Aux origines du Djihad

Summary

This documentary explores the evolution and origins of jihadism, tracing the journey from the early Afghan jihad against Soviet forces to the rise of Al-Qaeda and its transformation under Osama Bin Laden. It looks into the geopolitical dynamics and key players that fueled the jihadist movements, including figures like Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The documentary also delves into the impact of U.S. foreign policy and the emergence of the Islamic State, highlighting how historical conflicts laid the groundwork for modern terrorism.

Highlights

• The Afghanistan jihad was pivotal in reshaping Islam globally. 🌐
• Bin Laden evolved from a privileged Saudi to a global jihadist leader. 👳‍♂️
• Al-Qaeda's network expanded under the radar of Western intelligence. 🔍
• The Islamic State epitomized the territorial aims of jihadist groups. ⚔️
• The documentary tracks jihadism from 1979 Mecca to modern ISIS conflicts. 🗓️

Key Takeaways

• The Afghanistan jihad significantly transformed global Islam and the mindset of Muslims. 🌍
• Osama Bin Laden's involvement in Afghanistan marked the rise of Al-Qaeda. ⚔️
• The U.S. inadvertently bolstered jihadist networks during the Cold War. 🕵️‍♂️
• The birth of modern jihad has roots in geopolitical dynamics from the 1970s and 80s. 📜
• The Islamic State's emergence was a direct continuation of Al-Qaeda's fragmented vision. 📈

Overview

Dive into the heart of jihadism's origins with this riveting documentary, which takes you back to the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca. This event marked a crucial point, with young Osama Bin Laden witnessing the power of international jihad—a moment that fueled his later quests. The documentary showcases the intricate web of geopolitical factors and personal ambitions that contributed to the rise of jihadist movements.

Follow Bin Laden's transformative journey from a young Saudi student with a considerable fortune to becoming the mastermind behind one of the most notorious terrorist organizations—Al-Qaeda. The documentary highlights key events like the Afghan-Soviet war that shaped his ideological path and the eventual establishment of Al-Qaeda, along with the pivotal role played by aligning with Zawahiri and setting up expansive networks.

Explore how the relentless march of the jihadists led to the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS), a group born from the shattered remnants of Al-Qaeda's ideology and aided by persistent geopolitical upheavals. With a charismatic leader like Baghdadi proclaiming a new caliphate, ISIS became the terrifying face of modern terrorism, reflecting a long history of conflict and ideological warfare.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter 'Introduction' provides an overview of the book's main themes and objectives. It sets the stage for the topics that will be discussed in subsequent chapters, offering readers a glimpse into the author's approach and the key questions that will be explored.
• 00:30 - 01:00: The Impact of Jihad in Afghanistan The chapter discusses the influence of jihad in Afghanistan on global Islam and the shift in mindset among Muslims. It references the Prophet's saying about fighting for Allah, highlighting the major transformational impact of the Afghan jihad.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Call to Jihad Against the USA The chapter, titled 'Call to Jihad Against the USA,' discusses a grim prediction of a tragic event in America, referred to as an 'American black day'. There is a mention of America having to deal with casualties on its own soil. The speaker discusses a decision to revoke someone's Saudi nationality, labeling this person as a criminal. The narrative concludes with a collective expression of gratitude to Allah, suggesting a sense of accomplishment among the group.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Origins of Islamist Terrorism The chapter discusses the foundation and development of Islamist terrorism, focusing on the goals and resilience of Al Qaeda, even after the death of its leader Osama Bin Laden. It highlights the organization's ambition to establish a global Islamic army, known as the army of the caliphate. Despite significant setbacks, such as the elimination of Bin Laden by the United States, Al Qaeda's vision and methodology continue to influence global terrorism networks.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Mecca's Hostage Crisis and Its Effects The chapter titled 'Mecca's Hostage Crisis and Its Effects' discusses the establishment and declaration of a caliphate, where a leader, or imam, is enthroned to oversee an Islamic State. The State is depicted as a structured administration with military capabilities, having a clear mission and equipped with necessary resources and equipment for war. This marks a significant step towards the restoration of Islam's former glory, as intended by the movements within the jihad.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Bin Laden's Early Influences and Ventures The chapter titled 'Bin Laden's Early Influences and Ventures' begins by emphasizing the importance of historical events with specific dates as landmarks. It references the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015, as a pivotal moment in the history of terrorism. The chapter draws parallels between this event and past coordinated terrorist attacks, highlighting the impact of distant conflicts reaching into everyday life through violence. The discourse further explores the intensification of security measures and military strategies in response to these threats. The narrative suggests a recurring pattern of shock and trauma imposed on societies, likening current events to historical precursors, possibly implicating Bin Laden's influence and ventures as foundational to such modern occurrences.
• 05:00 - 06:00: The Jihad Opportunity in Afghanistan The chapter titled 'The Jihad Opportunity in Afghanistan' delves into the historical backdrop of radical groups such as al-Qaeda and Daesh. It highlights key figures, including Osama Bin Laden and Boubacar El-Baghdadi, and traces the emergence and evolution of jihadist organizations. The narrative spans the missteps of major global powers and the challenges faced by intelligence services, drawing on a year-long investigation into the roots and rise of Islamist terrorism.
• 06:00 - 07:00: Formation and Rise of Al-Qaeda The chapter titled 'Formation and Rise of Al-Qaeda' begins by setting the scene during the Cold War era, a time characterized by a bipolar world. It hints at burgeoning projects amidst the ideological freeze of the Cold War. The narrative zooms in on a critical event in 1979, situated in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where a significant number of pilgrims congregated around the Kaaba. This marks the inception of a significant act that contributes to the broader theme of how Al-Qaeda was formed and rose to prominence.
• 07:00 - 08:00: Bin Laden's Ideological Shift and Criticism of USA The chapter discusses the symbolic significance of Mecca's Great Mosque and its sacred stone as a setting for ideological and physical conflict. It reveals an incident during a pivotal moment in the Islamic calendar, where an armed group interrupts a prayer service, signifying a shift in ideological expressions and criticisms of Western influences, particularly focusing on the USA. The chapter likely delves into Osama Bin Laden's evolving views and strategic choices reflecting his broader grievances against Western intervention in the Muslim world.
• 08:00 - 09:00: Sudan and the Spread of Terrorism The chapter titled 'Sudan and the Spread of Terrorism' discusses a significant event involving international cooperation between Saudi Arabia and France. The narrative begins four days after an unspecified event, taking place at the Elysée Palace, where President Giscard d'Estaing receives an urgent call from Saudi authorities. A hostage crisis has ensued at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, resulting in hundreds of deaths. In response, the Saudi royal family seeks France's assistance, highlighting the friendly relations and real cooperation between Saudi and French intelligence agencies.
• 09:00 - 10:00: Bin Laden's Return to Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda's Growth In this chapter, a Turkish prince seeks assistance from President Giscard d'Estaing and the GIGN to address a hostage situation involving jihadists. The crisis is orchestrated by Juhayman al-Otaibi, a former national guard, who, with 300 armed Islamists, seizes Islam's holiest site. Al-Otaibi denounces the Saudi royal family for its alleged corruption by Western influences and demands its overthrow. The involvement of President Giscard d'Estaing suggests international dimensions to the crisis.
