FDD EVENT | Understanding al Qaeda Through the Massive Trove of Osama bin Laden’s Files

November 17, 2017

*ABOUT*
This conversation, hosted by FDD, featured Rukmini Callimachi, foreign correspondent with The New York Times, whose stories covering her discovery of a cache of al Qaeda documents in Mali made her a Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as Thomas Joscelyn and Bill Roggio, FDD Senior Fellows and editors of FDD’s Long War Journal, who were given an advance opportunity to preview the records, images, audio, and video files released this month by the Central Intelligence Agency. The discussion was moderated by Kimberly Dozier, Executive Editor of The Cipher Brief.

Mr. Joscelyn and Mr. Roggio (whose findings thus far can be found in FDD’s Long War Journal) have been calling for the release of the documents since the raid in which bin Laden was killed more than six years ago. The release this month contains new, valuable information which have already helped shed light on al-Qaeda, including:
—Video of Hamza bin Laden’s wedding (al Qaeda had previously only used one publicly available photo of Hamza bin Laden as a small child).
—Details from the never-before-seen personal journal of Osama bin Laden.
—Evidence that Osama bin Laden continued to act as an operational commander in the last year of his life, contradicting analysis that he had removed himself from those responsibilities.
—Dozens of records providing new insights into the insurgency in Iraq, including the relationship between al Qaeda’s senior leadership and the jihadists who led the predecessor to the Islamic State.

*MORE*