Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network is multi-layered, redundant, resilient and designed to survive the death of its charismatic leader, according to Yossef Bodansky, author of “Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America.”
According to key members of the terrorist cell captured by Egyptians several years ago, bin Laden’s organization is unified – not only in Afghanistan, but in Yemen, Sudan, the Balkans, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Kashmir and even in China.
“I myself heard bin Laden say that our main objective is now limited to one state only, the United States, and involves waging a guerrilla war against all U.S. interests, not only in the Arab region but also throughout the world, and that this operation on the whole will ultimately force the United States and those gravitating within its sphere to review their policies toward the Islamic groups,” Ahmad al-Najjar told his Egyptian captors.
He added that the command structure can survive the arrests or deaths of numerous commanders, including bin Laden and his right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
“When the United States expresses its hatred for Osama, the feelings of love for him intensify in the Muslim world,” explained an editorial in the newspaper Pakistan, shortly after bin Laden’s retreat to Afghanistan. “No matter where he is, and wherever he decides to live, the number of people who love him will never lessen.”
Indeed, Bodansky’s book makes the case that bin Laden has an enormous popular following in his native Saudi Arabia, in Egypt, in Sudan and throughout the Islamic world.
Bin Laden is gaining the image of a cult figure among Islamic radicals, especially since President Clinton’s targeting of Afghanistan bases. The name “Osama,” which means “lion,” has become increasingly popular for radical Sunnis or Wahhabis and Shiites alike, according to the book.
Bodansky also makes clear, with names, dates and documentation, that bin Laden began planning his dramatic attacks on the United States years ago with the help of unlikely allies Iran and Iraq, along with the help of Sudan and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Back in 1998, Bodansky reports, bin Laden declared that this war against America had begun. He faxed his operatives around the world with four specific objectives: “Bring down the airliners. Prevent the safe passage of their ships. Occupy their embassies. Force the closure of their companies and banks.”
Bodansky also reveals that bin Laden has near total control of the Taliban regime – even discretion in using the approximately $8 billion in annual heroin profits from Afghanistan’s major export crop.
“If it is made possible by Almighty God to Muslims, every America man is targeted,” bin Laden said in an interview with al-Jazirah television in Qatar in 1998. “They are enemies to us, whether they are involved in direct combat against us or pay taxes.”
Editor’s note: Yossef Bodansky’s book is now available in WorldNetDaily’s online store, ShopNetDaily.