• 10:00 - 11:00: CIA's Awareness and Missed Opportunities The chapter details the CIA's awareness of the turbulent situation in Saudi Arabia and reflects on the missed opportunities to act. It describes a scenario where rebels, entrenched in the basement of a mosque, hold thousands of pilgrims hostage. Despite their rudimentary weaponry, the rebels fortified their positions sufficiently to resist a frontal assault by Saudi forces. The narrative suggests a critical analysis of the intelligence and the actions (or lack thereof) that might have influenced the course of events.
• 11:00 - 12:00: The September 11th Attacks The chapter discusses the deployment of a GIGN team to Saudi Arabia following orders from the French president. Commandant Proutot was tasked with sending three men to support the army. The team's mission involved training and mentoring, working closely with Saudi forces to develop tactics. The ultimate goal was for the Saudi forces to execute operations independently. The GIGN team arrived in Saudi Arabia on November 28th.
• 12:00 - 13:00: Aftermath and Continued Threat of Al-Qaeda The chapter titled 'Aftermath and Continued Threat of Al-Qaeda' begins with a focus on a mission to Taef, near Mecca. The narrative describes a meeting with national guard officers who are in distress. It highlights the need to revitalize the troops to instill belief in their ability to win. The French officers required maps to liberate the Grand Mosque. Due to a lack of available maps from the Saudis, they reached out to the company responsible for recent renovation work at the site to acquire necessary details.
• 13:00 - 14:00: The Iraq War and Strengthening of Al-Qaeda The chapter titled 'The Iraq War and Strengthening of Al-Qaeda' discusses the involvement of the Bin Laden group, which had access to detailed infrastructure maps, aiding in planning assaults. For four days, GIGN strategized using incapacitating gas to force insurgents out through ventilation ducts, acknowledging the operation's risks due to the hostages involved.
• 14:00 - 15:00: Al-Qaeda's Transformation and New Strategies The Saudi authorities authorized a significant operation involving 300 armed men, marking a shift from thinking about hostages to confronting a war-like situation. On December 3rd, 1979, an assault was launched in the early morning. The GIGN, unable to enter the holy site due to being non-Muslims, remained at a hotel to monitor the operation from afar. Saudi forces took strategic positions over the esplanade, demonstrating strong military presence and readiness.
• 15:00 - 16:00: Proclamation of the Islamic State The chapter describes a military encounter where Saudi soldiers, equipped with gas masks, engage with rebels who are hiding in basements. The rebels initially use gas and flamethrowers to resist but are eventually captured when they come out into the open.
• 16:00 - 16:40: Conclusion: A Continuing Threat The chapter describes the final assault, focusing on the troops' strategic advancement into the basements where they systematically liberated rooms. The insurgents ultimately surrendered after a few hours of combat. Among those captured alive was Joueman Al-Otaibi, the leader behind the hostage-taking. The confrontation concluded after a 14-day siege, signifying the end of the immediate threat, though it is implied that underlying issues persist.

Aux origines du Djihad Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30
• 00:30 - 01:00 The jihad in Afghanistan, is one of those events that has undoubtedly transformed the face of global Islam, and also transformed the mentality of Muslims. The Prophet used to say: I would like to fight for Allah and be killed. And fight, and be killed.
• 01:00 - 01:30 We foresee an American black day. She'll have to pick up the bodies of her children right off her own soil. We decided to take away his Saudi nationality. And we considered him a criminal. Everyone started thanking Allah, saying "We've done it!
• 01:30 - 02:00 And Bin Laden replied "no, wait". That was their goal, to create a worldwide Islamic army, the army of the caliphate. This gave Al Qaeda a new lease of life, even though the organization should have disappeared by now. The United States carried out an operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda.
• 02:00 - 02:30 He said that he had put the jihad on track and that it was now up to other generations to restore Islam to its glory. So they rushed to appoint a caliphate and enthrone an imam. And I am appointed your overlord. The Islamic State is an administration. It's an army with a leader, a mission, resources, vehicles and equipment, and it wages war.
• 02:30 - 03:00 To understand history, you need landmarks, dates. The events of November 13, 2015 are now part of the history of terrorism. Even if comparison is not always reason, there are undeniable similarities. Shock and trauma, coordinated terrorist attacks echoing a conflict that seemed so far away, but which is now invading people's daily lives in the most violent way possible. Once again, security reflexes and military strategy are intensifying.
• 03:00 - 03:30 So, yesterday, a leader, Osama Bin Laden, today Boubacar El-Baghdadi. For years, the spectre of al-Qaeda, now that of its heirs, whose ambition is to go even further with Daesh. How did these terrorist organizations and jihadist groups come into being? After a year's investigation, we bring you a documentary on the origins of Islamist terrorism, how the major powers lost their way, how intelligence services have sometimes had a hard time convincing their
• 03:30 - 04:00 leaders of the urgency of the threat. But first, do you know when it all began? At the time, the world was bipolar, a Cold War that sometimes froze minds, while other projects were already taking shape. The first act will be played out in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. The year was 1979. On that day, thousands of pilgrims gathered around the Kaaba,
• 04:00 - 04:30 the sacred stone of Mecca's Great Mosque, to celebrate the passage to the year 1400 of the Muslim calendar. Suddenly, shots rang out, an armed commando has taken the place of the imam leading the prayer, a voice echoed over the loudspeakers.
• 04:30 - 05:00 Four days later... The story continues at the Elysée Palace. President Giscard d'Estaing had just received a call from the Saudi authorities. A hostage crisis was underway at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Hundreds are dead. The royal family needs France's help. France was a friendly nation, and still is. There was real cooperation between Saudi and French intelligence.
• 05:00 - 05:30 The Turkish prince asked President Giscard d'Estaing if we could have the GIGN's help in solving this hostage situation. It all started with this man, Juhayman al-Otaibi, a former national guard. With the help of 300 armed Islamists, he has just seized Islam's highest holy site. He criticizes the Saudi royal family for being corrupted by Westerners and calls for its downfall. I got a lecture straight from President Giscard d'Estaing explaining what could
• 05:30 - 06:00 happen if Saudi Arabia fell. The rebels are entrenched in the basement of the mosque, with thousands of pilgrims hostage. Saudi forces are unable to dislodge them. The criminals who had taken the great mosque had barricaded themselves in the basements. They had taken up positions. And although their weaponry was rudimentary it was sufficient to withstand a frontal assault.
• 06:00 - 06:30 On the orders of the president, Commandant Proutot sent three of his men to Saudi Arabia to support the army. My orders were to train them, mentor them, we'd work out the tactics together, and as soon as they were ready, they'd do the operation on their own. On November 28th, the GIGN team flew to Saudi Arabia.
