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by szupie 3422 days ago
It looks like you are supplying the linked document as a reference to support the statement that “Osama bin Laden predicted that America would overreact.” However, I am having trouble figuring out the connection between the linked document and the statement.

The document is from some time after 2009, as it makes references to Obama delaying the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. I failed to find any passage where he references previous statements he made in the past. From these observations, I am guessing that the prediction you are talking about is of some overreaction that takes place some time after 2009.

However, I am failing to find this prediction of overreaction you are referring to in the document. I’m assuming that’s a failure on my part to read between the lines in bin Laden’s writing, and I’m hoping you could clarify that.

1 comments

Yes, you are right about the link which is more about OBL's thinking at that point. I had read something else back in 2003-5 whenever (NYTimes?) that was a prediction that America would overreact. And I can't find it. And searching through OBL's writings isn't easy.
This article does not reference a source for the quote but author writes this about Osama - "He repeatedly asserted that the only way to drive the U.S. from the Muslim world and defeat its satraps was by drawing Americans into a series of small but expensive wars that would ultimately bankrupt them. “Bleeding the U.S.,” in his words. The United States, first under George W. Bush and then Barack Obama, rushed right into bin Laden’s trap." http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/osamas-ghost...