The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released close to half a million of Osama bin Laden's personal files from his Pakistan compound in 2017, and some of them were extremely unexpected, ranging from documents showing cooperation with the Iranian government to viral internet videos as well as... pictures of boobs?
Following the May 2011 raid - known as Operation Neptune Spear - where SEAL Team Six killed the Al-Qaeda leader at his 'Waziristan Haveli' in Abbottabad, over 470,000 items were seized and later made public.
"Today's release of recovered al-Qaeda letters, videos, audio files and other materials provides the opportunity for the American people to gain further insights into the plans and workings of this terrorist organisation," said CIA Director Mike Pompeo at the time.
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"CIA will continue to seek opportunities to share information with the American people consistent with our obligation to protect national security."
So, what might surprise people from this haul?
Personal journals and home videos
As well as finding personal journals, the CIA reported approximately 79,000 audio and image files consisted of public speaking practice reels and audio correspondence at the site, alongside 10,000 videos that showed such things as son Hamza bin Laden as a young adult at his wedding, and jihadist propaganda.
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Judging by the diary and other communications, it's understood that his clandestine living quarters were generally computer-heavy, demonstrating his ongoing presence in leading Al-Qaeda despite claims the group forced him into retirement.
Documents about Al-Qaeda and Iran
The stash also included a 19-page report on Al-Qaeda's Iran connections. Additional docs expanded the picture of tension, but also collaboration between Al-Qaeda and the Iranian government across the years.
"Based on the initial reports, it looks like the main story, at least in the US, will be the ties to Iran," shared William Wechsler, a senior fellow focused on national security and counterterrorism at the non-partisan Middle East Institute in Washington DC, at the time.
Memes, internet videos, and... 'boobies'
Eyebrows can be further raised by the fact bin Laden kept 'HORSE_DANCE' and 'funny cat' clips; episodes of a Jackie Chan TV programme, as well as images of the Yahoo emblem, a stuffed animal monkey, and a mysterious yet possibly saucy data file under the name '_booby_2.JPEG'.
An extensive film and TV collection
Bin Laden's lair also reportedly contained a bunch of classic family movies, along with some documentaries about himself and wider political topics.
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As well as the Hollywood animations, zombie horrors, and historical documentaries, Wired also lists episodes of classic cartoon Tom and Jerry, an IMAX version of Mysteries of Egypt, a download of the 'Charlie Bit My Finger' viral YouTube video, an episode of Mr. Bean, and 28 crocheting tutorials.
"It's like, 'Ooh Osama bin Laden is a Tom and Jerry fan!' And maybe he is, it's quite possible. I like Tom and Jerry, too," commented Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "But I suspect a lot of the sort of frivolous or the personal stuff was more for his family."
The full list is as follows:
- Antz
- Batman Gotham Knight
- BBC Great Wildlife Moments
- Biography – Osama bin Laden
- Cars
- Chicken Little
- CNN Presents: World's Most Wanted
- Final Fantasy VII
- Heroes of Tomorrow
- Home on the Range
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
- In the Footsteps of bin Laden – CNN
- National Geographic: Kung Fu Killers
- National Geographic: Inside the Green Berets
- National Geographic: Predators at War
- National Geographic: World's Worst Venom
- Peru Civilization
- Resident Evil
- Storm Rider – Clash of the Evils
- The Kremlin from Inside
- The Story of India
- The Three Musketeers
- Where in the World is Osama bin Laden
In total, the public release featured 174 gigabytes of video, 7.4 gigabytes of imagery, and 18 gigabytes of documentation, among other files, yet the CIA cautioned against downloading it onto personal devices in a statement.
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"Prior to accessing this file collection, please understand that this material was seized from a terrorist organisation," the CIA landing page noted. "While the files underwent interagency review, there is no absolute guarantee that all malware has been removed."
Topics: Osama bin Laden, TV and Film
Dan Seddon