• 06:30 - 07:00 Their destination, the town of Taef, a few kilometers from Mecca. They met up with some totally distraught national guard officers. Troops had to be revitalized, give them a reason to believe they could win. To liberate the Grand Mosque, the French officers needed maps. The Saudis didn't have any, so they called in the company that had just completed the renovation work,
• 07:00 - 07:30 the Bin Laden group. They had all the maps. The maps for the network of tunnels, the electrical network, everything needed to plan an effective assault. For four days, the men of the GIGN prepared their strategy. They thought they could force the insurgents out, by spraying incapacitating gas into the basements through the ventilation ducts. The operation is risky, given the number of hostages,
• 07:30 - 08:00 but the Saudi authorities give the go-ahead. You are faced with 300 armed men. This is not hostage-taking, it's a confrontation, This is war. We don't think about hostages anymore. There are too many people. December 3rd 1979, in the early hours of the morning, the assault was launched. The GIGN men stayed at the hotel to monitor operations from a distance. As non-Muslims, they were not allowed to enter the holy site. The Saudi forces spread out over the esplanade
• 08:00 - 08:30 and diffuse the gas into the basements. A few minutes later, the first rebels come out into the open and are immediately captured. In the basement, a few insurgents resist with flamethrowers. Equipped with gas masks, the Saudi soldiers advanced in the darkness.
• 08:30 - 09:00 The final assault took place below, with troops moving into the basements and liberating room after room. The last rebels surrendered after a few hours. Among them was, the instigator of the hostage-taking. We managed to capture them alive, in particular the insurgent leader, Joueman Al-Otaibi. After 14 days of siege,
• 09:00 - 09:30 with the help of France, the Saudi army regained control of the Grand Mosque. All the captured insurgents were executed in the following days. Among them were, many foreign jihadists who had come to rally to the cause of these Saudi fanatics. A few hundred kilometers away, a young student from Jeddah follows the capture of Mecca and its outcome on television. It was the first time he had witnessed an act of international jihad,
• 09:30 - 10:00 where men of different nationalities fight together to defend a common religious cause. Some of them came from his university, and it was his father's company that provided the plans to liberate the holy site. The 22-year-old is called Osama Bin Laden. 1979, Osama Bin Laden has just finished his studies at the University of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Married with one child, he worked as a foreman in his father's company.
• 10:00 - 10:30 The capture of Mecca, which went completely unnoticed here in Europe, was to have a profound effect on him. For in that year, the world was in a state of flux. While the West was preoccupied by the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union, the Middle East was in the midst of a major transformation, the Middle East, for its part, is experiencing a strong upsurge in Muslim fundamentalism. In Iran, first of all, with the accession to power of Ayatollah Roménie. Then to Afghanistan, where the Soviet Union would not accept the Mujahideen's challenge to its sphere
• 10:30 - 11:00 of influence. A military intervention that was much resented in the Middle East, the perfect opportunity for fundamentalists to launch their grand project of international jihad, the seizure of the Great Mosque in Mecca was the founding event, the war in Afghanistan would be the cradle, and a man no one yet knows will understand the meaning of history. His name, Osama Bin Laden.
• 11:00 - 11:30 On this day, as the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden is visited by a Saudi intelligence agent, a man he had known since university. There were five people in Saudi intelligence at the time, and one of them was Osama's teacher. And the man had a mission for him. Go to Pakistan and manage the kingdom's financial aid to the Afghan Mujahideen.
• 11:30 - 12:00 The Soviet Union wanted to expand into Pakistan. So the Kingdom of Arabia... had to respond to Pakistan's request for support and help the Afghans fight the Soviet occupation. The intelligence services were looking for an emissary to send there. A man they could trust. At 23 years of age, Osama Bin Laden fit the bill.
• 12:00 - 12:30 Bin Laden already had a personal fortune. He has access to the family fortune, so he's capable, in the blink of an eye, almost, to raise millions of dollars. He has financial capital and political backing. The young Saudi belongs to one of the country's wealthiest families, close to the government. His father, Mohamed Ben Laden, built himself an industrial empire in the construction sector.
• 12:30 - 13:00 He was a Muslim builder. He had renovated Islam's most important holy sites. The family made a name for itself. But Osama was only the eleventh son in a family of over 50 children. He was one of those left behind. He wasn't one of the eldest sons, so he had no privileges. He belonged to the group of second-rate sons. His brothers and sisters all went abroad to study and adopted a Western lifestyle.
• 13:00 - 13:30 Osama, on the other hand, never left Saudi Arabia. First at school, then at university, he grew up under the influence of Muslim fundamentalists. His physical education teacher was apparently very charismatic. He enlisted many young men in the Muslim Brotherhood. He was drawn into debates about Islam and the way forward for true Muslims. Married at the age of 17, Osama inherited over $30 million when his father died.
• 13:30 - 14:00 But he always knew he'd never make it in the family business. So this offer from the Saudi intelligence services is finally an opportunity to make something of his life. He was looking for a mission in life. And suddenly, Muslims were under attack in a nation he'd never heard of before. A Muslim nation under attack by atheist communists.
• 14:00 - 14:30 Then he found his destiny. A few weeks later, Bin Laden flies to Lahore, then on to Peshawar, Pakistan. It was in this city close to the Afghan border that he was to begin his mission. At that time... Peshawar was a rear base for the Afghan resistance. It was the rallying point for jihadists from all over the Arab world, who had come to help the Afghans fight the Soviet invaders. There's even a reception center for these volunteers,
• 14:30 - 15:00 the Service Bureau. The Service Bureau was responsible for training foreign fighters. And then send them off... To help Afghan fighters. Volunteers went there on their own initiative. And they were given benefits, like plane tickets. As soon as he arrived, Bin Laden had a meeting with the man nicknamed the father of jihad,
• 15:00 - 15:30 Abdallah Azam. Abdallah Azam was a Palestinian who initially against Israel at the outset, he was the one who provided the legitimacy for the arrival of foreign jihadists in Afghanistan.
• 15:30 - 16:00 Abdallah Azam created a mystical legend about jihad. He described a kind of magical place where warriors would watch their clothes being riddled with bullets, without the bullets hitting them. He will travel the world, mosque after mosque, to recount his legends, his mystical religious experiences,
• 16:00 - 16:30 and this fascinated many young Muslim men, like Osama. Azam's discourse immediately appealed to Bin Laden, who put his heart and soul into the cause. The young Saudi millionaire... agrees to become private secretary to the father of jihad, putting his wealth and network at his disposal. He was rich and had enough personal support to do so. He had sought support from other wealthy families,
• 16:30 - 17:00 not only in the kingdom, but also abroad, friends of the Bin Laden family. His family had many connections all over the world. Abdullah Azam doesn't come from a wealthy family. So he doesn't have the money to cover all his expenses. But Osama bridged this gap for Abdullah Azam. He was like Abdullah Azam's shadow. Azam became Bin Laden's mentor.
• 17:00 - 17:30 He taught him how to recruit and train new volunteers, but also to promote his vision of jihad around the world. Azzam's jihad is a very special one. It's a political-military jihad. The idea is to use a vocabulary that everyone can understand, and to build a specific grammar around it. And it's Osama Bin Laden who lends his voice to the radio propaganda.
• 17:30 - 18:00 For four years, Bin Laden devoted boundless admiration and loyalty to his mentor. And their collaboration bore fruit. The service office in Peshawar constantly welcomed new candidates for jihad from all over the Muslim world.
• 18:00 - 18:30 Jihad in Afghanistan is a transnational event that has become global by capitalizing on Muslim sentiments. It's one of those events that has undoubtedly transformed the face of global Islam, and transformed the mentality of Muslims too. Azam decided to take Bin Laden across the border to Afghanistan, the heart of the conflict. And that's where...
