A newly-released cache of documents found in Osama Bin Laden's house when he was killed by US Navy Seals in 2011 reveals some interesting things about the militant leader.
- He was deeply concerned about climate change
Bin Laden made numerous references to climate change in letters believed to have been written to family members and acquaintances towards the end of his life. In one, he wrote that the US financial collapse of 2007-2008 was due in large part to corporate control of capital and corporate lobbyists, Reuters reported. Bin Laden said US citizens needed to start "a great revolution for freedom" to liberate Obama from such influences. That would allow Obama to make "a rational decision to save humanity from the harmful gases that threaten its destiny," he said.
bin laden was far better informed on climate change than most american politicians. #itsgettingHOTinhere https://t.co/IsONWzH2ZF
— Blaine Grider (@tosspowertrap) March 1, 2016
He was concerned that one of his wives had an electronic bug implanted in her tooth
In a letter to one of his wives, made public Tuesday by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Bin Laden warned one of his wives that she might have had a surveillance device implanted in her teeth by a dentist in Iran, where she was under house arrest. "The size of the chip is about the length of a grain of wheat and the width of a fine piece of vermicelli," Bin Laden wrote.
Of many surprises from the Bin Laden files, America's great enemy knew "the width of a fine piece of vermicelli.” https://t.co/rsGDvcjsQ4
— Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) March 1, 2016
- He wanted the vast majority of his wealth to go to jihad—not to his family
Bin Laden's will was one of the 100+ documents released by US intelligence officials on Tuesday. The will is no ordinary inheritance, though: in it, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks claims to have $29 million squirreled way in Sudan, where he lived for years in the 1990's before moving to Afghanistan in 1996. "I hope, for my brothers, sisters, and maternal aunts, to obey my will and to spend all the money that I have left in Sudan on Jihad, for the sake of Allah," Bin Laden wrote in his will.
The will does stipulate that some of the money should be given to his family, but not a lot. Of the $29 million, about $160,000 should go to three of his sisters to share amongst themselves, and another $80,000 should be left for his uncle's family, Bin Laden said.
