US Releases bin Laden Letters

By the time SEAL Team Six ended his life a year ago, Osama bin Laden had grown pretty frustrated with al-Qaeda. The US today released some of the documents SEALs made off with when they raided bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, the Washington Post reports, and they reveal that the terrorist leader was upset by his network's attacks on fellow Muslims—and lack of attacks on Western targets. He believed the attacks, along with a clumsy media operation, were turning Muslims against al-Qaeda.

Bin Laden railed against the "increased mistakes" by his "brothers," and members of his inner circle encouraged him to disown affiliates that didn't follow his guidance. The content of the letters is essentially in line with earlier reports about them. The report also points out that they make no mention of bin Laden getting help from Pakistan—though that may not mean much, since they represent only a fraction of the files obtained during the raid. (More Osama bin Laden stories.)