• 18:30 - 19:00 that the young Saudi begins to write his story. As soon as they arrived, the two men were welcomed with open arms by the Afghan resistance. Bin Laden discovers Muslims living as they did in the Middle Ages, as in his own vision of Islam. It was like being propelled 13 centuries back in time, to the heroic birth of Islam,
• 19:00 - 19:30 against a world then dominated by Romans and Persians. These Afghan peasants who fought so heroically, so fiercely, in their piety, their way of interrupting even the fighting to prostrate themselves at their ritual prayer, even when the shells were flying, it was obvious that, Bin Laden had rediscovered the purity of his origins. But he also noted that the resistance was woefully lacking in resources and coordination.
• 19:30 - 20:00 The influx of jihadists is not enough, they wouldn't last long against the mighty Soviet army. Despite its lack of military culture, Azam asks Bin Laden to stay with them, to help them structure themselves. For months, he drew on his resources to strengthen the Afghan infrastructure. Buying weapons and building his legend. It was in the heart of the Afghan mountains that he set up his base camp.
• 20:00 - 20:30 It was a very primitive camp, essentially made up of caves. It had to be discreet,
• 20:30 - 21:00 so as not to be easily spotted by Russian bombers. We called it the Arab fighters' showcase. And it's no coincidence that it's set up in a cave. He wants to give himself the image of a new prophet. His camp, he calls Mahasada, the lion's den, a reference to the life of Mohammed. And what did the prophet and his companions experience? Well, he he was with his companion in Boubacar, in a cave, fleeing from the miscreants.
• 21:00 - 21:30 And it was from this cave to the caves that he would emerge with his faith strengthened, that he would be able to save Islam. In just 2 years, Bin Laden's name was making its mark on the Afghan resistance. This new prophet-like patron of the arts won over the fighters. As time went by, hundreds of jihadists. joined the lion's den. So Osama began to build his empire on the Afghan border. He exercised sole authority over the volunteers.
• 21:30 - 22:00 And the Russian army began to suffer in the face of his fighters, increasingly numerous and better organized, to such an extent that Bin Laden would receive unexpected support, from the United States. In Washington, American authorities were closely monitoring the situation in Afghanistan.
• 22:00 - 22:30 We're in the middle of the Cold War, and this protracted conflict was the perfect opportunity to destabilize the Soviet Union. 6 years earlier, President Carter's security advisor came in person to show his support for the Afghans. That land over there is yours.
• 22:30 - 23:00 You will return one day, because your struggle will prevail and you will return to your homes and your mosques Because your cause is just and God is on your side. In 1986, the American administration realized that the Afghans were still holding out against the Soviets.
• 23:00 - 23:30 The time had come to help them win the war. They made the decision to improve American and Saudi aid to the Afghan rebels, with more money and more sophisticated weapons, including Stinger and anti-aircraft missiles. The USA, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were allies at the time. against the Soviet Union. It was understood that all three countries would provide aid to the Mujahideen
• 23:30 - 24:00 in Afghanistan. For the time being, the Americans make no distinction between the Afghan Mujahideen and Bin Laden's Arab jihadists. And all will benefit from this new financial windfall. Without knowing it, the United States had just considerably strengthened the position of the young Saudi leader. It was then that another unexpected event was to make him a permanent fixture in the legend of the Afghan jihad.
• 24:00 - 24:30 On April 17, 1987, the Soviet army decided to attack the lion's den. In the early hours of the morning, several helicopters led the charge, pounding the base. On the ground, special forces attempt to invade the site, but Bin Laden and around 50 jihadists retreated into the caves.
• 24:30 - 25:00 Armed with Kalashnikovs and anti-aircraft missiles, they resisted the attackers. The fighting lasted 7 days, but Bin Laden does not look good. He's not a warrior, he doesn't know how to use a weapon. At one point, he even fainted during the fighting.
• 25:00 - 25:30 When the bombing started, he fainted. He didn't fire a single bullet. When Bin Laden was in combat, he had a tendency to faint. He had a blood pressure problem. Whereas Bin Laden is sitting deep in his cave, the Soviets make a breakthrough. But Shafik, one of his soldiers, stays by his side to protect him, and dies under the bullets. Bin Laden,
• 25:30 - 26:00 at the battle of Dja Dji, never came so close to dying. If Shafik hadn't been there, we'd certainly never have heard of Osama Bin Laden. Despite their numerical and material superiority, the Soviets failed to take the base and turned back. From that moment on, Bin Laden realized that he could capitalize on this unexpected victory. He had the experience at Dja Dji
• 26:00 - 26:30 to survive what was a short but intense confrontation with the Soviets. And at the time, he had this sense of publicity and media that he exercised throughout what you could call his career. And the story of the battle of Jadji was to reinforce his legend. He asked his men to film him as a warlord. Mounted on a horse, alone in the desert,
• 26:30 - 27:00 as if he feared no one. His stagings would circulate throughout the Middle East, accompanied by interviews in which he recounts his exploits. I ask my brothers to roll up their sleeves and set off as the Almighty has
• 27:00 - 27:30 ordered: light or heavy, throw yourselves into battle until the time comes to obtain the supreme reward. There's a myth being built up that's a bit like the Che Guevara myth. I mean, you can compare it, that is, this rich Saudi who decided to give up everything to go and fight alongside his Afghan brothers. We need only recall the virtue of martyrdom in the teachings of the Prophet.
• 27:30 - 28:00 He used to say: I would like to fight for Allah, be killed, and fight and be killed. It was a gross exaggeration of what actually happened on the ground. But the propaganda worked. Osama Bin Laden managed to pass himself off as a valiant warrior. He even ended up being more respected than his own mentor, Abdallah Azam.
• 28:00 - 28:30 One year later, in May 1988, after 8 years of conflict, the Soviet Union began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The Afghan Mujahideen, aided by the jihadists, held out. The war over, Bin Laden returns to Peshawar to prepare for what comes next. One question then arises. What will become of all these jihadists in the Afghan mountains? These battle-hardened soldiers now have military infrastructures and weapons. In short an entire army, with no nation to defend and no war to fight.
• 28:30 - 29:00 On the Western side, nobody seems to care. And yet, Bin Laden has made a name for himself. From now on, all the leaders of terrorist organizations are interested in him. These include, a dangerous Egyptian fundamentalist, Ayman al-Zawahiri. We are here, the true Muslim world, against Zionism,
• 29:00 - 29:30 communism and imperialism. 6 years earlier, Ayman al-Zayouiri was on trial in Cairo for the assassination of Egyptian President al-Sadat. For lack of evidence, he was acquitted at the end of the trial. However, he still attracted attention for his radical views. We believe in our religion, both in its ideology and in its practice. We are trying our best to establish an Islamic state and an Islamic society.
• 29:30 - 30:00 This former doctor leads a terrorist organization, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. His ambition is clear, he wants to create an Islamic state in the land of the pharaohs. Al-Zawahiri wanted to change the Arab world. He wanted to Islamize it and plant the seeds of jihad where it was needed. In 1988, the CIA learned that Zawahiri had just arrived in Pakistan.
