Editing Osama bin Laden (section)

== Political views ==
{{Islamism sidebar}}
{{Main|Political views of Osama bin Laden}}

According to former CIA analyst [[Michael Scheuer]], who led the CIA's hunt for Bin Laden, Bin Laden was motivated by a belief that [[US foreign policy|U.S. foreign policy]] has oppressed, killed, or otherwise harmed Muslims in the Middle East.<ref name="Scheuer 2004 9">{{cite book |last=Scheuer |first=Michael |title=Imperial Hubris |publisher=Brassey's, Inc. |year=2004 |location=Dulles, Virginia |page=[https://archive.org/details/imperialhubriswh00anon/page/9 9] |url=https://archive.org/details/imperialhubriswh00anon|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-9655139-4-4 |quote=The focused and lethal threat posed to U.S. national security arises not from Muslims being offended by what America is, but rather from their plausible perception that the things they most love and value—God, Islam, their brethren, and Muslim lands—are being attacked by America.}}</ref> As such, the threat to U.S. national security arises not from al-Qaeda being offended by what the U.S. is but rather by what the U.S. does, or in the words of Scheuer, "They (al-Qaeda) hate us (Americans) for what we do, not who we are."<ref name="Scheuer 2004 256">{{cite book |last=Scheuer |first=Michael |title=Imperial Hubris |publisher=Brassey's, Inc. |year=2004 |location=Dulles, Virginia |page=[https://archive.org/details/imperialhubriswh00anon/page/256 256] |url=https://archive.org/details/imperialhubriswh00anon|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-9655139-4-4 |quote=Because Muslim leaders—with bin Laden in the van—repeatedly have told us that they hate Americans for what we do and not for what we think, look like, talk about...}}</ref> Nonetheless, Bin Laden criticized the U.S. for its [[secular]] form of governance, calling upon Americans to convert to Islam and reject the immoral acts of [[:wikt:fornication|fornication]], [[homosexuality]], [[Psychoactive drug|intoxicants]], [[gambling]], and [[usury]], in a letter published in late 2002.<ref name="Letter2002" />

Bin Laden believed that the Islamic world was in crisis and that the complete restoration of [[Sharia]] law would be the only way to set things right in the Muslim world. He opposed such alternatives as secular government,<ref name=Letter2002 /> as well as [[pan-Arabism]], [[socialism]], [[communism]], and [[democracy]].<ref>''Messages'', 2005, p. 218. "Resist the New Rome", audiotape delivered to al-Jazeera and broadcast by it on 4 January 2004.</ref> He subscribed to the [[Athari]] (literalist) school of [[Schools of Islamic theology|Islamic theology]].<ref name=Halverson-80>{{cite book |last=Halverson |first=Jeffry R. |title=Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash'arism, and Political Sunnism |date=2010 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IYzGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 |quote=It was there that he met the Athari-Wahhabite militant Osama bin Laden ... |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101093302/https://books.google.com/books?id=IYzGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=#v=onepage&q=osama&f=false |archive-date=1 January 2016|isbn=978-0-230-10658-1 }}</ref>

