egypt, in 1995, and Muhammed Atef, his military commander, who also served in al-Jihad. International Influence: Cells have been identified in Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Canada, Chechnya, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, United Kingdom, possibly in the United States, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. Fatwa: Issued by bin Laden on Feb. 23, 1998. The ruling is to kill the Americans and their allies, civilians, and military. It is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Asqua Mosque (in Jerusalem) and the holy mosque (in Mecca, Saudi Arabia,) from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. What is al-Qaida? The Olympian (www.theolympian.com) JOHN YAUKEY GANNETT NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON -- Al-Qaida typically is portrayed as a rabid organization driven simply by a hatred for Western freedom. No small number of experts write this off as simplistic. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's writings are quite specific about the terrorist network's objectives -- chief among them to drive Americans from the Muslim holy lands and establish pan-Arabian fundamentalist Islamic rule -- and the plans for accomplishing them. Here are some questions and answers about what al-Qaida is and what it wants: Q: What does "al-Qaida" mean? A: It's Arabic for "the base." It indicates that bin Laden intended al-Qaida to serve as a launch pad for global Islamic revolt against the West. Q: Why do al-Qaida supporters hate Americans? A:Al-Qaida does not hate Americans because they're free and democratic. It opposes the formidable U.S. presence in the Arab-Muslim holy lands, especially the troops now being pulled out of Saudi Arabia for redeployment elsewhere in the region. Although the troops are not being pulled out to pacify bin Laden, it is not clear what effect the troop movement will have on his thinking. Al-Qaida also opposes U.S. support for Israel and what it perceives as pressure from the West to keep oil prices artificially low. Oil prices are actually at record highs. Q: What sort of person gets involved with al-Qaida? A:Many are just thugs and Islamic radicals. But it is a mistake to write off al-Qaida as simply a thug operation, at least in its upper levels. Bin Laden is a civil engineer and his second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is a surgeon. "Many people in the al-Qaida network are doctors, lawyers, advanced military officials from foreign countries who have great experience," said Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, who has prosecuted many of the terrorism cases related to al-Qaida. Q:How large is al-Qaida? A:It's not known with any accuracy. According to the best intelligence, more than half of its top leadership has been captured or killed. But al-Qaida is highly evolutionary. It's more of a philosophy than an organization, and thus it's difficult to define in numbers. Q:Why can't U.S. troops find bin Laden? A:His inner circle is extremely loyal and difficult to penetrate. He also avoids using technology such as cell phones that would reveal his position. It's believed that he communicates using couriers. Waziristan, where he is believed to be hiding, is mountainous and difficult for troops to negotiate. Q:Is al-Qaida linked to other terrorist groups? A:Almost a dozen other Islamic groups claim to be affiliated with al-Qaida, including Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia backed by Iran and drawn from the minority Shiite strain of Islam. Before al-Qaida struck on Sept. 11, 2001, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization. On Oct. 23, 1983, 241 U.S. servicemen were killed by a suicide bomber who detonated a truckload of explosives in Beirut, Lebanon. Submitted by Centre For Terrorism
by Spc. Kyle J. Cosner FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Army News Service, Oct. 22, 2002) Perhaps best known for their work in combat zones, Army special operations soldiers spent some time in a school zone Oct. 7 during a renowned psychologist's presentation about global terrorism, Osama bin Laden and effective ways to defeat them both. Dr. Jerrold M. Post spoke about the implications of terrorism to special operations students studying the Middle East at Fort Bragg, N.C.'s U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School during his presentation, "Killing In The Name of God: Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and Radical Islamist Terrorism." Post is the director of the Political Psychology program at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a noted author. Post detailed the definition and history of terrorism and stressed the importance of understanding its causes -- in this case, leaders like bin Laden who promote violent Islamist extremism. "You really can't understand this destructive movement without understanding its leader," he said, "(and) in many ways, the leader is the creation of (his) followers." In the late 1970s, Post helped developed profiles of Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat for then-President Jimmy Carter. Acclaimed for his groundbreaking studies in terrorist psychology, Post characterized bin Laden not as a madman, but a