• 30:00 - 30:30 And he was not alone. Several terrorist groups were converging on the country. But the Americans, obsessed by their imminent victory over the Soviet Union, pay no attention to these Muslim fanatics. I can recall a cruel conversation I had with American officials at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan. I said: "Gentlemen, do you know the ideology of these groups? Do you know what they're planning in case the Soviets pull out?" And the Soviets
• 30:30 - 31:00 are going to withdraw. Their war is lost. And the answer given in jest was: "We're not here to build a nation, we're here to make Russians bleed". I remember a General Manager who, in a discussion with his CIA counterpart, said, "Aren't you afraid you've lit a fuse you won't be able to put out?" And the CIA director at the time replied:
• 31:00 - 31:30 "But we control everything because we pay for it". Zawahiri, like all the other terrorists, didn't come to Peshawar by chance. He came to meet Osama bin Laden, because he could help him realize a project. Bin Laden had this mystical aura that Zawahiri immediately recognized and could use.
• 31:30 - 32:00 He began by introducing Egyptian technocrats into his entourage, who had a great deal of experience in organizing terrorist operations. Zawahiri's plan was simple. He wanted to convince Bin Laden to make his network of jihadists and his military infrastructure available to build an Islamic state.
• 32:00 - 32:30 Bin Laden thought he had his Egyptians under control. The truth is, they were exploiting each other. Bin Laden was seduced by the idea, but he wanted to know about the life of his mentor, Abdallah Azam. In August 1988, when the withdrawal of Soviet troops had begun, the three men meet at Bin Laden's house. They all agree on the creation of an Islamic state, their shared ambition. But before that... He decides to found an international
• 32:30 - 33:00 organization to bring all jihadists together. He calls it, Al-Qaeda, the base. Osama Bin Laden became its Commander-in-Chief. He was given this leadership role, not because he had the best ideas or was the best speaker, but simply because he had the financial resources and the deep desire to play the role. Men had dreams. I think they all imagined that al-Qaeda could be a means of realizing them.
• 33:00 - 33:30 The organization was created, the question was which country would serve as the foundation for their Islamic state. It's on this point that there is some divergence. Bin Laden wanted to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan and into Russia, and turn the Caucasus into an Islamic region. Zawahiri, on the other hand, would not give up his dream of overthrowing power in Egypt.
• 33:30 - 34:00 That was his main objective. As for Azam, he wanted to go to Palestine. For the time being, however, no project has unanimous support. So, until we find common ground, everyone went home to fight their own battles. Their departure marks the end of the Afghan jihad, for the hundreds of foreign fighters trained by Bin Laden over nearly 10 years. All will return to their home countries and await instructions from al-Qaeda.
• 34:00 - 34:30 Initially, Al Qaeda was to be nothing more than a sort of point of contact between Mujahideen, between fighters of the faith who had known each other at some point and wanted to keep in touch. But the organization soon lost one of its founders, Abdallah Azam, the father of jihad, mentor to Bin Laden, died in a car bombing a year after the creation of al-Qaeda.
• 34:30 - 35:00 All eyes turned to Zawahiri. For Zawahiri, it was one less obstacle. He had total access to Bin Laden, with no one to interfere with an orientation different from his own, as Azam might have done, who had so much influence over Bin Laden. Now Zawahiri had him all to himself.
• 35:00 - 35:30 Bin Laden and Zawahiri were now alone at the head of al-Qaeda. And their desire for jihad would take a different path. Back on home soil, Osama bin Laden is determined to make the most of his new image. The forgotten son of the family is now considered a warlord. His legend is making the rounds of the country's mosques, and the family mosque will serve as his tribune. He had a network of clerics who always praised his commitment to Afghanistan.
• 35:30 - 36:00 He was seen as a good citizen. A good Muslim who had fulfilled his obligations by helping other Muslims with his fortune. He was also on good terms with the Saudi authorities. He began preaching every Friday at the mosque and informally gathering people around him. He talked about his ideas on global jihad and political Islam. Under Zawahiri's influence,
• 36:00 - 36:30 Bin Laden became more radical. His discourse is no longer merely religious, it's political. The Soviet Union has collapsed, the world is changing. And his new enemy, is the United States. He realized that the Americans, once their job was done, and the Soviets defeated, had simply given up on the Mujahideen. Arab jihadists and Afghan fighters.
• 36:30 - 37:00 He had been used by the Americans and Saudi Arabia. He was very angry. So, to draw his compatriots into his fight, Osama bin Laden publicly criticized American policy in the Middle East. The Americans will not stop supporting the Jews who are massacring Muslims in Palestine. Until we fight them, and until we remove the barrier of jihad, they
• 37:00 - 37:30 will not stop until we fight. The attacks of the miscreants will only stop thanks to the attacks of jihad, and justice will only be restored thanks to jihad. And it's an event that will further strengthen his hatred of Americans. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. A move quickly condemned by the international community. Although, for the time being, no nation is prepared to intervene.
• 37:30 - 38:00 For Osama Bin Laden, it was the perfect opportunity to reactivate his network of jihadists. Before the United States takes over the conflict, he contacted the Saudi Defense Minister and offered his services, those of al-Qaeda. He told him, "I have great experience. I can mobilize many Arab Mujahideen, so that we can defeat Saddam Hussein. So there's no need you don't need to call in American troops. Send me to Kuwait, I'll liberate Kuwait in the name of Islam,
• 38:00 - 38:30 and at the same time preserve the purity of the kingdom, by refusing to allow infidels to set foot on the sacred soil." That was the meaning of his message. We said thank you very much, don't call us again. We'll be in touch. And what he feared happened.
• 38:30 - 39:00 In February 1991, the new American president, George Bush, launched Operation Desert Storm. A barrage of bombs fell on Saddam Hussein's army. Alongside the United States, 33 countries took part in the coalition against Iraq.
• 39:00 - 39:30 One month later, the war was over. And just as Bin Laden had feared, the American army moved to the Saudi border to protect the country, with the agreement of the royal family. Bin Laden then turned against his own country, or at least against its leaders. The Minister of the Interior reacted. They decided to question him and advised him to avoid provocation.
• 39:30 - 40:00 And this, was a problem the Saudis had never encountered before. This was a famous Saudi who openly criticized the royal family. So he wanted to silence him. Osama bin Laden, the hero of Afghanistan, had become a nuisance in his own country. But it didn't matter. His associate, Zawahiri, has found a new home for its Islamic State project, Sudan. After years of civil war,
• 40:00 - 40:30 the country had just fallen into the hands of Muslim fundamentalists. In May 1991, Bin Laden took up residence in Khartoum, the capital. We are here, the man who launched the Islamic revolution is Hassan al-Tourabi. He is the éminence grise of the ruling power. Under his influence, Sudan has just imposed strict Sharia law throughout the country. Hassan al-Tourabi wanted to create a kind of Islamist international in Sudan.
