Letter to the American People

Uncommon card · No. 197419

Letter to the American People (Arabic: رسالة إلى الشعب الأمريكي, romanized: Risāla ʾIlā al-Shʿab al-ʾAmrīkī; also known as Letter to America) is a manifesto of Osama bin Laden, published by al-Qaeda in November 2002. Initially appearing on a Saudi website linked to al-Qaeda, its English translation was widely shared online and was published by The Observer, a British Sunday newspaper affiliated with The Guardian. The letter criticizes American foreign policy in the Middle East—particularly as it applies to its support of Israel—to justify attacks on American targets; it also employs antisemitic tropes. While the letter presents rationalization for the September 11 attacks perpetrated by al-Qaeda a year prior, it does not explicitly claim responsibility for them (bin Laden would first publicly do so in a 2004 video tape). The content blends religious, moral, and political critiques against the United States, portraying it as an imperial power hostile to the Muslim world, and justifies war...

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