Bin Laden wanted another 9/11-level attack to force US out of Middle East, says journal
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Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden's handwritten journal, which was seized by US Special Forces during the May 2 raid on his hideout in Pakistan’s Abbottabad city, reveals that he wanted another terror attack on the scale of 9/11 to force the United States out of the Middle East.
The Saudi-born terrorist, who had evaded capture for a decade, was killed in a top secret operation involving a small team of US Special Forces in Abbottabad, located 50 kilometres northeast of Islamabad and 150 kilometres east of Peshawar.
The journal was part of a huge cache of intelligence that included about 100 flash drives and five computers taken by a US Navy SEALs assault team after they swept through the Abbottabad compound.
Bin Laden’s written record takes readers inside the mind of America's greatest enemy, the Daily Mail reports.
In it, he directed Al-Qaeda operatives to not only focus on the New York City, but also spread their operations to target smaller cities such as Los Angeles.
The discovery shatters previously-held beliefs that bin Laden was acting simply as Al-Qaeda's spiritual leader rather than its operational chief, the report said.
The journal, as well as hundreds of computer pen drives also containing directives, will only add to the heightened threat level across the US, it added.
Among the edicts, one particularly macabre note reveals a mathematical calculation of how many people Al Qaeda would have to kill to finally force the US out of the Middle East - concluding that it would take another 9/11 at least, the report said.
US officials said on the condition of anonymity that bin Laden's diary is filled with planning ideas and details of operations.
Among them are the notes for the potential plots against the US rail system, which prompted an advisory from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security last week.
In the journals, bin Laden tells his disciples that only a body count of thousands, something on the scale of the September 11, 2001, attacks, would shift US policy, the report said.
The terrorist mastermind also schemed about ways to sow political dissent in Washington and play political figures against one another, officials said.
Bin Laden has long been known to record his thoughts, but the discovery of his journal is a real coup for American intelligence chiefs.
It has emerged that the treasure trove of intelligence recovered from the 'safe' house is producing a new lead every hour, said the report.
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