Readers' fiery reaction to bin Laden letters
This undated frame grab reportedly shows Osama bin Laden watching television at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
This undated frame grab reportedly shows Osama bin Laden watching television at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Readers give fiery opinions about Osama bin Laden letters
* Comments cover media strategy, vanities, drone strikes
* On bin Laden's Biden reference, readers defend and criticize the VP
(CNN) -- More than 2,700 CNN readers have shared what they think of Osama bin Laden's letters which were released Thursday.
Many who left comments said they were fascinated that bin Laden had apparently been strategizing about how to promote al Qaeda using media, and how his approach seems similar to any marketing agency or political party. Others carefully read the full documents CNN posted and responded with a variety of theories about them.
The total pages released Thursday were a drop in the bucket compared to the trove the U.S. government says it confiscated from the Pakistan compound where bin Laden was killed in May 2011. Thursday's release included 17 letters totaling 175 pages. Officials said they would release the remaining documents later, but would not say when.
Bin Laden's marketing focus
Bin Laden's letters showed he was focused on how al Qaeda could use the media to attract more members. For example, he recommended to followers that al Qaeda consider reaching out to Al Jazeera and U.S. media to deliver the terror group's message on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Bin Laden's writings also reveal he wanted to launch a publicity campaign to draw people to al Qaeda who "have not yet revolted" during the Arab Spring uprisings.Bin Laden's plan to kill Obama
CNN reader Breck Archer said: "Interesting to see how much emphasis bin Laden placed on the media campaign. Crafting messages to incite revolt for the 10th anniversery of 9/11 and during the Arab spring seemed to be a priority of his while holed up in his compound. Trying to implement the media as a weapons system while popping Viagra and dying his beard as the fledgling Al Qaeda network crumbled around him."
Poster tinwatchman weighed in: "The war against al Qaeda has never really been just about the bombs and guns. It's been fought inside people's heads. We're not just fighting Bin Laden, we're fighting the story that he's telling people: that this war is against Islam and Muslims, that it's like the Crusades come all over again, and that any Muslim who wants dignity and freedom by definition must be against the United States, when the truth of the matter is -- at our best, anyway -- the United States really doesn't *care* what religion you are..."
ZerkWerk, another reader, thought about who might be listening to bin Laden's message. "I felt like a filthy devil just reading what little I did. Makes me sick to think that people read that tripe and believed it."
Rebranding al Qaeda
Other readers were intrigued by an al Qaeda memo discussing changing the group's name which means "The Base" and is associated with mujahedeen battles with the Russians in 1980s Afghanistan. Al Qaeda thought it might be better to go with, for example, "Jihad Group."
Bergen: Bin Laden 'paranoid'
"Bin Laden was worried that the name made it too easy to disassociate Al-Qaeda from Islam -- and thus from Bin Laden's self-appointed position as Islam's representative. Doing so allowed Obama and the US to move away from the kind of 'cosmic war' between Christianity and Islam that Bush wound up falling into during the Iraq war," tinwatchman wrote.
"That holy war pattern is something that Bin Laden was entirely comfortable with -- something he thrived on. In a lot of ways, taking that story away from him is one of the most important moves Obama made."
Poster Payton Stone said it was "jarring" to hear the word "brand" used in reference to al Qaeda. "On one level, one could consider it an abomination to use this word so casually. A terrorist organization is far different than a toothpaste."
"I believe we should use language which draws distinctions between methods utilized by institutions of horrific violence and those deploying commonplace capitalist methodologies," Stone wrote. "While it may contribute to establishing a commentators cognoscenti credentials to re-purpose common words in this way, one should be ever vigilant in thinking carefully about how the use or words can positively or negatively impact our perceptions of the world."
Theorists and skeptics
Several commenters suspected the U.S. government fabricated or manipulated the letters or parts of them.
SamQuentin: "Are we to believe that NO DOCUMENTS in this 'treasure trove' have revealed exactly how OBL managed to end up hiding in that Pakistan compound, as well as EXACTLY WHO had been protecting him for all the time he was there?"
Where is the smoking gun, the poster asks. "Or will that information be 'strategically released' at an 'appropriate moment' to confirm Pakistan's complicity?"
Lt. Col. Liam Collins, director of the Combating Terrorism Center which published the documents, gave an advance quote to CNN prior to the Thursday release of the documents. The CTC published an analysis of the documents.
"As for Pakistan, the discussion in the documents is scarce and therefore inconclusive," Collins said. "There are no explicit references to any institutional Pakistani support for al-Qaeda or its operatives."
Europedude wrote: "How do we know the documents aren't just another made up lie? They've lied about everything else."
Bergen: Bin Laden 'a micromanager'
mple, "Jihad Group."
