Scheer Article Found Among Reading Materials in Osama bin Laden’s Last Hideout

On Wednesday, the White House released information about the articles, documents and books that were found among al-Quaida leader Osama bin Laden’s belongings in May 2011, when the U.S. Navy SEALs descended upon the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan to where bin Laden had been traced and killed him.

One of the readings included in the list that the Obama administration labeled as “Bin Laden’s Bookshelf” was a Los Angeles Times Op-Ed column from 2005 entitled “Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Bogeyman?” The article was penned by Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer.

The L.A. Times pulled up the piece from its archives following the White House’s dispatch on Wednesday. Here’s an excerpt:

The fact is, despite the efforts of several government commissions and a vast army of investigators, we still do not have a credible narrative of a “war on terror” that is being fought in the shadows.

Consider, for example, that neither the 9/11 commission nor any court of law has been able to directly take evidence from the key post-9/11 terror detainees held by the United States. Everything we know comes from two sides that both have a great stake in exaggerating the threat posed by Al Qaeda: the terrorists themselves and the military and intelligence agencies that have a vested interest in maintaining the facade of an overwhelmingly dangerous enemy.

When Scheer got wind of the news about his story figuring into bin Laden’s final chapter, he quipped, “At least someone was reading my column!”

On a more serious note, he said he stands by what he wrote, as “the rise of ISIS in opposition to al-Qaida confirms the point of the column, which is that we did not face a monolithic terrorist entity.”

Peruse the contents of “Bin Laden’s Bookshelf” in full here.

—Posted by Kasia Anderson

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