The first two parts of the review of the book by Lawrence Wright were about the origins of al-Qaeda and the role of world Arabs, including bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, in the fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan and the civil war that continued for years after the retreat of the Soviets. Part III is about the development of al-Qaeda in the years following the defeat of the Russians and how the U.S. and other countries forced bin Laden to go to back to Afghanistan. That country had disintegrated into chaos and violence with the Taliban (the Pashtu word for students), consisting of young men who were often orphans and had been raised mostly without influence from women. The Taliban were able to defeat the Afghan army in a few provinces, but the government held on and fought back in others. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan supported the Taliban, believing they were the best chance for eventual order. The Taliban inquired of Saudi Arabia what they should do with bin Laden when he arrived, and they were told to hold him and keep him quiet. The Taliban eventually succeeded at capturing the Afghan president and brutally tortured him to death.
Bin Laden in the early days was living in Afghanistan close to poverty. A collection had to be taken to find $100 for one of his followers to take an emergency trip. However, it was determined that he had found the money to finance an attack that led to the killing of fifty-eight tourists and four locals at an Egyptian tourist site. Mostly he and al-Qaeda struggled to be recognized by news agencies and to attract contributions. But then the U.S. intelligence services that failed at nearly every opportunity to cooperate with each other and the Saudis began to take him more seriously. The Saudis sent four hundred four wheel-drive pickup trucks and other financial aid to the Taliban as a down payment for the delivery of bin Laden. The Taliban, including Arabs sent by bin Laden, used the trucks to overrun a Shiite city of Hazaras and slaughter many of the inhabitants. Hundreds of captives were locked in shipping containers and left to die. Five to six thousand people were killed, including ten Iranian diplomats. Four hundred women were taken to be concubines.
Al-Qaeda then successfully bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.* Both bombings were done with trucks filled with explosives, and al-Qaeda had learned that gunfire or a grenade detonating prior to the explosion increased casualties because people would come to the windows to see about the commotion and would be shredded with broken glass. Muslims were horrified at the toll on innocent civilians. There were twelve Americans killed in Kenya, 213 total deaths, and 4500 injured, including 150 who were blinded by flying glass. The bombing in Tanzania killed 11 and wounded 85. None were Americans. The FBI and CIA bickered over the investigation, but they did learn an Egyptian member of al-Qaeda had walked into the embassy a year earlier in Nairobi and told the CIA of the plot.
During this time Monica Lewinksky was testifying to the grand jury about the sexual favors she had given President Clinton. Muslims feared retaliation after the bombings would be used to distract from the scandal. “No war for Monica!” was a sign on many Arab streets. President Clinton authorized the firing of thirteen Tomahawk cruise missiles into Khartoum at a chemical plant where a soil sample collected near the plant was found to contain what was thought to be a component of nerve gas. The plant was destroyed and a watchman was killed. It was learned the plant was manufacturing only legitimate pharmaceuticals and veterinary medicines, and had manufactured over half of Sudan’s medicines. Shortly after the factory was destroyed there were cruise missiles headed toward Khost in Afghanistan on a report bin Laden was in a camp there. Bin Laden was on the road, and on a whim decided to go to Kabul instead of Khost. The camp was damaged and several trainees were killed or injured. Bin Laden was able to replenish his treasury with the $10 million the Chinese paid for unexploded missiles. Perhaps even more important is that bin Laden successfully used the attack to convince the jihadist world of his importance. Children were soon wearing bin Laden T-shirts.
I’ve read many times that the Bush allegation of connections between Saddam Hussein and bin Laden were false, but this book gives at least a few instances of contacts as Hussein sought allies to salvage his regime. Hassan al-Turabi arranged a meeting between the Iraqi intelligence service and al-Qaeda “…with the goal of creating a ‘common strategy’ for deposing pro-Western Arab governments.” The Iraqis met with bin Laden, flattered him, and asked that he stop backing anti-Saddam insurgents. Bin Laden agreed and asked for weapons and training camps in Iraq, although there is no evidence anything came of that. Zawahiri traveled to Baghdad and met with Hussein and later traveled to Afghanistan to discuss the possibility of relocating al-Qaeda. Bin Laden declined, not wanting to be indebted to Hussein.
The men who came to Afghanistan to train with al-Qaeda were mostly middle or upper class and college-educated, mostly in natural sciences and engineering. Some spoke five or six languages, and all were Sunnis. They mostly felt displaced from their countries. Their enemies included heretics, Shiites, America, and Israel. They watched Hollywood thrillers for tips, and particularly liked Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.
Germany was extremely tolerant of all views, trying to overcome the sins of the Nazis. As a result, it wasn’t illegal to plan terrorist attacks unless it was against Germany. Four Muslim friends living in Hamburg visited bin Laden and were instructed to return to Germany and apply to flight schools in the United States. In the interim, on October 12, 2000 a fiberglass fishing boat approached the USS Cole in Aden. The two men in the fishing boat stood, waved, saluted, and set off a detonation that nearly sank the Cole, killed seventeen sailors, and wounded thirty-nine. Bin Laden recited a poem in tribute to the bombing of the Cole that ended with, “Awaiting her is a dinghy, bobbing in the waves.” Bin Laden had hoped the Americans would attack Afghanistan to meet the same fate as the Soviets. That didn’t happen, but he was flooded with new recruits and money.
The first plane struck the tower above O’Neill’s office, and he made it to the concourse. Bin Laden told his celebrating men who had heard the report of the plane striking the tower, “Wait, wait.” O’Neill called one of the women in his life to tell her he was going back in. The second plane hit the other tower, and bin Laden wept, prayed, and held up three fingers. The third plane hit the Pentagon, and bin Laden held up four fingers. Bin Laden would release a video bragging about hitting America “…in one of its softest spots.”
John O’Neill left the FBI and took a job in the World Trade Center in late August 2001. The night of September 10 he was telling friends he thought something big was going to happen. “We’re overdue.” Bin Laden released a message quoting a passage from the Quran, which he repeated three times. “Wherever you are, death will find you, even in the looming tower.”
American and British bombers struck Taliban positions October 6. Soon bin Laden and Zawahiri were with about three hundred mujahideen and encouraging them to hold their positions to wait and fight the Americans. American bombers soon hit a cave complex and killed one hundred of them, including eighteen that were identified as al-Qaeda lieutenants. Bin Laden felt betrayed that few Muslims came to join him, and even the Taliban slipped away. He and those who were left escaped to Pakistan. John O’Neill’s body was found in the rubble of the World Trade Center, and his wife and two mistresses met for the first time at his funeral.
The book ends with a description of a man who had seen a wanted poster with Zawahiri’s picture with an offer of $25 million reward for information that led to his capture. There was a telephone number to call, but the man did not have a telephone. Zawahiri and his companions disappeared into the mountains.
*Osama bin Laden had believed the two embassies targeted for bombing were havens for the CIA. He died not knowing that the bombings did kill two CIA agents in Kenya. More information about this is included in the blog posting on this web site published August 2nd.
