Revealed: How bin Laden plotted to bring down Air Force One to kill Obama and replace him with 'totally unprepared' Biden
- Letters show that terror chief was growing impatient with his followers and the 'mistakes' they made
- Al Qaeda wanted to assassinate Obama so that an 'unprepared' Joe Biden would take over
- Terror group planned to spread propaganda ahead of 10th anniversary of 9/11 - and identified best U.S. networks to get their message out
- Described Fox News as falling 'into the abyss,' and ABC News as 'all right'
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Thoughts: Osama bin Laden struggled to command the attention of his far-flung terror network
He plotted to bring down a plane carrying President Obama, claiming it would mean the accession of vice-president Joe Biden, who was 'utterly unprepared' for the job.
The revelations emerged in a cache of letters and documents recovered from Bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan and released online yesterday, a year after his death in a raid by US Navy SEALs.
They offer a rare insight into his thinking, with one letter drafted just a week before he died.
Bin Laden was clear he saw America as his overriding terror target.
'Even though we have the chance to attack the British, we should not waste our effort to do so but concentrate on defeating America, which will lead to defeating the others, God Willing,' he wrote.
'Any arrow and mine we have should be directed against Americans, disregarding all other enemies, including Nato, and concentrating on Americans only.'
And his prime target was President Obama.
Bin Laden ordered two units to be set up, in Pakistan and Bagram, Afghanistan – the home of a major US base – to attack aircraft carrying Mr Obama and his vice-president.
He clearly wanted gaffe-prone Mr Biden in the White House and said 'the killing…would have a serious impact on the course of the war' because Mr Obama was 'the man of this phase'.
He ruled out targeting Robert Gates, then US defence secretary or Admiral Mike Mullen, then chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
But he made it clear Mr Biden was to remain unharmed, so lowly did he rate the vice-president.
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Dispatches from bin Laden: The report from the
Combating Terrorism Center is seen at left, while a copy of one of bin
Laden's handwritten notes is pictured at right
Watching: In this undated image from video
seized from bin Laden's compound, the Al-Qaeda chief watches a TV
programme showing an image of President Obama
Gone: Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, has since been demolished
Bin Laden insisted that if Al Qaeda
fighters came across a convoy of American, Afghan and Nato troops, 'we
should choose to ambush the American army vehicles, even though the
American army vehicles have the least amount of soldiers'.AL QAEDA'S VIEW OF U.S. MEDIA
Fox News: '(Fox News) channel... falls into the abyss as you know, and lacks neutrality too.... Let her die in her anger.'
CNN: .As for the neutrality of CNN in English, it seems to be in cooperation with the government more than the others (except Fox News of course).'
ABC News: 'ABC channel is all right; actually it could be one of the best channels, as far as we are concerned. It is interested in al-Qaeda issues, particularly the journalist Brian Ross, who is specialized in terrorism. The channel is still proud for its interview with the [bin Laden]. It also broadcasted excerpts from a speech of [Gadahn's] on the fourth anniversary.'
CBS News: 'I see that it is like the other channels, but it has a famous program (60 Minutes) that has some popularity and a good reputation for its long broadcasting time.'
MSNBC: 'I used to think that MSNBC channel may be good and neutral a bit, but is has lately fired two of the most famous journalists - Keith Olberman and Octavia Nasser the Lebanese.'
CNN: .As for the neutrality of CNN in English, it seems to be in cooperation with the government more than the others (except Fox News of course).'
ABC News: 'ABC channel is all right; actually it could be one of the best channels, as far as we are concerned. It is interested in al-Qaeda issues, particularly the journalist Brian Ross, who is specialized in terrorism. The channel is still proud for its interview with the [bin Laden]. It also broadcasted excerpts from a speech of [Gadahn's] on the fourth anniversary.'
CBS News: 'I see that it is like the other channels, but it has a famous program (60 Minutes) that has some popularity and a good reputation for its long broadcasting time.'
MSNBC: 'I used to think that MSNBC channel may be good and neutral a bit, but is has lately fired two of the most famous journalists - Keith Olberman and Octavia Nasser the Lebanese.'
In the same undated letter, Bin Laden wrote: 'We want to cut the tree at the root.
'The problem is that our strength is limited, so our best way to cut the tree is to concentrate on sawing the trunk of the tree.
'Here is an example for you, the mujahidin were able to cut the root of the Russian tree, and after that, all the branches fell off one after the other.'
In another missive written on October 21 2010, Bin Laden relished the economic problems hurting the West. He said America was in 'big trouble' in Afghanistan and 'their financial crisis continues'.
'Britain has lowered its defence budget and America is reducing the budget of the Pentagon. Anyone who knows the world and knows politics knows it is impossible for them to continue with the war,' he states. There are also two references to Britain in a letter dated April 26, 2011.
Addressed to Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, who became Al Qaeda's number two after the death of his boss, Bin Laden claimed Britain was looking for a way out of Afghanistan 'if Al Qaeda promised not to target their interests'.
The documents have been published by the Combating Terrorism Centre, a privately-funded research organisation based at the US Military Academy at West Point.
Must see TV?: Al Qaeda has no love for Fox News
and CEO Roger Ailes, but praised ABC News journalist Brian Ross for his
interest in al Qaeda-related issues
Watching the raid: A selection of documents
seized in the raid, pictured being watched here by Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton, were posted online today
Mission: The documents were seized by U.S. Navy
SEALs after the dramatic raid on bin Laden's final hideout in
Abbottabad, Pakistan
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