Editing Osama bin Laden (section)

== Reception and legacy ==
{{Further information|Aftermath of the September 11 attacks|Aftermath of the Afghanistan War (2001–2021)|Post-9/11}}
[[File:Bin Laden wanted deceased.png|thumb|The FBI Most Wanted webpage for Bin Laden in late 2011]]
During the early 2000s, despite condemnations from U.S-allied governments in the Arab world, anti-American protestors from Pakistan to [[Palestinian territories]] used his portraits during their protests, speeches and public campaigns.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite book |last=J. Cull, Culbert, Welch |first=Nicholas, David, David |title=Propaganda and mass persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present |publisher=ABC-CLIO, Inc. |year=2003 |isbn=1-57607-820-5 |location=Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911, USA |pages=20, 222 |quote="While many Middle Eastern countries have condemned.. Al Qaeda and have shown support to the United States, Bin Laden’s reputation has reached cult status among some Arabs, who see him as the hero of the resistance against Western domination...  In the wider Middle Eastern region, Bin Laden became a folk hero to the poor and disenfranchised: his picture appeared in bazaars in Pakistan and was placed in the hands of demonstrators in the Gaza strip. No Arab leader had commanded such popular appeal since Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918–1970) in the 1950s."}}</ref> His popularity in the Muslim world reached its apex through the course of the [[Iraq War]]; during which opinion polls conducted in some countries gave him 50% – 60% favourable ratings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Klausen |first=Jytte |title=Western Jihadism: A Thirty-Year History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-19-887079-1 |location=Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6dp, United Kingdom |pages=69 |chapter=2: The Founder}}</ref><ref name="auto1" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Obaid |first1=Nawaf |date=28 June 2004 |title=Opinion &#124; an unprecedented poll of Saudi opinion : Yes to Bin Laden rhetoric; no to al Qaeda violence (Published 2004) |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/28/opinion/an-unprecedented-poll-of-saudi-opinion-yes-to-bin-laden-rhetoric-no.html |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230126/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/28/opinion/an-unprecedented-poll-of-saudi-opinion-yes-to-bin-laden-rhetoric-no.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Poll: Bin Laden tops Musharraf in Pakistan |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/11/poll.pakistanis/index.html |website=[[CNN.com]] |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=11 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811001425/https://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/11/poll.pakistanis/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, at his death, Arab reaction was described as "muted", overshadowed by the beginning of the [[Arab Spring]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sly |first=Liz |date=2011-05-03 |title=Arab response to bin Laden's death muted |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/war-zones/arab-response-to-bin-ladens-death-muted/2011/05/02/AF69WLcF_story.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The [[Pew Research Center]] found in 2011 that support for Bin Laden and al-Qaeda had declined steadily across a number of Muslim countries, and was as low as 1% in Lebanon, describing him as "discredited".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2011-05-02 |title=Osama bin Laden Largely Discredited Among Muslim Publics in Recent Years |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-largely-discredited-among-muslim-publics-in-recent-years/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Latin America]]n political leaders expressed opposition to Bin Laden, with Peruvian president [[Alan García]] calling him "demonic"; however, at his death, some leftist Latin American leaders also denounced the United States for violating Pakistani sovereignty to target Bin Laden.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-04 |title=Bin Laden's death: miracle or murder? |url=https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2011/05/04/inenglish/1304486444_850210.html |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=[[El País]] |language=en}}</ref> His death was celebrated in India, and the fact that he was found in Pakistan was regarded as cause for concern due to the complex [[India–Pakistan relations|Indo-Pakistani]] relationship.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Joseph |first=Manu |date=2011-05-11 |title=Bin Laden's Killing as Seen From India |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/world/asia/12iht-letter12.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> During a June 2020 Pakistani parliament session, Prime Minister [[Imran Khan]] denounced Bin Laden's killing, labelling it as "an embarrassing moment" in their country's history, and also praised Bin Laden as a ''[[Shaheed]]'' (martyr).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Masood |first=Salman |date=26 June 2020 |title=Pakistan's Prime Minister Suggests Osama Bin Laden Was a Martyr |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/world/asia/pakistan-imran-khan-bin-laden-martyr.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628031107/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/world/asia/pakistan-imran-khan-bin-laden-martyr.html |archive-date=28 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=26 June 2020 |title=Pakistan PM Imran Khan calls Osama bin Laden 'martyr' in Parliament |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-calls-osama-bin-laden-shaheed/article61664305.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518134945/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-calls-osama-bin-laden-shaheed/article61664305.ece |archive-date=18 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=25 June 2020 |title=Pakistan PM Imran Khan calls Osama Bin Laden a 'martyr' in Parliament |work=WION |url=https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-calls-osama-bin-laden-a-martyr-in-parliament-308587 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627092951/https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-calls-osama-bin-laden-a-martyr-in-parliament-308587 |archive-date=27 June 2020}}</ref>

Bin Laden is a reviled figure in the Western world, where he is regarded as a terrorist and mass murderer.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bergen |first1=Peter |title=Opinion: Osama bin Laden was a mass murderer, not a TikTok influencer |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/17/opinions/osama-bin-laden-was-a-mass-murderer-not-a-tiktok-influencer-bergen/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=September 2, 2024 |date=November 17, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite news |last1=Zernike |first1=Kate |last2=Kaufman |first2=Michael T. |date=2011-05-02 |title=The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/02osama-bin-laden-obituary.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His obituary in the ''New York Times'' referred to him as "the North Star" of global terrorism, seen by Americans as equivalent to "[[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] or [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]."<ref name=":8" /> [[Mark Hosenball]] wrote:
{{Blockquote|In history's long list of villains, bin Laden will find a special place. He ha[d] no throne, no armies, not even any real territory, aside from the rocky wastes of Afghanistan. But he ha[d] the power to make men willingly go to their deaths for the sole purpose of indiscriminately killing Americans—men, women and children. He [was] an unusual combination in the annals of hate, at once mystical and fanatical—and deliberate and efficient.|source=Mark Hosenball, 2001<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hosenball |first1=Mark |title=War on Terror: The Road To September 11 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/war-terror-road-september-11-151771 |website=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=September 2, 2024 |date=September 30, 2001|author-link=Mark Hosenball}}</ref>}}