Bin Laden's 2002 'Letter to America'

[hollydolly]

An open letter to the US by Osama Bin Laden justifying his 9/11 terror attacks has gone viral after being discovered by pro-Palestine Gen-Z TikTokers on the Guardian website.

The 'Letter to America' was circulated amongst British Islamic extremists in 2002, a year after the atrocities, and saw the al-Qaeda leader attempt to justify the murderous acts in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia that killed nearly 3,000.

It was published on the Guardian's website in its entirety, based on a translation it obtained, under a link titled 'Read the Bin Laden letter in full' - but the newspaper has now removed it after people began sharing it in the context of the Israel-Hamas war.

At Bin Laden's direction, nearly 3,000 Americans were killed on 9/11 in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania on September 11 2001


Bin Laden - who was killed by US troops in a Pakistan operation in May 2011 - espoused deeply anti-Semitic views and conspiracy theories in the letter, and said that the American army was 'shamelessly helping the Jews fight against us'.

He also sought to justify the indiscriminate slaughter of American citizens because they indirectly fund American military efforts through paying taxes.

He wrote: 'The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq.

'These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates.'

The letter also perpetrates a long-running antisemitic conspiracy theory about Jewish people, claiming that they 'have taken control of your economy (and) your media...making you their servants'.

In its 2002 article accompanying the letter, The Guardian said the text had been published in Arabic on a Saudi Arabian website used by al-Qaeda to disseminate messages to followers, and was sent to British extremists via email.

Gen-Z TikTokers send Bin Laden's 2002 'Letter to America' viral

 

[VaughanJB]

This is, for me, a classic example of how Social Media is a force for misinformation and the spreading of (mostly) nonsense.

This letter has been online, for anyone to read at any time they want, for 21 years. It wasn't edited, removed, or changed in any way. But all these years later, it's linked on Social Media, with - as the Guardian notes - a complete lack of context, and suddenly we have a "viral" event. It's like people suddenly woke up to the past and think it's something more interesting than the problems of today. Along the way it'll pick up the usual, and predictable, conspiratorial crap.

I'm not saying you're doing that, Holly. It must be a slow news day on Social Media.

 

[hollydolly]

This is, for me, a classic example of how Social Media is a force for misinformation and the spreading of (mostly) nonsense.

This letter has been online, for anyone to read at any time they want, for 21 years. It wasn't edited, removed, or changed in any way. But all these years later, it's linked on Social Media, with - as the Guardian notes - a complete lack of context, and suddenly we have a "viral" event. It's like people suddenly woke up to the past and think it's something more interesting than the problems of today. Along the way it'll pick up the usual, and predictable, conspiratorial crap.

I'm not saying you're doing that, Holly. It must be a slow news day on Social Media.

I believe it actually resurfaced because people were using it in context with the Israeli conflict currently..

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Some people like spreading continuous drama.

 

[VaughanJB]

I believe it actually resurfaced because people were using it in context with the Israeli conflict currently..

Could be so. Since I'm not on Social Media, and I refuse to discuss Israel and their war, I'm missing some of the context. Still, the Bin Laden letter is a weird reference point, and then there's this idea that its removal was somehow removal from The Guardian is something nefarious - it's just a nonsense to me. As I say, it was there for 21 years!

Which is why I say this is just Social Media drama. Even if someone did want to reference it, it should hardly have created a SM storm. Yet SM just loves drama, it's the lifeblood of it. The smallest things get to make the biggest noise, and there are people who take it all so seriously. I find it problematic, and frankly exhausting. People are getting their news from Social Media! People are getting "educated" on Social Media! People are "doing their own research" on Social Media. Can you imagine? It's a collective madness that is driving everything toward fever pitch the whole time. Everyone is reactionary. Not much has a basis in reality, and rudimentary investigation shows most of it to be nonsense.

I had high hopes for humanity. Is there any topic at all that doesn't create drama on Social Media?

I'm so glad I chose not to read or post on the main Israel thread. I can only imagine its a good way to lose some friends.

 

[Remy]

Something I have zero interest in reading. But the hive mind of social media is going for it.

I think about people who look back and think things like 'I can't believe I wore that' or 'that hair style I had, shudder.' Normal stuff. I wonder if any of these social media fools will look back on themselves in years to come and be absolutely ashamed.

 

[hollydolly]

Something I have zero interest in reading. But the hive mind of social media is going for it.

I think about people who look back and think things like 'I can't believe I wore that' or 'that hair style I had, shudder.' Normal stuff. I wonder if any of these social media fools will look back on themselves in years to come and be absolutely ashamed.

I doubt it'll be any tbh...people are just so entitled these days.. and I can't see that changing in the future

 

[Pepper]

I'm so glad I chose not to read or post on the main Israel thread. I can only imagine its a good way to lose some friends.........................

Could be so. Since I'm not on Social Media, and I refuse to discuss Israel and their war,

I used your last sentence first and your almost first sentence last. Yes, I can see you would have a problem based on your word choice that I highlighted.

Funny about small things, little details..........

 

[VaughanJB]

I used your last sentence first and your almost first sentence last. Yes, I can see you would have a problem based on your word choice that I highlighted.

Funny about small things, little details..........

No, that's just your opinion.

The first is referring to a thread titled: "Israel Has Declared War after Unprecedented Hamas Attack". As such, it makes sense to call it "Main Israel thread". There are only two threads I've seen on the topic, and that is the one getting the most attention - therefore "main".

The second is in reference to the same thread, so again, it makes perfect sense to refer to what is in the title.

I've literally no idea of the tone or sides being chosen in the min thread - I've simply not read it. Could be pro-Israel, or pro-Palestine. Heaven forbid, it may be neutral. However, this being a board of mostly Americans, I can guess. As I've noted elsewhere, America does not represent the rest of the world, and there are as strongly held beliefs that oppose that nations general consensus oversea's, particularly in Europe.

I'm not at all ashamed of my own beliefs on this topic, and I'm not trying to hide them. I simply see zero benefit discussing the topic here. Sometimes the right answer is to say nothing.

 

[Pepper]

It's all very complicated @VaughanJB. I know I have very deep opinions on the subject I have not been able to reveal here. Maybe it's not the time, anyway.