• 40:30 - 41:00 A way for them to spread their vision of religion throughout the world. Sudan, at that time, became a Mecca for jihadists, in a way. In other words, anyone with an ideology close to that of Bin Laden, and especially those who were anti-Western, went to Sudan. Islamist terrorism thrives in Sudan, with the blessing of the local authorities. Algerian, Yemeni, Somali, Palestinian and Egyptian organizations are well
• 41:00 - 41:30 established in Khartoum. And these are institutions that interest Bin Laden because he thinks they can, by relying on these different organizations, try to develop these ideas of creating a caliphate, of which he would obviously be the caliph instead of the caliph. The al-Qaeda leader now has a very clear ambition, since nobody wants his army of jihadists. He's going to invest in terrorism.
• 41:30 - 42:00 Bin Laden and his millions of dollars were welcomed with open arms in Sudan. Tourabi invited him to all official ceremonies. Tourabi wanted to develop Sudan. It was a country full of promise, with its access to the Niles, its rich agricultural land, its oil. And yet, it was incredibly poor and badly managed. He was looking for investors. To be able to act in the shadows,
• 42:00 - 42:30 Osama bin Laden tried to build up an image of benevolence. Among other things, he financed the construction of a road across the entire country, a gigantic project which he intends to publicize once again. At the time, Robert Fisk, an English journalist, was reporting from Khartoum. when one of his friends, a veteran of Afghanistan, made him a strange proposition.
• 42:30 - 43:00 He said to me one day with a big smile, I want you to come with me into the desert, there's someone I want you to meet. So I asked him, "Who is it?" I'll tell you on the way. After a long journey through the desert, the car stopped at the side of a road under construction. He told me that a man called Osama Bin Laden was using his construction
• 43:00 - 43:30 equipment to build a road to link the isolated desert populations to the main road between Port Sudan and Khartoum. And when we arrived, he told me that Bin Laden would be there and that he'd never met a foreign journalist before. The interview would take place here, in the middle of nowhere.
• 43:30 - 44:00 He looked at me and I was introduced. I immediately shook his hand. I said I wanted to talk to him. He was shy, very cautious. Then he asked me what I wanted to talk about. The journalist asked him about the war in Afghanistan. Bin Laden then told him an unverifiable anecdote. The day a mortar shell fell at his feet. He told me it was a very important moment and that he was ready to die.
• 44:00 - 44:30 Fortunately for him, and many would say unfortunately for the world, the shell didn't explode. This is the image Bin Laden wants the Western press to have of him. A millionaire who uses his fortune to help the poor, and a warrior who has never been afraid to die for his cause. At the end of the interview, he even lets himself be photographed. He was then standing on this brand-new road, in his toga. He stared at me like a ghost,
• 44:30 - 45:00 frail and puny. I took two photos and he said "enough". For the first time, Osama Bin Laden gets a full page in an English-language newspaper. And while the Western press advertises, in secret, he pursued his project. He opens training camps for jihadists in Sudan and finances terrorist operations around the world.
• 45:00 - 45:30 In the early 90s, international terrorism took on a new dimension. Small Islamist cells sprang up all over the world. And some of them took action. In February 1993, a car bomb exploded beneath the World Trade Center tower in New York. In July 1995, an assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak failed in Ethiopia.
• 45:30 - 46:00 And the CIA eventually found a common thread in all these attacks. Their sources of funding were inexorably traced back to Sudan, the Islamic Republic where the same man has always taken refuge, Osama Bin Laden. In 1995, the CIA began to have doubts about the real activities of this Saudi millionaire exiled in Sudan. There were meetings between Bin Laden's men and groups from other countries,
• 46:00 - 46:30 groups of conspirators. So it wasn't just about business. That's when we started to take an interest in him. We had to go back into our archives, find out everything we could about him. We had to figure out who this man was whose name was popping up everywhere. Was he simply a Saudi dilettante throwing money around in the name of jihad? Or did he have a plan?
• 46:30 - 47:00 Which we needed to understand if we were to eliminate him. The CIA then discovered that Bin Laden had been banned from Saudi Arabia for his extremist, anti-Western views. There were many attempts to bring him back to Saudi Arabia. His family sent people.
• 47:00 - 47:30 His brothers visited him. His mother called him on the phone to ask him to come home. So when he finally refused all these proposals, we decided to strip him of his Saudi nationality. And we considered him a criminal. All his assets were frozen by the government. But I think he must have had other bank accounts that were not seized. The CIA is convinced that Bin Laden is financing attacks from Sudan,
• 47:30 - 48:00 but in the absence of concrete proof, he remains untouchable. Especially as his family, is very close to the Saudi government, an American ally. So, in an attempt to cut off the terrorists' source of funding, the only acceptable measure, from a diplomatic point of view, is to ask the Sudanese leader, al-Turabi, to exile him. Tourabi, remember, sold Carlos, well, he sold everything he could sell and betrayed just about all his friends. I think that at some point, Bin Laden must have realized that his stay in Sudan
• 48:00 - 48:30 had to come to an end and that he had to take his talents elsewhere. And so he did. Bin Laden disappeared again. He has found a new home, where it all began for him, in Afghanistan. Since the end of the conflict with the Soviet Union, the country has been abandoned. Various Afghan warlords are waging a bitter war for control. These include,
• 48:30 - 49:00 the Taliban, Muslim fundamentalists, from the tribal areas, supported by the population. It was a new country, ruled by people they had never met. Back in Kandahar, May 1996, Osama bin Laden met the head of the Taliban, Mullah Omar. He obtained his protection and pledged his allegiance to him.
• 49:00 - 49:30 His main value in the eyes of the Taliban, were his Arab fighters. And these fighters were seasoned jihadists, ready to die on the battlefield, ready to kill themselves in suicide attacks if necessary. And Bin Laden used his control over his men to make himself indispensable to the Taliban. The pact sealed,
• 49:30 - 50:00 Bin Laden moves to a small village, hidden away in the mountains. It was time for him to let the world's jihadists know that he was once again active in Afghanistan. He registers a fatwa. A new declaration of war against the West.
• 50:00 - 50:30 Before returning home,
• 50:30 - 51:00 creating their own cells. Within a few months, Al-Qaeda spun its web, on every continent. Bin Laden had understood the principle of geometric progression. I train a man in one of my camps in Afghanistan. He returns home, let's say South Africa. And in turn... he trains other men. That way, by training just one man,
• 51:00 - 51:30 you can win a dozen, maybe even 20. And Bin Laden has also surrounded himself. Among the many terrorists who join his cause, he came across a certain, Ralechek Mohamed. Mohamed met Osama bin Laden, partly to ask him for money, and also to show him his respect. Of Pakistani origin, this US-educated engineer is suspected of having financed several attacks,
• 51:30 - 52:00 including that of the World Trade Center in 1993. A year earlier, he had even attempted to fly airliners into skyscrapers. Osama saw in Khaled Sheikh Mohamed A very talented engineer, who, like himself, had big plans. Bin Laden asked him to rethink the project and gave him carte blanche.
• 52:00 - 52:30 He appointed him head of operations. Khaled Sheikh Mohammed becomes al-Qaeda's number 3, his nickname, Al-Mok, the mastermind. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Laden and Zaouahiri. 1996, Al-Qaeda had a new general staff. I've always believed that the real leader of al-Qaeda, was Ayman al-Zawahiri, the one who defines the line, that the real operative was Khaled Sheikh Mohammed,
• 52:30 - 53:00 Pakistani, scientific background, etc, and that Bin Laden was there because he was charismatic and well-spoken, he's handsome, he's got money. We've concentrated everything on Bin Laden. It's more complex than that. The dangerous elements, really dangerous elements of the organization, in our eyes, were Zawahiri and Khaled Shirmab. In parallel, Bin Laden maintained his cover. No one must suspect that he is the head of an international terrorist organization.
