“The Rise and Fall of Osama Bin Laden”

I THINK ONE OF THE SURPRISING THINGS FOR READERS OF THE BOOK WILL BE THAT BIN LADEN WAS HIGHLY RELIANT ON HIS TWO OLDEST WIVES TO DO HIS THINKING FOR HIM.

TWO OF HIS WIVES, HIS OLDEST WIFE, HAD PHDs, ONE IN CHILD PSYCHOLOGY, ANOTHER IN GRAMMAR.

AND ONE OF THEM WAS EIGHT YEARS OLDER THAN BIN LADEN AND REALLY KIND OF WAS SOMEBODY THAT HE GREATLY ADMIRED, RESPECTED.

AND ONE OF THE BIG THINGS, BIANNA, THAT HE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT WAS THE ARAB SPRING, WHICH WAS HAPPENING IN THE FINAL MONTHS OF HIS LIFE.

AND HE WAS HOLDING ALMOST DAILY MEETINGS WITH HIS WIVES TO THINK ABOUT HOW CAN I REACT TO THE ARAB SPRING.

HE WAS WELL AWARE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE PROTESTING IN THE STREETS OF TUNISIA AND EGYPT AND LIBYA WERE NOT HOLDING UP BANNERS OF OSAMA BIN LADEN OR INFLUENCED BY AL QAEDA'S IDEAS.

THEY WERE JUST DEMANDING HUMAN RIGHTS.

HE WAS HOLDING THESE MEETINGS WITH HIS WIVES AND ADULT DAUGHTERS.

THEY COMMITTED THIS TO A BIN LADEN FAMILY JOURNAL.

IT WAS PART OF THE 470,000 FILES YOU JUST REFERENCED THAT WERE RELEASED.

AND, YOU KNOW, THEY THOUGHT THAT BIN LADEN COULD REALLY TAKE A BIG ROLE IN THE ARAB SPRING IF HE KIND OF CAME OUT WITH THE RIGHT SPEECH.

OF COURSE THIS WAS A TOTAL DELUSION.

BUT IT WAS A DELUSION THAT THEY ALL HAD AND THAT HE SPENT MANY NIGHTS IN THE FINAL WEEK OF BIN LADEN'S LIFE TRYING TO PUZZLE OUT WHAT AL QAEDA'S LEADER SHOULD SAY.

ALSO TALK ABOUT HOW DELUSIONAL HE WAS IN TERMS OF THE AFTERMATH OF 9/11 AND NOT THINKING THAT THE U.S. WOULD RESPOND THE WAY IT DID.

YEAH, THE WHOLE -- YOU KNOW, PEARL HARBOR WAS A GREAT TACTICAL VICTORY FOR IMPERIAL JAPAN BUT IT WAS A STRATEGIC FAILURE.

I THINK 9/11 WAS VERY SIMILAR FOR BIN LADEN.

HE THOUGHT HE WOULD ATTACK ON 9/11, THE UNITED STATES WOULD PULL OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST.

HE UNDERESTIMATED THE AMERICAN RESPONSE WHICH WAS OVERTHROWING THE TALIBAN IN THREE MONTHS, DECIMATING MUCH OF AL QAEDA, INVADING IRAQ UNDER FALSE PRETENSES, INCLUDING THAT AL QUAEDA AND IRAQ WERE ALIGNED.

NONE OF THIS WAS INTENDED BY BIN LADEN.

HE LATER PUT A GLOSS ON THIS SAYING 9/11 WAS A CLEVER PLOT TO BRING AMERICANS INTO THE MIDDLE EAST AND BANKRUPT AMERICANS.

THAT WAS CERTAINLY NOT HIS INTENTION.

20 YEARS LATER WE ARE PULLING OUT OF AFGHANISTAN.

WE'RE TURNING INTO A NON-COMBAT MISSION IN IRAQ.

BUT BIN LADEN NEVER SAW ANY OF THIS.

HE REALLY BELIEVED HIS OWN PROPAGANDA, RATHER A DANGEROUS THING TO DO, WHICH IS THE UNITED STATES WAS A PAPER TIGER AND THAT WE WOULD -- AMERICANS WOULD PULL OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST AFTER 9/11.