Nelly Lahoud

An inside look at al-Qaeda from 9/11 to the death of its founder—told through the words of Bin Laden and his closest circle Usama Bin Laden’s greatest fear was not capture or death, but the exposure of al-Qaeda’s secrets. At great risk to themselves and the entire mission, the U.S. Special Operations Forces, who carried out the Abbottabad raid that killed Bin Laden, took an additional eighteen minutes to collect Bin Laden’s hard drives and thereby expose al-Qaeda’s secrets. In this ground-breaking book, Nelly Lahoud dives into Bin Laden’s files and meticulously distills the nearly 6,000 pages of Arabic private communications. For the first time, al-Qaeda’s closely guarded secrets are laid bare, shattering misconceptions and revealing how and what Bin Laden communicated with his associates, his plans for future attacks, and al-Qaeda’s hostility toward countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan. Lahoud presents firsthand accounts of al-Qaeda from 9/11 until the elimination of Bin Laden, as told through his own words and those of his family and closest associates.

How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth about al-Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family

The Bin Laden Papers

Don Rassler

Liam Collins

Stuart Caudill

The death of Usama bin Ladin one year ago understandably generated a significant amount of interest in the professionals who carried out the raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on the night of May 2nd. Lost in the focus on this single mission is the fact that United States Special Operations Forces (SOF) have conducted thousands of comparable missions in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001. The success of "Neptune Spear" was the cumulative result of the experience, relentless focus and professionalism of a community that has been conducting these types of missions for over ten years.

Bin Ladin Sidelined?

Letters from Abbottabad

This book is a study of political thought in Islam from the viewpoint of the history of ideas and the relevance of these ideas to contemporary Arabic political discourse. The author examines the use of the classical Islamic tradition (turath) and its religious and philosophical components by the three dominant Arabic political discourses: the Islamists, apologists and intellectuals. The book analyzes the different assumptions advanced by these discourses and the way they propose to apply or restore the turath in the present. Exploring connections between the medieval Islamic tradition and current debates, this book is essential reading for advanced students and researchers of Islam and political thought.

A Study in Intellectual Boundaries

Political Thought in Islam

How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth about Al Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family

Are violent jihadis an enduring feature of modern international affairs, or do they hold in their own doctrines the seeds of selfdestruction? Historical precedent suggests the latter. This book explores the religious philosophy underlying jihadism, as set against the background of the Kharijites, the first counter-establishment movement in Islam, whose idealistic and individualistic practice of Islam inevitably led them to deploy takfir against each other and thereby to self-destruct. By investigating the links between Kharijism and jihadism, Lahoud argues that the same doctrinal beliefs that appear to unite todays jihadis will also be the cause of their downfall.

Nelly Lahoud

Books

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