Osama bin Laden death conspiracy theories
The death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, gave rise to various conspiracy theories, hoaxes and rumors.[1] These include the ideas that he had died earlier, or that he lived beyond the reported date. Doubts about Bin Laden's death were fueled by the U.S. military's supposed disposal of his body at sea,[2] the decision to not release any photographic or DNA evidence of Bin Laden's death to the public,[3] the contradicting accounts of the incident (with the official story on the raid appearing to change or directly contradict previous assertions),[4] and the 25-minute blackout during the raid on Bin Laden's compound during which a live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the U.S. special forces was cut off.[5][6]
Within hours, an image purporting to show a dead Bin Laden was broadcast on Pakistani television. Although the story was picked up by much of the British press, as well the Associated Press, it was swiftly removed from websites after it was exposed as a fake on Twitter.[7][8]
On May 4, the
On May 6, it was reported that an al-Qaeda website acknowledged bin Laden's death.
On May 21, 2015, journalist Seymour Hersh published a report[14] claiming that Pakistan had kept Bin Laden under house arrest since 2006, that the U.S. had learned of Bin Laden's location through a Pakistani intelligence official and not through tracking a courier,[15][16][17] and that elements of the Pakistani military aided the U.S. in killing bin Laden.[15][18] The White House denied Hersh's report.[19][20]
Previous lack of physical evidence
The primary source of skepticism about the U.S. government's story has been its own refusal to provide any physical evidence to substantiate its claim. Although the Abbottabad raid has been described in great detail by U.S. officials, no physical evidence constituting actual proof of his death has been offered to the public, neither to journalists nor to independent third parties who have requested this information through the
This information is important for the historical record. That's our view.
— Michael Oreskes, Senior Managing Editor, The Associated Press[21]
On April 26, 2012, a US federal judge decided in the case Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense, et al that the DoD did not need to release any evidence to the public.
On 20 May 2015, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a sizeable number of documents recovered from the compound in Abbottabad where Bin Laden was hiding. On 1 March 2016, the ODNI released a second tranche of material gleaned from the Abbottabad raid. On January 19, 2017, the ODNI released the final tranche of documents. ODNI said of the releases "[these releases] which followed a rigorous interagency review, align with the President’s call for increased transparency–consistent with national security prerogatives–and the 2014 Intelligence Authorization Act, which required the ODNI to conduct a review of the documents for release."[23] The documents can be accessed publicly on the ODNI website.
On November 1, 2017, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released nearly 470,000 files that included draft versions of items previously reviewed as well as other correspondence and materials outside the scope of previous declassification reviews.[24] These files are available online as part of the CIA library. One of those files was Bin Laden's diary.
Burial at sea
Doubts about Bin Laden's death were fueled by the U.S. military's disposal of his body at sea, though U.S. officials maintained that the burial was necessary because arrangements could not be made with any country to bury Bin Laden within 24 hours, as dictated by Muslim practice.[1] The Muslim practice has not always been followed by the U.S. For example, the bodies of Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein, sons of Saddam Hussein, were held for eleven days before release for burial.[25] In that instance, several Iraqi cities refused to receive them.[25]
The decision to bury Bin Laden at sea was questioned by terrorists, Islamic clerics, and by some
Theories
In Pakistan
Senior Pakistani officials disseminated the theory that no firefight ever took place, and that whomever the U.S. forces captured, they executed him outside the compound, and took his body away on a helicopter.[29]
Yet another scenario was reported in an article in the
Bashir Qureshi, who lives close to the compound where Bin Laden was shot and whose windows were blown out in the raid, was dismissive. "Nobody believes it. We've never seen any Arabs around here, he was not here."[32]
In Iran
A number of Iranians said they believed that Bin Laden was working with the U.S. during the entire war on terror. Ismail Kosari, an Iranian MP, said that Bin Laden "was just a puppet controlled by the
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "I have exact information that bin Laden was held by the American military for sometime... until the day they killed him he was a prisoner held by them," in a live interview on Iranian state television.[34]
Seymour Hersh
On May 21, 2015,
Among other things, the report claims that the PakistaniPakistani journalist
Internet
Facebook groups formed discussing a rumor, in what has been dubbed the "death hoax".[32][39] Some blogs theorised that the raid and killing were faked, in a conspiracy to attempt to deflect questions about President Obama's citizenship, or to boost Obama's approval ratings and guarantee his popularity during the 2012 U.S. presidential election.[39]
Others
In 2002, the FBI's top counter-terrorism official, Dale Watson, said, "I personally think he (
On
Canadian deputy Leader of the Opposition and MP,
