The al-Qaeda chief wanted a sharply honed comeback, which is detailed in 175 pages of plans and memos sent between the top echelons of his terrorist network and released by the US on Thursday.
Osama bin Laden was plotting to relaunch al-Qaeda's campaign of terror on America with a "new phase" of jihad, including a 9/11-style spectacular and the assassination of President Barack Obama, documents seized from his hideout show.
Frustrated by a series of setbacks and a West distracted by the economic crisis, the al-Qaeda chief wanted a sharply honed comeback, which is detailed in 175 pages of plans and memos sent between the top echelons of his terrorist network and released by the US on Thursday.
To bring down the infidel "tree", bin Laden wanted disciples to "focus our saw on its American root", ignoring its "British branch" to avoid wasting resources. He told lieutenants to abandon plans for moves into Iran and to possibly scale back operations in Pakistan and Yemen.
"I plan to release a statement that we are starting a new phase to correct the mistakes we made," he said in a 2010 memo. "We shall reclaim, God willing, the trust of a large segment of those who lost their trust in the jihadis." He lamented the PR disaster of killing Muslim civilians.
Bin Laden, who was killed by US forces in a raid on his compound in Pakistan in May last year, had delegated plans for "a large operation in the US" by up to 10 suicide bombers to Atiyah al-Rahman, one of his senior commanders. Rahman was also killed last year.
He also wanted to kill Obama as the US president travelled in a plane. Bin Laden argued that the assassination would see an "utterly unprepared" Vice-President Joe Biden elevated to the Oval Office and plunge the US into crisis.
A memo from bin Laden's American-born spin doctor, Adam Gadahn, disclosed detailed plans for rebranding the network and reinvigorating its supporters by capitalising on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on America with a publicity blitz in western media. Bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri were considering granting television interviews, while reporters - including two in Britain - were to be hand-picked for exclusive anniversary material that might put global jihad back in the headlines.
"All the political talk in America is about the economy, forgetting or ignoring the war and its role in weakening the economy," wrote Gadahn, who said the group might even need to rename itself to seize back the initiative.
Plans for new fronts were floated by several of bin Laden's lieutenants, including one to persuade Irish Roman Catholics who were disenchanted with the Church due to sex abuse scandals to turn to Islam rather than secularism.
However bin Laden remained focused on the nation he labelled the "head of the infidels". "If God wills it, America's head can be cut off," he wrote. "Then it would be easier to cut off America's wings".
Yet the documents depict him as a chairman struggling to maintain control of a sprawling and chaotic board. In memos fired off from his Abbottabad compound he repeatedly attempted to discipline regional commanders who he believed had ideas above their station.
The Yemeni-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was ordered to rein in plans to target its domestic government and declare an Islamic state. Tehrik-e-Taleban, the Pakistani offshoot, was condemned for indiscriminately attacking Muslims and an excessive use of kidnap. The hardline Somali jihadists of Al-Shabab were rebuffed after asking for a formal merger.
One document may point to a split at the top of al-Qaeda, according to the US army's Combating Terrorism Centre, which released the documents. A letter from a senior colleague, "possibly" Zawahiri, urged bin Laden to reconsider his rejection of the Somali alliance. The merger went ahead after bin Laden was killed and Zawahiri took charge.
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