Establisher posted: "Obama has done well, at least tactically. Pulling out troops before further escalation of deaths, a successful raid or at least a drama that is convincing to many, except the Pakistanis themselves. And now the documents, even if forged, sends a clear message ... we are pulling out and our work is over.""People actually trust that these documents are genuine and not manipulated for political means? Really? Revoke their voting cards," posted 55reasons.
"This is all such timely horse s****. Obama flies to Afghanistan to tell the US stormtroopers their liberation is near. Suddenly we hear about Osama's remorse for his failures and misdeeds. Give me a break. Those documents in US hands....We are to believe that they are telling us HIS truth. Yeah, right the check is in the mail..."
Finding the humor
Some readers found bin Laden's letters simply amusing, if not downright funny.
BBoy705: I just read a bunch of the letters, I had no idea OBL was that us! Boy that guy was on a holy terror! His poetry was awful though... no cadence. Anyway, I guess it really doesn't mater now... he's dead.
Phil: LOL these docs are so hilarious. They're all about "Oh dear Brother, God protect you, Allah loves you, In the name of Peace and God..." and then "rip out their eyes and let the blood from their tainted bodies flood the streets". Puuuuuhlease.
MartinOM: Laughed out loud at this comment from the letter from Gadahn about the anniversary of 9/11, speaking about American news channels: "From the professional point of view, they are all on one level--except Fox News channel which falls into the abyss as you know, and lacks neutrality too."
Tinwatchman wrote that reading bin Laden's letters recalls the everyday writing of Adolf Hitler or the Columbine shooters.
"We tend to mythologize people like Bin Laden -- be it as a hero, a villain, or a monster. In Bin Laden's case, it seems to me that he deliberately tried to build up his own legend. But looking into these letters tends to reinforce just how ridiculously human he really was underneath it all. (What was it they said about Eichmann? "The banality of evil"?)
"It's easier, in a lot of ways, to pretend that only a monster or a caricature could do the sort of things that Bin Laden did. To know and accept that actual feeling, thinking human beings can commit such acts? That's hard."
Drone strikes strike a chord
The letters reveal that bin Laden was instructing his followers to be careful because U.S. drone strikes were hurting al Qaeda.
"The government needs to step up these drone strikes because from the documents it shows that those drones had Bin Laden all shook up," understandingoverignorance wrote.
Facepalm28: "Ten years after 9/11, we still go about our daily lives without constantly worrying about when the next bomb will go off or next attack will come. The men who plotted that attack (those that are still alive) live in constant fear of when our drones or spec-ops teams will find them. THIS is how we should fight the war on terror; THIS is how we will win it."
A poster claiming to be an Army sergeant deployed in Afghanistan wrote: "Agreed! It would be nice if they could take care of it with the use of Drones alone, but unfortunately we have to be on the ground in many situations, to guide our precise munitions. Too many years over here."
Bin Laden on Biden
Bin Laden's correspondence shows that he instructed his followers to try to kill President Barack Obama but to leave Vice President Joseph Biden alone. Biden is "unprepared for that post," according to one letter.
If Obama were killed and Biden took control of the White House, bin Laden wrote, it would "lead the US into a crisis."
KeninTexas posted about bin Laden: "Well, I guess he wasn't wrong about everything."
ThisGADude wrote: "I love how OBL and his like believe the rest of the world is as black and white as theirs is. (If) Obama would have been assassinated, the US pop. would have rallied and united behind Biden and our military in a way that hasn't been seen in the 1940's. We disagree on policy -- there is no lack of nationhood. Stupid Terrorist."
If you have an opinion on the documents, tell us in the comments section.
The comments were compiled by CNN.com's moderation staff. Some have been edited for length and clarity.
Spain in shock as 'God-like' Guardiola quits Barcelona
Josep Guardiola's decision to quit as coach of Barcelona after four record-breaking years is tantamount to a prime minister resigning, according to one Spanish football expert. Begona Perez told CNN World Sport that Guardiola's imminent departure had sent shock waves around Spain and plunged Barca's fans into a period of mourning as they contemplate life after the coach who delivered 13 trophies.
The 41-year-old's reign at the Catalan club has been littered with success and underpinned by a philosophy that has produced some of the most attractive football seen in recent times. Guardiola cited tiredness as the major factor in his decision, describing his four years on Barca's bench as an eternity. His assistant, Tito Vilanova, will take the reins next season, but for now, it is all about Guardiola.
His decision to quit prompted his current players to pay the warmest of tributes. Lionel Messi took to his official page on social networking site Facebook to laud Guardiola. "I want to thank Pep with all my heart for everything he has given me in my professional career and personally," the 24-year-old wrote.