These beliefs, in conjunction with violent ''jihad'', have sometimes been called [[Qutbism]] after being promoted by [[Sayyid Qutb]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm |title=Qutbism: An Ideology of Islamic-Fascism |journal=[[Parameters (journal)|Parameters]] |last=Eikmeier |first=Dale C. |pages=85–98 |date=Spring 2007 |access-date=26 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609120804/http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/07spring/eikmeier.htm |archive-date=9 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Bin Laden believed that Afghanistan, under the rule of [[Mullah Omar]]'s [[Taliban]], was "the only Islamic country" in the Muslim world.<ref>''Messages'', (2005), p. 143. from an interview published in ''[[Al-Quds Al-Arabi]]'' in London, 12 November 2001 (originally published in Pakistani daily, ''[[Ausaf]]'', 7 Nov.)</ref> Bin Laden consistently dwelt on the need for violent ''jihad'' to right what he believed were injustices against Muslims perpetrated by the U.S. and sometimes by other non-Muslim states.<ref>''Messages to the World'', (2005), pp. xix–xx, editor Bruce Lawrence.</ref> In his ''[[Letter to the American people|Letter to the American People]]'' published in 2002, Bin Laden described the formation of the [[Israeli state]] as "a crime which must be erased" and demanded that the United States withdraw all of its civilians and military personnel from the [[Arabian Peninsula]], as well as from all [[Dar al-islam|Muslim lands]].<ref>{{cite news |date=24 November 2002 |title=Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America' |newspaper=The Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=2019-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008120001/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver |archive-date=8 October 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America' |url=https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/218e2431-0b76-43ff-8ac5-284ae73d29ad/content |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014061421/https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/218e2431-0b76-43ff-8ac5-284ae73d29ad/content |archive-date=14 October 2023}}</ref>

His viewpoints and methods of achieving them had led to him being designated as a terrorist by scholars;<ref>{{cite book|last=Randal |first=John |title=Osama: The Making of a Terrorist|publisher=I B Tauris & Co Ltd |year=2005}}</ref><ref>''A Capitol Idea'' Donald E. Abelson p. 208.</ref> journalists from ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/us/nationalspecial3/08padilla.html |title=Mysteries, Legal and Sartorial, at Padilla Trial |work=The New York Times |last=Goodnough |first=Abby |date=8 July 2007 |access-date=26 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105211631/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/us/nationalspecial3/08padilla.html |archive-date=5 November 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/world/after-the-attacks-the-strategy-a-new-war-and-its-scale.html |title=After the attacks: the strategy; A New War And Its Scale |work=The New York Times |last=Gordon|first=Michael R. |author-link=Michael R. Gordon |date=17 September 2001 |access-date=28 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201104026/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/world/after-the-attacks-the-strategy-a-new-war-and-its-scale.html |archive-date=1 December 2010 }}</ref> the [[BBC]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7412036.stm |title=Is global terror threat falling? |work=BBC News |date=21 May 2008 |access-date=28 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216203549/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7412036.stm |archive-date=16 February 2010 }}</ref> and Qatari news station [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]];<ref>{{cite web |title="Osama bin Laden's operation" has "perpetrated the worst act of terrorism ever witnessed on U.S. soil |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2008/08/20088161083773835.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=17 August 2008 |access-date=11 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605084335/http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2008/08/20088161083773835.html |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> and analysts such as [[Peter Bergen]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Bergen|2006}}</ref> Michael Scheuer,<ref>{{Harvnb|Scheuer|2002}}</ref> [[Marc Sageman]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Sageman|first=Marc |author-link=Marc Sageman|title=Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century|jstor=j.ctt3fhbht|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]|year=2008|doi=10.2307/j.ctt3fhbht |isbn=978-0-8122-4065-8 }}</ref> and [[Bruce Hoffman]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/spring2004/ceo.html|title=Redefining Counterterrorism: The Terrorist Leader as CEO |work=RAND Review |last=Hoffman|first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Hoffman |date=Spring 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040528181019/http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/spring2004/ceo.html|archive-date=28 May 2004}}</ref><ref>''A Devil's Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons Of Mass Destruction, And Rogue States'' Peter Brookes Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.</ref> He was indicted on terrorism charges by law enforcement agencies in [[Madrid]], New York City, and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].<ref name="interpol">{{cite web |url=http://www.interpol.int/public/data/wanted/notices/data/1998/32/1998_20232.asp |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20080303070940/http://www.interpol.int/public/Data/Wanted/Notices/Data/1998/32/1998_20232.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 March 2008 |title=Wanted: bin Laden, Usama |publisher=[[Interpol]] |access-date=3 September 2011}}</ref>