An official statement from the Taliban stated that the lack of photos or video footage is suspicious, as their own sources close to Bin Laden had not confirmed or denied his death, and that "when the Americans killed Mullah Dadullah (Taliban's chief military commander) they publicly showed the footage".[53]
In October 2020, then-U.S. President Donald Trump retweeted an article which claimed that the Osama that was killed in the raid wasn't him but was actually a body double.[54]
Several news agencies and intelligence agencies reported his death as being before 9/11 or shortly after from renal failure. Western intelligence official reports Bin Laden is seriously ill with kidney and liver disease.[55] Bin Laden, who suffers from renal deficiency, has been periodically undergoing dialysis in a Peshawar military hospital with the knowledge and approval of the Inter-Services Intelligence, (ISI) if not of Gen.Pervez Musharraf himself.[56] Bin Laden is reported to have arrived in Dubai on July 4 from Quetta in Pakistan with his own personal doctor, nurse and four bodyguards, to be treated in the urology department. While there he was visited by several members of his family and Saudi personalities, and the CIA.[57] In December 2001 the New York Times reported that he was likely dead.[58]
Late December 2001 to March 2002: Bin Laden's "Death Video" was released. that month, after reports of Bin Laden's funeral, a new video appeared, depicting a gaunt, sickly Osama bin Laden. The London Telegraph reported,"The recording was dismissed by the Bush administration yesterday as sick propaganda, possibly designed to mask the fact the al-Qa'eda leader was already dead."[59] In March and April 2002, U.S. officials downplayed the threat of bin Laden, with Rumsfeld even saying he had been "neutralized." Even Bush, called out for rarely mentioning bin Laden in 2002, admitted: "We haven't heard from him [bin Laden] in a long time... I don't know where he is. I really just don't spend that much time on him, to be honest with you."[60]
In July 2002, CNN reported that Bin Laden's close bodyguards were captured in February 2002, but not bin Laden. The article also quoted high-level officials: "Some high-level U.S. officials are already convinced by such evidence that bin Laden, who has not been seen or heard from in months, is dead."[61] In October 2002, intelligence officials confirmed Bin Laden is dead, and his will was released. Also in October 2002, the Washington D.C.-based news service The World Tribune, citing Israeli intelligence sources, reported that the United States and Israel have concluded that bin Laden died in Afghanistan in December 2001. They noted that additional bin Laden messages are "probably fabrications," and that bin Laden's heir had been chosen.[62] Intelligence officials have obtained Osama bin Laden's will, which was dated December 14, 2001 (approximately the same date as has been reported Bin Laden's funeral in Tora Bora by Fox News and other outlets). CNN also reported that there has been no evidence of Bin Laden since December 2001.[63]
In 2004, the LA Times quotes Donald Rumsfeld as admitting: "We've not seen him [bin Laden] on a video since 2001."[64] In 2006, the New York Times reported the CIA had officially closed down the unit focused on capturing Bin Laden the previous year.[65] In 2006, U.S. and Pakistani officials said they have not received any information about Bin Laden in years: "no tips from informants, no snippets from electronic intercepts, no points on any satellite image." The article rehashes the December 2001 video of Bin Laden as the most recent evidence (other than a second-hand claim from 2003) of Bin Laden's existence.[66]
Related conspiracy theories
Numerous other conspiracy theories relating to Bin Laden's death that were discussed include:
- That Bin Laden had been killed a number of years prior in the
- That bin Laden died much earlier than reported, and the announcement of bin Laden's death was delayed, so as not to clash with the festivities surrounding the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.[67]
- That the announcement of Bin Laden's death was timed to conflict with and take Celebrity Apprentice off the air, to punish Trump for publicly questioning the authenticity of Barack Obama's birth certificate.[31]
See also
- Al Qaeda
- List of conspiracy theories
References
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ignored (help) - ^ a b Schwarz, Jon; Devereaux, Ryan (12 May 2015). "CLAIM: SY HERSH'S BIN LADEN STORY IS TRUE — BUT OLD NEWS". The Intercept. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- ^ a b Cole, Matthew; Esposito, Richard; Windrem, Robert; Mitchell, Andrea (11 May 2015). "Pakistanis Knew Where Osama Bin Laden Was, U.S. Sources Say". NBC News. NBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
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- ^ "Muslims furious about Osama sea burial – Daylife". Fuse.tv. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ "Osama bin Laden's burial at sea: critics range from 9/11 families to militants". The Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ "Osama Bin Laden Body Headed for Burial at Sea, Officials Say". ABC News. May 2, 2011. Archived from the original on May 2, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
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- ^ The story was later released as a book. Hersh, Seymour M. (2016). The Killing of Osama bin Laden. Verso.
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- ^ Dorfman, Zach (14 April 2016). "Review 'The Killing of Osama Bin Laden' by Seymour Hersh details a grave threat to our democracy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
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External links
- Bin Laden Is Dead: The Reaction – slideshow by Life magazine