Osama bin Laden has presented himself to the world as a zealous freedom fighter and a deeply pious man, a de facto paragon for Muslims everywhere. Telling a far different story, this authoritative new biography lifts bin Laden's mask of moral purity as it recounts his transformation from dissolute rich kid into terrorist mastermind and delineates his long campaign to bring jihad to the United States.
Based on reliable information provided by members of bin Laden's family and extensive independent research, Adam Robinson opens a window onto a privileged childhood riven by jealousies, family politics, and the early death of his father, and depicts the young bin Laden desperately seeking attention and acceptance. Documenting the teenager's excesses in the Beirut nightclub world of hedonism, sex, and alcohol, he traces the steps that led to bin Laden's transformation, via the Soviet-Afghan war and Operation Desert Storm--and with no small amount of media manipulation--into an icon in the Islamic fundamentalist world. The author shows how bin Laden's business skills shaped AI-Qaeda into a kind of Terrorism, Inc., and recounts in detail the increasingly violent stages of his decade-long war against the United States, right up to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath.
At the same time he underscores the contradictions and fanaticism of a would-be Islamic hero who claims moral superiority while profiting from the opium trade, which has abetted the spread of HIV and AIDS among fellow Muslims; whose past is littered with alcohol and prostitutes; who courts publicity and seeks adulation within the Muslim world while staging modesty; who inspires his followers to commit murder in the name of a peace-loving religion; and who would go to any lengths to achieve his goal of a global Islamic fundamentalist revolution.
Preface
Family Ties That Bind
The Manhattan of the Desert
National Politics, Childhood Scars
Son of the Slave
Off the Rails
Alcohol and Redemption
Fighting for Islam
Birth of an Icon
Blowback
Homecoming of a Hero
Terrorism Inc.
Establishing the Firm
Full Circle
International Merger and Expansion
Diversification of the Core Business
Smoke Screen
African Smoke Screen, World Cup Soccer
Putting Atta to Sleep
The President's Nemesis
Tweaking the Nose of the Enemy
Preparing for War
One Day in the Sun
Epilogue
Index