Epiphany Moment: Tiktokers ‘Rediscover’ Long-Discredited al-Qaeda Propaganda
Osama bin Laden is back, opening American eyes to the innumerable ills of their society.
A 21-year old letter from the former al-Qaeda chief recently went viral on Tiktok, prompting many of its denizens—primarily Gen Z’s and not a few Millennials—to “see the light.” A few reactions to reading bin Laden’s so-called “Letter to Americans” (2002) follow:
- “It’s wild and everyone should read it. If you haven’t read it yet, read it. However, be forewarned that this has left me disillusioned and I feel the same exact way I felt when I was deconstructing Christianity.”
- “I will never look at life the same again; I will never look at this country the same.”
- “I feel like I’m going through an existential crisis right now.”
- “I guarantee you it’s going to blow your mind.”
- “[The letter] is actually so mind-fuc*ing to me, that terrorism has been sold as this [false] idea to the American people.”
What revelations, pray tell, did Mr. Laden make in this “mind-blowing” letter? Originally titled “Why We Are Fighting You,” Osama listed all of the (“official”) reasons that prompted al-Qaeda to strike the U.S. on September 11, 2001, including: U.S. support for Israel at the expense of Palestinians; U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq; U.S. support for dictatorial regimes throughout the Muslim world; and any number of other political and social criticisms. Indeed, not one to leave any stones unturned, bin Laden, now in the guise of a tree-hugger, even accused Americans of “destroy[ing] nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement.”
Thus, al-Qaeda attacked the U.S. only because it was making Muslim life—indeed, the world’s life—miserable. As bin Laden was fond of saying, “Reciprocal treatment is part of justice.”
The problem with Osama’s litany list against America (and, in other letters, the West in its entirety) was that, true or false, none of his accusations were the ultimate reason that al-Qaeda hated the U.S. and Europe. As I have been showing since 2005, bin Laden and al-Qaeda were notorious for saying one thing to the West (“we attacked you because you attacked us”) and another to Muslims (“we must hate and attack the West because it is infidel”).
This was the entire basis of my 2007 book, The Al Qaeda Reader. I, like today’s Tiktok users, knew of bin Laden’s constant accusations, including his “Letter to the Americans.” In 2004, however, I came across a number of Arabic documents that were written by the al-Qaeda leader, as well as his then second, Ayman Zawahiri, while working at the Library of Congress.