sane and calculating leader obsessed with the misguided and extremist teachings of radical Muslim clerics. Maj. Ken Gordon, officer- in-charge of the Regional Studies Detachment at 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), asked Post to visit Fort Bragg to address special operations students in the Middle Eastern portion of the Regional Studies Course. "Dr. Post was chosen because of his expertise in his field -- his topics addressed salient issues pertinent to the course," Gordon said. "It better prepared the students for their potential future work with the civilian communities in the Middle East." During his presentation, Post portrayed bin Laden as a hypocrite, who uses a peace-loving religion like Islam for his goals of death and destruction -- all while posing as a pious spiritual leader. To make his point, Post read from portions of Al Qaeda documents believed to have been penned by bin Laden, in which he issued fatwas - rulings given only by Muslim religious leaders. "This is blasphemy, as he is talking as a prophet," Post said. "(Bin Laden) is a self-egrandizing distorter of the Koran," he said, because the Muslim holy book teaches that believers should "fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits, for God loves not the transgressor." He said bin Laden came into power by misrepresenting passages within the Koran and characterizing Western nations like the United States as dangerous enemies to young, impressionable Muslims. These young followers were then able to spread bin Laden's hard-line views throughout Muslim nations, meeting with great success in places like Afghanistan, Post said. Post spoke to soldiers about the importance of understanding the psychology of terrorist combatants, and why he feels U.S. psychological operations may ultimately defeat the threat of global terrorism with a powerful weapon -- the truth. "Strategic psychological operations are important (for countering terrorism)," Post said. "How (else) do we delegitimize Osama bin Laden as someone who corrupts Islam?" Gordon said Post's inclusion of psychological operations in his presentation was especially pertinent to the audience."Many of (my soldiers) may find themselves deployed to the Middle East in the not too distant future as either psychological operations or civil affairs operators or planners," Gordon said. Post said that in his opinion, the key to eradicating terrorist threats from extremist Muslims is a sophisticated, lasting PSYOP campaign that effects long-range changes within the Islamic world. "One of the psychological operations...objectives is to attempt to modify the behavior and attitudes of a foreign target audience in support of U.S. foreign policy objectives," Gordon said after the speech. "You have to understand the culture and worldview of the target audience in order to do that well. Dr. Post's presentation gave the students a better understanding of (where to start)." Although he didn't speculate much about bin Laden's current whereabouts, Post said that in the end, it didn't matter. "If bin Laden is killed or captured, leadership will pass seamlessly to (other Al Qaeda leaders)," Post said. He downplayed the symbolic importance of bin Laden, and said he believed it would be better policy for the U.S. to concentrate on getting rid of the root causes of extremist Islamist terrorism instead of fighting a never-ending battle with the small Al Qaeda cells identified in 68 countries around the world. "This is a war of hearts and minds," said Post. Gordon agreed. "One of our objectives at the Regional Studies Course is to teach about foreign cultures so that (soldiers) can be more effective at their jobs," he said. Post also voiced criticism for members of the international media who assist terrorists in spreading their message to the public quickly and with little editorial review of the message's connotations. "When the media is competing with other media outlets to get the message out there, they are doing the terrorists' job for them," Post said. "World opinion is (terrorists') audience. They care very much (about it)." Though optimistic about the chances of destroying the Al Qaeda threat, Post highlighted the difficulty of ultimately defeating terrorism and speculated that it may never be fully suppressed. He explained that active dissention is an important part of democracy and can be difficult to prevent from turning to violence - a bleak prospect for Americans who value a free society. "You can't (fully) defeat terrorism without defeating democracy," he said. Whether it's here to stay or not, Post said the current war on terrorism is not new or unique to the 21st century. "(The war on terror) is, a war that's been going on since the Garden of Eden in many ways," he said. "(Terrorism) is a very complicated species of political violence." (Editor's note: Spc. Kyle J. Cosner is assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office.)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES al Qa’ida (The Foundation) Osama bin Laden Organization(FAS) Hunting Osama bin Laden(PBS) Who Is Osama bin Laden? by David Miller Osama bin Laden Biography Osama Bin Laden Biography Osama bin Laden al Qa’ida Organization
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