Osama Bin Laden's Letter to America

Osama bin Laden’s Letter to America

Stephan Menasce
HIS 1111 B
Professor T. Boogaart
November 25th, 2009
September 11th, 2001, at 8:46am, Americans stood in awe as one of the world trade centers was destroyed by a commercial airliner, closely followed by the second tower at 10:28am. This attack was led by al-Qaeda leader and Islamic activist, Osama bin Laden. The American public was scared, mournful and outraged at this attack and posed the question as to why such an attack on civilians would be carried out. In response, on November 24th 2002, Osama bin Laden wrote a letter to america[1] outlining the reasons for the attack. This letter however, was written for more than one reason. Firstly, it was to convince the American people that his movement was not monstrosity, but was well justified. Secondly, the letter was to gain support from the American people in the future, to contribute toward restoring Islamic government. Lastly and most importantly, the letter was delivered so that the Islamic people would regain confidence in bin Laden’s ‘freedom fighting’[2] movement.

After the attack, American civilians were, sad, confused and angry. Osama wrote to them in hope to justify his attack as reasonable, rather than terroristic or monstrous. He wrote the letter in english, stating that “America does not understand the language of manners and principles, so we are addressing it using the language it understands.”[3] Bin Laden addressed as to why he attacked civilians and not just military personnel or political leaders by stating that “the American people have… affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, …”[4], also “The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the… armies which occupy our lands…”[5] and “...the American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will…”[6] By saying this, he implies that all of the American people are at fault, because they choose the leaders who...