"Because of the emotions I feel I preferred not to be present at Pep's press conference and to stay away from the press because I know they will look for the pain on the players' faces. It is something I decided not to show." Perez told CNN Guardiola's announcement was a huge occasion in Spanish sporting terms.
"It's almost like a prime minister leaving his post," she told CNN. "He's almost God-like in Barcelona. What he has achieved has been amazing.
"The most successful thing at Barcelona is the philosophy at the club. He didn't invent this style of football but he made it perfect. We've seen in the last four years what they achieved and the style has been amazing." Perez explained that four grueling seasons at one of the world's most high profile clubs had finally taken its toll on Guardiola, who had always maintained it was a job that no-one could do indefinitely.
He has also had to contend with serious illnesses to defender Eric Abidal, who recently underwent a liver transplant, and health difficulties for his successor, Villanova, who had a tumor. "It has been a very difficult season," she added. "There are personal reasons behind this, they lost to Real Madrid and Chelsea in the last week, but it's been difficult for personal reasons.
"Especially with the illness to Abdial and his number two Villanova. Basically he needs a break. We expect him to take a sabbatical year because it has been emotionally very hard this season. "He's a person with other interests -- he is football obsessed but he is the kind of person who likes to read a book, go the cinema and obviously his family. He has made many sacrifices and he wants to make the most of it now."
As for Guardiola's replacement, Perez said promoting Vilanova from assistant was the logical choice for a club that prides itself on a distinct approach to the game "We don't know what is going to happen to this team in sports terms and whether they will be able to win trophies with Tito Vilanova," she added. "Guardiola has been the most successful manager in Barca history and that is something that is going to be difficult to achieve again.
"I think the fans are very sad, they feel it's an end of an era but they are happy with Vilanova talking over -- it's a natural decision.
"It's someone who knows the club inside out, he was the manager of the likes of Fabregas, Pique and Messi in the youth team so it's a continuity of the club's philosophy."
Holstein with mad cow disease was lame, lying down
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — The California dairy cow found to have mad cow disease was very old for a milk producer and had been euthanized after it became lame and started lying down, federal officials revealed in their latest update on the discovery.
The 10-year-old dairy cow, only the fourth ever discovered in the United States, was found as part of an Agriculture Department program that tests about 40,000 cows a year for the fatal brain disease. It was unable to stand before it was killed and sent to a rendering plant's Hanford, Calif. transfer station. It was one of dozens that underwent random testing at the transfer site, and the positive results have set off a federal investigation into the source of the disease.
U.S. health officials say there is no risk to the food supply. The California cow was never destined for the meat market, and it developed "atypical" BSE from a random mutation, something that scientists know happens occasionally. Somehow, a protein the body normally harbors folds into an abnormal shape called a prion, setting off a chain reaction of misfolds that eventually kills brain cells.
A USDA spokesman says they do not yet know what causes this strain of the disease. Agriculture officials are investigating, among other things, whether feed sources might have played a role in the animal contracting the fatal illness.
The strain of bovine spongiform encephalopathy that appeared in the UK in the 1990s and set off a worldwide beef scare was a form caused by cattle eating rendered protein supplements derived from slaughtered cattle, including brains and spinal columns, where the disease is harbored. Scientists know less about the "atypical" strain.
It "may or may not be related to feed or forage type," said Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in California. The dairy in question is one of 381 in Tulare County, the No. 1 dairy county in the nation. Most mega-dairies have computerized records which would allow investigators to easily track any offspring the cow had in order to keep up her milk production.
However, USDA spokesman Matt Herrick said investigators are laboring through paper records. That fact, combined with the fact that the cow was more than twice as old as most milk cows in the system, could indicate one of the region's smaller dairies is the target of the probe. The World Organization for Animal Health has established protocol for investigations into cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy that includes finding other cows that the Holstein in question was raised with, tracking down all progeny and determining what she ate.
After the UK crisis, federal regulations changed to keep brains and spinal columns in cattle over 30 from being rendered into protein products for human consumption. In addition, bovine protein is not supposed to be fed to other bovines.
However, bovine protein is routinely fed to egg-laying chickens, and the "litter" from those chickens — chicken excrement and the feed that spills onto the floor — is collected and rendered back into cattle feed. Neurodegenerative researchers such as UC San Francisco's Dr. Stanley Prusiner, who received the 1997 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering prions — the protein associated with BSE — has warned that the US should ban poultry waste in cattle feed.
Most dairy cows typically experience declining milk production by age 5 and are sent to slaughterhouses to be ground into hamburger. The FDA tests 40,000 of the nation's 35 million slaughtered dairy and beef cattle annually for BSE, targeting animals older than 30 months, when the disease is more likely to appear. However, there are cases of BSE that have been detected in cattle as young as 20 months.