• 53:00 - 53:30 So he continues to manipulate the press. Abdul Bari Atwan, a Palestinian journalist based in London, was invited to meet him. It's November 1996, he has an appointment on the side of a road, on the Afghan border. I took it very seriously. I knew he was very important and that he was going to become a big personality.
• 53:30 - 54:00 It was a very secret trip. I was smuggled across the Afghan-Pakistan border by two Taliban fighters, to the top of the Indukush mountains. The pick-up stops at the entrance to a small village. A man greets the journalist as he gets out of the car. He didn't immediately recognize him.
• 54:00 - 54:30 He was wearing very, very modest clothes, just like the others. He was indistinguishable from his soldiers, his fighters. No, he was dressed like them. even more modestly so. The journalist takes a few photos. Osama Bin Laden seems to live here peacefully, with his family, surrounded by a few armed men.
• 54:30 - 55:00 This was a sort of headquarters for his followers, these soldiers. They sat with them, ate with them, they were ready to die with them. That's where his aura came from. They told me they loved him, because he was one of them, and that they were ready to die for him. The journalist discovers a welcoming and benevolent personality. At his side, a man with a camera.
• 55:00 - 55:30 It's Abu Moussa Balsouri, nicknamed the Syrian, a disciple of Bin Laden, who manages his communications. Barriatouane is invited to follow them to a house in Torchy to begin the interview. I spent hours with him discussing the Muslim world and what was going to happen in the near future for Muslims. Once again, Bin Laden manipulates the journalist. At no point does he tell her about the al-Qaeda training camps just a few miles away.
• 55:30 - 56:00 He manages to make her believe that he is simply devoting his life, and his fortune, to the defense of Muslims. He didn't look bad. I couldn't imagine that he would become the world's greatest terrorist. Bin Laden manages to fool the foreign press again, but not the CIA. In September 1996, the American intelligence agency obtained valuable information about what was really happening in the mountains of Afghanistan. A repentant terrorist had just surrendered.
• 56:00 - 56:30 He was said to have fled after stealing over $100,000 from the jihadists' coffers, as well as numerous documents providing evidence of the organization's operations. It was credible. He had a lot of answers to our questions. He explained things we knew but didn't yet understand. 8 years after its creation, the CIA has just discovered the existence of al-Qaeda. Clearly, al-Qaeda was an organization unlike any we'd seen before.
• 56:30 - 57:00 No other so-called terrorist organization had the size, modernity and capacity for action. They claimed to be the Islamic Army. That was their goal, to create a global Islamic army, the army of the caliphate. And the management of al-Qaeda is astonishing. Bin Laden set up a system of fringe benefits for his members, as in a multinational company.
• 57:00 - 57:30 There was a certain base salary for members. If you had a wife and children, you were entitled to more money. You also had health insurance. They could take vacations. They even had life insurance. The CIA also discovered that several terrorist groups in Africa and the Middle East had pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.
• 57:30 - 58:00 In the West, we tended to think that a bearded man eating grilled goat in the desert was necessarily a moron. Well, that moron laughed at us for 20 years. So the question was, was he going to carry out small, classic actions, or was he planning a larger-scale attack together? May 1998, to cut off the head of this network, the agency recommended kidnapping Bin Laden.
• 58:00 - 58:30 We had trained Afghan agents and CIA men to kidnap Osama Bin Laden and take him discreetly to a country that no one would know about, a place where he would probably never be heard of again. The operation was scheduled for the last week of May 1998, but the Clinton administration had it cancelled. For the time being, President Clinton does not want to involve the United States. The threat does not seem sufficient.
• 58:30 - 59:00 And yet, on May 26, 1998, the very day the CIA had planned his abduction, Bin Laden shifted into high gear. These images are from an American news channel, invited to an al-Qaeda training camp.
• 59:00 - 59:30 For the first time, he speaks directly to the Americans, dressed as warlords, weapons in hand, in front of a map of the world. Our battle against the Americans is more important than our battle against the Russians. The Americans have committed an unprecedented act of stupidity by attacking Islam and its most important symbols. Thank God, reactions in the
• 59:30 - 60:00 Arab world are up to the task and we predict a dark day for America. It will have to pick up the bodies of its children right off the ground. The threat is clear.
• 60:00 - 60:30 And Bin Laden is no longer in hiding. A few days later, he organizes a press conference in Afghanistan, attended by journalists from all over the Middle East. He announced the creation of a worldwide Islamic front against the Crusaders and the Jews. And he intends to demonstrate the military might of his organization.
• 60:30 - 61:00 That day, Osama bin Laden was jubilant. War against the West is officially declared. They say, "Your time is up, the countdown was on".
• 61:00 - 61:30 It was only a matter of time. A few weeks later, two American embassies were targeted by terrorist attacks. These attacks killed 224 people,
• 61:30 - 62:00 including 12 American citizens and 2 CIA agents. This time, the agency went on maximum alert. I left with my men for East Africa. We had a team in Nairobi, and one in Dar es Salaam And very quickly, working side by side with the FBI, we managed to get our hands on some individuals. They immediately confessed to being members of al-Qaeda and to having worked for
• 62:00 - 62:30 Osama bin Laden. It was at this point that we discovered al-Qaeda's organizational capacity at the time, and showed us from the outset that they were capable of striking in two places at the same time, with extreme coordination. For the first time, the White House took the terrorist organization seriously. President Clinton gives go-ahead for elimination. Today I ordered our armed forces to strike terrorist facilities in Afghanistan
• 62:30 - 63:00 and Sudan. Our mission was clear: to strike at the network of radical groups affiliated with and financed by Osama bin Laden, the principal founder and financier of terrorism in the world today. An American warship stationed in the Red Sea sends cruise missiles to several sites, in Afghanistan and Sudan. Infrastructure is destroyed, but Bin Laden,
• 63:00 - 63:30 remains untraceable. I think the U.S. response was inadequate. We should have had people on the ground to kill or capture him immediately after these attacks. From then on, the CIA is doing everything in its power to find him, but the hunt promises to be a difficult one. To encourage local populations to denounce him,
• 63:30 - 64:00 a price was put on Bin Laden's head. 5 million dollars. No small sum. But nobody took it. The Afghans had agreed to protect him and it would have been dishonorable for them to hand him over to us. The CIA is also trying to infiltrate al-Qaeda. But here again, it's a failure. The best place to recruit someone who could infiltrate al-Qaeda, is on the periphery of the organization.
• 64:00 - 64:30 The people who sell them weapons, those in charge of the hideouts, and those who produced the false papers. But the problem was, once they'd infiltrated them, they became one of them. Because they discovered a system that attracted them. Infiltrating al-Qaeda is much more difficult than it was with the Soviet Union. In 2000, the Americans managed to locate it twice in southern Afghanistan using their drones. But the first time,
• 64:30 - 65:00 the presence of civilians prevented them from acting. The second time, it was their unarmed drone. At the time, the CIA and the army were arguing over who would pay to arm the drones. That's why he survived the episode once again. The decision was taken too late, red tape, after two years of jitters, CIA agents are totally discouraged. In high places, no one seems to appreciate the danger.
