Documents Show bin Laden Fretting Over Future of al-Qaida

The U.S. released a trove of documents on Thursday recovered from Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan a year ago, which show that al-Qaida’s leaders were deeply divided over how to manage a group of worldwide affiliates that lacked discipline or willingness to take direction, The Washington Post reports.

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A 2010 letter from bin Laden to one of his top deputies, for example, shows concern over “increased mistakes” by  “brothers” in countries including Iraq and Yemen, the Post reported.

The documents also show bin Laden was frustrated with the groups’ attacks on fellow Muslims, bad media operations and a lack of focus on attacking the United States and the West.

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The documents were released by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and date from September 2006 to April 2011.