"We are testing .12 percent of the cattle slaughtered," Michael Hansen, senior scientist at the Consumers Union and a longtime critic of the US policy regarding mad cow disease. "In Japan they test all cattle over 20 months, in Europe it's all cattle over 24 or 30 months, depending on the country. They've been able to find sick animals that look healthy but could have ended up in the food supply."
A move by a Kansas beef packer in 2006 to voluntarily test all of its beef so it could label the packages "BSE free," was thwarted by the USDA, which argued that it would create instability in the market. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef had challenged the USDA's position that it held legal authority to control access to the test kits.
In the current case, the USDA didn't elaborate on the cow's symptoms other than to say it was "humanely euthanized after it developed lameness and became recumbent." Outward symptoms of the disease can include unsteadiness and incoordination. The unidentified Tulare County dairy where the cow died was not under obligation to report its suspicious behavior, according to state and federal agriculture officials, because the symptoms mimic other neurological diseases that can afflict cattle, said Dr. Richard Breitmeyer, director of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at UC Davis.
"In reality (mad cow disease) is so rare in this country and there are just very little in the way of clinical signs specific to BSE alone," said Breitmeyer, who spent 17 years as California's state veterinarian.
U.S. health officials say there is no risk to the food supply. The California cow was never destined for the meat market, and it developed "atypical" BSE from a random mutation, something that scientists know happens occasionally. Somehow, a protein the body normally harbors folds into an abnormal shape called a prion, setting off a chain reaction of misfolds that eventually kills brain cells.
A USDA spokesman says they do not yet know what causes this strain of the disease. Agriculture officials are investigating, among other things, whether feed sources might have played a role in the animal contracting the fatal illness.
The strain of bovine spongiform encephalopathy that appeared in the UK in the 1990s and set off a worldwide beef scare was a form caused by cattle eating rendered protein supplements derived from slaughtered cattle, including brains and spinal columns, where the disease is harbored. Scientists know less about the "atypical" strain.
It "may or may not be related to feed or forage type," said Larry Hawkins, spokesman for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in California. The dairy in question is one of 381 in Tulare County, the No. 1 dairy county in the nation. Most mega-dairies have computerized records which would allow investigators to easily track any offspring the cow had in order to keep up her milk production.
However, USDA spokesman Matt Herrick said investigators are laboring through paper records. That fact, combined with the fact that the cow was more than twice as old as most milk cows in the system, could indicate one of the region's smaller dairies is the target of the probe. The World Organization for Animal Health has established protocol for investigations into cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy that includes finding other cows that the Holstein in question was raised with, tracking down all progeny and determining what she ate.
After the UK crisis, federal regulations changed to keep brains and spinal columns in cattle over 30 from being rendered into protein products for human consumption. In addition, bovine protein is not supposed to be fed to other bovines.
However, bovine protein is routinely fed to egg-laying chickens, and the "litter" from those chickens — chicken excrement and the feed that spills onto the floor — is collected and rendered back into cattle feed. Neurodegenerative researchers such as UC San Francisco's Dr. Stanley Prusiner, who received the 1997 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering prions — the protein associated with BSE — has warned that the US should ban poultry waste in cattle feed.
Most dairy cows typically experience declining milk production by age 5 and are sent to slaughterhouses to be ground into hamburger. The FDA tests 40,000 of the nation's 35 million slaughtered dairy and beef cattle annually for BSE, targeting animals older than 30 months, when the disease is more likely to appear. However, there are cases of BSE that have been detected in cattle as young as 20 months.
"We are testing .12 percent of the cattle slaughtered," Michael Hansen, senior scientist at the Consumers Union and a longtime critic of the US policy regarding mad cow disease. "In Japan they test all cattle over 20 months, in Europe it's all cattle over 24 or 30 months, depending on the country. They've been able to find sick animals that look healthy but could have ended up in the food supply."
A move by a Kansas beef packer in 2006 to voluntarily test all of its beef so it could label the packages "BSE free," was thwarted by the USDA, which argued that it would create instability in the market. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef had challenged the USDA's position that it held legal authority to control access to the test kits.
In the current case, the USDA didn't elaborate on the cow's symptoms other than to say it was "humanely euthanized after it developed lameness and became recumbent." Outward symptoms of the disease can include unsteadiness and incoordination. The unidentified Tulare County dairy where the cow died was not under obligation to report its suspicious behavior, according to state and federal agriculture officials, because the symptoms mimic other neurological diseases that can afflict cattle, said Dr. Richard Breitmeyer, director of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at UC Davis.
"In reality (mad cow disease) is so rare in this country and there are just very little in the way of clinical signs specific to BSE alone," said Breitmeyer, who spent 17 years as California's state veterinarian.