Bin Laden supported the targeting of American civilians, in retaliation against U.S. troops indiscriminately attacking Muslims. He asserted that this policy could deter U.S. troops from targeting Muslim women and children. Furthermore, he argued that all Americans were complicit in the crimes of their government due to majority of them electing it to power and paying taxes that fund the U.S. military.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bin Laden |first=Osama |title=Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden |publisher=Verso |year=2005 |isbn=1-84467-045-7 |editor=Lawrence |editor-first=Bruce |location=6 Meard Street, London W1F OEG |pages=70, 119 |chapter=Declaration of Jihad}}</ref> According to [[Noah Feldman]], Bin Laden's assertion was that "since the United States is a democracy, all citizens bear responsibility for its government's actions, and civilians are therefore fair targets."<ref name="nyt-2006-2-122">{{Cite news |last=Feldman |first=Noah |author-link=Noah Feldman |date=12 February 2006 |title=Becoming Bin Laden |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/books/review/becoming-bin-laden.html |url-status=live |access-date=12 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914055806/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/books/review/becoming-bin-laden.html |archive-date=14 September 2019}}</ref>

Two months after the [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001 attacks]], Bin Laden stated during an interview with Pakistani journalist [[Hamid Mir]]:<blockquote>"According to my information, if the enemy occupies an Islamic land and uses its people as [[human shields]], a person has the right to attack the enemy. ... The targets of September 11 were not women and children. The main targets were the symbol of the United States: their economic and military power. Our [[Prophet Muhammad]] was against the killing of women and children. When he saw the body of a non-Muslim woman during a war, he asked what the reason for killing her was. If a child is older than thirteen and bears arms against Muslims, killing him is permissible."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bin Laden |first=Osama |title=Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden |publisher=Verso |year=2005 |isbn=1-84467-045-7 |editor=Lawrence |editor-first=Bruce |location=6 Meard Street, London W1F OEG |pages=140 |chapter=Declaration of Jihad}}</ref></blockquote>Bin Laden's overall strategy for achieving his goals against much larger enemies such as the [[Soviet Union]] and U.S. was to lure them into a long [[Attrition warfare|war of attrition]] in Muslim countries, attracting large numbers of jihadists who would never surrender. He believed this would lead to [[economic collapse]] of the enemy countries, by "bleeding" them dry.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/01/binladen.tape/index.html |title=Bin Laden: Goal is to bankrupt U.S.|publisher=CNN |date=2 November 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305091629/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/01/binladen.tape/index.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 }}</ref> Al-Qaeda manuals express this strategy. In a [[2004 Osama bin Laden video|2004 tape]] broadcast by Al Jazeera, Bin Laden spoke of "bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy".<ref>{{cite news |date=1 November 2004 |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2004/11/200849163336457223.html |title=Full transcript of bin Ladin's speech |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |access-date=16 November 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081116092323/http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2004/11/200849163336457223.html |archive-date=16 November 2008}}</ref>

