Bin Laden Wanted to Hit Oil Tankers

Osama bin Laden plotted terror attacks from hideout, seized files reveal

(NEWSER) - Al-Qaeda leaders discussed attacking America's rail network on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, according to American officials who have seen the first batch of documents from Osama bin Laden's hideout. The documents reveal that bin Laden, who many experts believed had become merely an inspirational figure, maintained an active role in plotting terror attacks over the last decade. More»

Documents show he was frustrated with al-Qaeda

(NEWSER) - By the time SEAL Team Six ended his life a year ago, Osama bin Laden had grown pretty frustrated with al-Qaeda. The US today released some of the documents SEALs made off with when they raided bin Laden's Abbottabad compound, the Washington Post reports, and they reveal that the terrorist leader was upset by his network's attacks on fellow Muslims—and lack of attacks on Western targets. He believed the attacks, along with a clumsy media operation, were turning Muslims against al-Qaeda. More»

Anniversary is nigh, and details keep trickling out

(NEWSER) - Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, and current and former US officials are apparently marking the date by revealing more tidbits contained in the 10,000-plus documents recovered from computers, hard drives, and storage devices found in his Abbottabad hideout. Many of them are old-hat (he wanted to kill Obama , he thought about rebranding al-Qaeda ). Other highlights:

• A former intelligence official tells the Washington Post that, according to his writings, bin Laden was none-too-pleased about an idea cooked up by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists: to build a "human lawnmower" out of a pickup truck and rotating blades that could be driven into crowds. Bin Laden "felt it conflicted with his vision for what he wanted al-Qaeda to be."

Might not have been his, but was in the compound

(NEWSER) - Somebody inside Osama bin Laden's compound was using a drug known as "herbal Viagra." “The caution is, we don’t know who used what,” a pharmacist tells MSNBC, but Avena syrup—which is marketed as a natural aphrodisiac—is on the list of medications pulled from the compound. "There is a lot of folklore around its potential as a natural Viagra, but not a lot of science," says a medical expert. "Of course, it could have provided Osama with a psychosomatic boost." Some other tidbits from the list: More»

Pentagon releases video of al-Qaeda leader in compound

(AP) - Videos seized by Navy SEALs show Osama bin Laden inside his hideout, watching himself on television and rehearsing for terrorist propaganda videos. The videos were released by the Pentagon as further proof that US forces killed the world's most wanted terrorist this week. One shows bin Laden, his unkempt beard streaked in gray, sitting on the floor, wrapped in a brown blanket and holding a remote control. More»