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TikTok and #lettertoamerica -

The recent removal by TikTok of the hashtag #lettertoamerica from its search function after videos about Osama bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to America" went viral on the platform has prompted fierce debate among many young Americans.

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What does the letter say? -

The videos promote a letter allegedly written by the notorious terrorist in 2002. The text within the two-page document glorifies and defends the September 11 attacks, which bin Laden orchestrated. It also serves as a polemic against the US and an explanation of the ideology that led him to coordinate the 9/11 atrocities.

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Widely shared -

The 4,000-word translated "Letter to America" was originally published by The Guardian. It was subsequently removed on November 15, 2023, but not before it had been widely shared on social media without the full context.

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Reuploaded to X -

After going viral on TikTok, the videos were reuploaded to X, formerly Twitter.

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An alternative perspective -

Some social media users suggested that the al Qaeda founder's document gives an alternative perspective about the US' involvement in conflicts in the Middle East.

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Bin Laden addresses the American people -

In the letter, bin Laden addressed the American people and sought to answer the following questions: "Why are we fighting and opposing you?" and "What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?" The text includes anti-Semitic language and homophobic rhetoric.

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Read in a wider context -

According to CNN, many of the videos, which supported some of bin Laden's assertions and urged other users to read the letter, were shared in the wider context of criticism of American support for Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas. Indeed, bin Laden's letter condemns US support for Israel and accuses Americans of aiding the oppression of Palestinian people.

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An eye-opening critique -

The decades-old letter has left some saying its critiques of American foreign policy had opened their eyes to a history they'd never learned. And according to Newsweek, bin Laden's words have been described as "mind-blowing" and a "revelation."

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Criticizing US foreign policy -

Many people online have used bin Laden's words as a springboard for discussion about American foreign policy in the Middle East. However, many clarified that they were not praising or defending his orchestration of the 9/11 attacks.

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Trending concerns -

Responding to reports of the videos trending across its platform, TikTok said that videos promoting the letter violate its rules against "supporting any form of terrorism." The White House, meanwhile, has slammed the apparent online trend in a statement, calling it an insult to the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.

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Osama bin Laden -

The emergence of the letter and its content has reminded the world of its author, Osama bin Laden. But who was he, really?

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Bin Laden's roots of extremism -

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was a Saudi-born Islamic dissident and militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al Qaeda.

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Early life -

Born in Riyadh in 1957, the son of a wealthy Saudi businessman, bin Laden studied economics and business administration. In 1971, he attended an English-language school in Oxford, England. Various reports suggest he later earned a degree in civil engineering.

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A wealthy married man -

As a young man, he inherited around US$25–30 million. He married at least five times and was reported to have fathered between 20 and 26 children.

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Supporting the Afghan mujahidin -

In 1979, in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, he joined the Afghan mujahidin to fight in the Afghan–Soviet War. Bin Laden's immense wealth saw him also provide financial and logistical support to the Islamic fighters battling their foe.

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Founding of al Qaeda -

After the defeat of the Soviet Union in 1988 and their subsequent withdrawal from Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden remained in the country and founded an organization called al Qaeda to continue the cause of jihad (holy war) worldwide.

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Hostility towards the United States -

Al Qaeda, or "the Base," began raising funds, setting up training camps, and providing military and intelligence instruction in such areas as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan. At the same time, bin Laden was becoming increasingly hostile to the United States.

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1993 bombing of the World Trade Center -

On February 26, 1993, extremists who had trained at one of bin Laden's camps carried out a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in an effort to topple the Twin Towers. It proved a dreadful portent of things to come.

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1998 United States embassy bombings -

On August 7, 1998, simultaneous bomb attacks on the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, killed more than 220 people. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.

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Fugitive on the run -

The atrocities in East Africa led to Osama bin Laden being indicted for his role in the bombings. He was subsequently listed as one of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives."

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USS Cole bombing -

The new century heralded a fresh wave of terrorist attacks orchestrated by bin Laden. On October 12, 2000, the USS Cole was targeted in Yemen's Aden Harbor. Seventeen Navy sailors were killed and 37 injured.

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September 11, 2001 -

Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the devasting 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. In the wake of this deadly assault on American soil, bin Laden become a highly influential ideologue in the Islamic world. But he was now also top of the FBI's newly-launched "Most Wanted Terrorist List." In fact, Osama bin Laden was the most wanted man on the planet.

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Gone into hiding -

The al Qaeda leader went into hiding, as did the organization's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri (pictured with bin Laden). Bin Laden was believed to be hiding out in Afghanistan's remote White Mountains.

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Battle of Tora Bora -

Believing bin Laden had gone to ground, assisted by the Taliban, the Americans zeroed in on the cave complex along Afghanistan's mountainous eastern border in what became known as the Battle of Tora Bora. But despite killing dozens of al-Qaeda and Taliban members, they did not find Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri.

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Showing his face -

Nobody knew whether bin Laden was alive or dead. Then on September 10, 2003, Al Jazeera aired a video tape showing the al Qaeda leader in an unspecified location and looking older and grayer.

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An iconic figure -

The most wanted man on the planet was by now an iconic figure, whose survival continued to embolden al Qaeda as a franchising organization across the world.

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The net closes in -

In April 2011, acting on reliable intelligence that led to a cluster of non-descript buildings in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was believed to be hiding, President Barack Obama ordered a covert operation to kill or capture the al Qaeda fugitive.

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Death of Osama bin Laden -

On May 2, 2011, in an operation code-named Operation Neptune Spear, an elite squad of U.S. Navy SEALs raided bin Laden's compound. In the ensuing gunfight, bin Laden was shot and killed. The surprise assault was relayed in real time to the White House Situation Room (pictured).

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Frail and alone -

Within 24 hours of his death—and in accordance with Islamic law—Osama bin Laden was secretly buried at an undisclosed location in the Arabian Sea. Among the video tapes subsequently seized in the compound was one showing a visibly frail-looking bin Laden watching images of himself on a television screen. He was alone.

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The threat still persists -

Though long dead, Osama bin Laden's legacy is manifest in the continued threat al Qaeda—and the Islamic State—poses across the world. While their focus today is on expanding in the Muslim world, it has not replaced aspirations to strike the West, warns Critical Threats.

Sources: (Reuters) (The Guardian) (CNN) (Newsweek) (The Washington Post) (BBC) (FBI) (Critical Threats) 

See also: History's cruelest despots and dictators

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