A number of errors and inconsistencies in Bin Laden's arguments have been alleged by authors such as [[Max Rodenbeck]] and [[Noah Feldman]]. He invoked democracy both as an example of the deceit and fraudulence of [[Western world#Modern political|Western political system]]—American law being "the law of the rich and wealthy"<ref>''Messages to the World, Statements of Osama bin Laden'', Verso, 2005, p. 168</ref>—and as the reason civilians are responsible for their government's actions and so can be lawfully punished by death.<ref name="Shirazi-2006-listen">{{cite web|last1=Shirazi|first1=S|title=Listening to Bin Laden |url=http://www.printculture.com/item-799.html|website=printculture.com |access-date=29 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061122194233/http://www.printculture.com/item-799.html |archive-date=22 November 2006|date=31 March 2006}}</ref> He denounced democracy as a "religion of ignorance" that violates Islam by issuing man-made laws, but in a later statement compares the Western democracy of Spain favorably to the Muslim world in which the ruler is accountable. Rodenbeck states, "Evidently, [Bin Laden] has never heard theological justifications for democracy, based on the notion that the will of the people must necessarily reflect the will of an all-knowing God."<ref name="Rodenbeck-NYRoB">{{cite magazine |last=Rodenbeck |first=Max |author-link=Max Rodenbeck |date=9 March 2006 |title=Their Master's Voice, [a review of ''Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden''] |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18750?email |url-status=live |magazine=The New York Review of Books |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202135020/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2006/03/09/their-masters-voice/ |archive-date=2 December 2020 |access-date=29 March 2018 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Bin Laden was heavily [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]], stating that most of the negative events that occurred in the world were the direct result of Jewish actions. In a December 1998 interview with Pakistani journalist [[Rahimullah Yusufzai]], Bin Laden stated that [[Operation Desert Fox]] was proof that [[Israeli Jews]] controlled the governments of the U.S. and the United Kingdom, directing them to kill as many Muslims as they could.<ref name=Time1999>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,17676,00.html |title=Conversation With Terror |magazine=Time |date=January 1999 |access-date=22 March 2015 |archive-date=5 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205200538/http://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,17676,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In a letter released in late 2002, he stated that Jews controlled the civilian media outlets, politics, and economic institutions of the United States.<ref name=Letter2002>{{cite web| url = http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver| title = 6 October 2002. Appeared in Al-Qala'a website and then ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian'' on 24 November 2002.| website = [[TheGuardian.com]]| date = 24 November 2002| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130826184301/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver| archive-date = 26 August 2013}}</ref> In a May 1998 interview with [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]], Bin Laden claimed that the Israeli state's ultimate goal was to annex the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East into its territory and enslave its peoples, as part of what he called a "[[Greater Israel]]".<ref name=May1998>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508145341/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/who/interview.html |title=frontline: the terrorist and the superpower: who is bin laden?: interview with osama bin laden (in may 1998) |archive-date=8 May 1999 |publisher=pbs.org}}</ref> He stated that Jews and Muslims could never get along, that war was "inevitable" between them, and accusing the U.S. of stirring up [[Criticism of Islam|anti-Islamic sentiment]].<ref name=May1998 /> He claimed that the [[US State Department|U.S. State Department]] and [[US Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]] were controlled by Jews, for the sole purpose of serving the Israeli state's goals.<ref name=May1998 /> He often delivered warnings against alleged Jewish conspiracies: "These Jews are masters of usury and leaders in treachery. They will leave you nothing, either in this world or the next."<ref>''Messages'', (2005), p. 190. from a 53-minute audiotape that "was circulated on various websites" dated 14 February 2003. "Among a Band of Knights"</ref> [[Shia]] Muslims have been listed along with [[heretics]], the United States, and Israel as the four principal enemies of Islam at ideology classes of Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=303 "From interview with [[Ali Soufan]] – a [[Lebanese American|Lebanese]] Sunni FBI agent"}}</ref>

Bin Laden was opposed to music on religious grounds,<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=167}}</ref> and his attitude towards technology was mixed. He was interested in earth-moving machinery and [[genetic engineering]] of plants, while rejecting the use of [[chilled water]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Wright|2006|p=172}}</ref> He also believed [[climate change]] to be a serious threat and penned a letter urging Americans to work with U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] to make a rational decision to "save humanity from the harmful gases that threaten its destiny".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Landay |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-binladen-climatechange-idUSKCN0W35MS |title=Bin Laden called for Americans to rise up over climate change |date=1 March 2016 |work=Reuters|access-date=3 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403050528/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-binladen-climatechange-idUSKCN0W35MS |archive-date=3 April 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/2/osama-bin-laden-called-for-americans-to-help-obama/ |title=Osama bin Laden called for Americans to help Obama fight climate change |last=Chasmar |first=Jessica |work=The Washington Times|date=2 March 2016 |access-date=3 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403042453/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/2/osama-bin-laden-called-for-americans-to-help-obama/ |archive-date=3 April 2016 }}</ref>