• 65:00 - 65:30 The Bin Laden cell is on the verge of implosion. They've been looking for him in Afghanistan for years, and they've never been able to locate him reliably. They didn't have any good agents on the ground. They would have taken huge military risks, sending in special forces for a raid that could have gone very badly. Half the team quit the CIA to do something else, saying it was a waste of time, that the American government and the CIA...
• 65:30 - 66:00 Don't take the fight against terrorism seriously. I sent a note to the head of the agency saying, you're going to regret it and we're going to pay for it with American lives for not doing what's necessary. I told the president he was going to regret it. And what followed proved him right. In October 2000, another al-Qaeda attack struck directly at the US military. An American ship was attacked in Yemen. There were deaths and more deaths.
• 66:00 - 66:30 If it turns out to have been an act of terrorism, it was a despicable and cowardly act. We will find those responsible and make them pay. The attack on the US Cole is the deadliest attack on Americans since 1983. But it came at the wrong time for the United States, in the middle of an
• 66:30 - 67:00 election campaign, and Bill Clinton's message was not to be heeded. In January 2001, George W. Bush becomes 43rd President of the United States, and he showed absolutely no concern for Islamist terrorism. For him, a handful of fanatics cannot seriously threaten the greatest Western nation. And yet.., at the same time... Bin Laden has been on the run for months in the mountains of Afghanistan, is preparing to launch a major operation on American soil.
• 67:00 - 67:30 January 9th, south of Kandahar, Osama bin Laden took advantage of the wedding of one of his sons to hold a secret meeting of the al-Qaeda general staff. He announced that all the attacks carried out up to that point had only one objective, to push the American army to deploy its troops in Afghanistan, to do to them what the Soviets had done. He thought he could destroy Western armies in Islamic lands. Bin Laden was very disappointed, for once again, his aim was to bait the
• 67:30 - 68:00 United States into retaliating in Afghanistan. But the United States didn't respond. So to make them react, Bin Laden announced to his lieutenants that he wanted to strike directly at the United States on its own soil. For months now, Raleigh Sheikh Mohamed, his chief of operations, has been secretly preparing a spectacular attack. Osama bin Laden had just asked him to take action.
• 68:00 - 68:30 In the weeks that followed, alarming information came from European intelligence services, particularly in France. By early 2001, it was clear that something big was about to happen. There was an acceleration in the number of attacks planned. and particularly simultaneous attacks, especially against American aircraft.
• 68:30 - 69:00 We had information that they were planning something huge. It was going to be Armageddon. The intelligence services, the CIA, but also the White House, tried to get the Bush administration's attention. On August 6, 2001, State Department officials paid a visit to President Bush, at his ranch. In their eyes, the situation was serious.
• 69:00 - 69:30 In their hands was a memo from the CIA, clearly evoking the risk of an attack on American soil. But after reading it, President Bush put the file away without giving it a second thought. An error of judgment for which America will pay dearly. Our administration was still in the Cold War. They didn't understand that a non-governmental group could be as strong as a state.
• 69:30 - 70:00 19 al-Qaeda members pass through security checks at 3 American airports. The terrorists boarded four airliners among the passengers. At the same time, Osama bin Laden and his men leave their base camp for a cave complex hidden in the mountains. The al-Qaeda leader had just been informed of the imminent attack.
• 70:00 - 70:30 They tuned in to the BBC. Most of these men didn't know what was going to happen. They had kept it secret. There was a news flash that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Everyone started thanking Allah, saying "We've done it!
• 70:30 - 71:00 And Bin Laden replied, "No, wait, just wait". For Osama Bin Laden, the operation was an unprecedented success. The world would never be the same again. At CIA headquarters, the Bin Laden cell was immediately reactivated. Priority objective, capture the Saudi terrorist alive or dead.
• 71:00 - 71:30 We all knew who had done it. I was the Osama Bin Laden specialist, so on September 11, I was called in to track him down. Some twenty special agents were mobilized. All available data on al-Qaeda was analyzed in an attempt to locate him. We had agents who knew nothing about terrorism, but were experts in other fields. So I was running around giving them advice and acting as a mentor.
• 71:30 - 72:00 Before, I worked alone. Now I had a group of 20 people. After a few weeks, they finally identified an area in Afghanistan where Bin Laden could have set up his base camp. A new video confirms this information. From these mountains, the terrorist continues to provoke America.
• 72:00 - 72:30 The United States no longer has a choice. The response must be equal to the disaster. Since Bin Laden is protected by the Taliban, he declares war on them, just one month after the New York bombing.
• 72:30 - 73:00 A war that would last 2 months. The Americans and their allies retook all the country's major cities. December 2001, The capture of Kabul marked the rout of the Taliban. Bin Laden was taken by surprise. He thought he could resist, but he was forced to retreat. And this time, the White House had no intention of letting him disappear.
• 73:00 - 73:30 When Kabul fell, Bin Laden fled eastwards. He returned to Jalalabad. I then proposed my own plan and mobilized some of my men to send them to Jalalabad. A team was dispatched. A risky mission in this part of the country still under Taliban and al-Qaeda control. For days, they tried to track down Bin Laden.
• 73:30 - 74:00 We had informers all over the country. We had men on satellite phones. We had men on mountain tops. We had men in the villages. They would call us and say, "He's here, he's here". I watched him go down a road. I followed him. I knew where he was. I knew exactly where he was.
• 74:00 - 74:30 After a week, they returned to the camp in which they had taken refuge. Deep in the mountains, the al-Qaeda leader is well protected, surrounded by a hundred or so Taliban and well-armed jihadists. They called me. They said: We've identified him. We've located him. We request permission to engage him. I said: Yes, of course.
• 74:30 - 75:00 The air force arrived and for 56 hours, we bombed them, bombed and bombed. The camp was destroyed. Osama bin Laden and a few survivors are entrenched in caves. All that remains is to surround them and try to dislodge them. I immediately sent a message to Washington to tell them that Bin Laden was cornered, that his forces were wiped out and that I wanted 800 American soldiers here.
• 75:00 - 75:30 We had to finish the job ourselves. But to avoid further American casualties, the White House prefers to entrust this task to the Afghan allies who took part in the war against the Taliban. Another mistake, they are the ones who will allow al-Qaeda's leaders to flee through the mountains after the bombing has stopped. Among the Afghan population, Bin Laden enjoys the aura that comes from someone.
• 75:30 - 76:00 He has come to them from the distant Arabia where the Prophet was born. He's like a sheriff of Mecca. For months, no news of al-Qaeda or bin Laden. As a result, some believe he did not survive the bombing. The Americans and Europeans said he was dead. It was even said once that he had retired. But everyone is wrong.
• 76:00 - 76:30 In October 2002... An attack hit Bali in Indonesia. It claimed 202 victims. Mainly Western tourists. Al-Qaeda was behind the action. And an audio recording re-launches the hunt. The CIA is positive. It's bin Laden's voice.
• 76:30 - 77:00 Referring to the Bali bombing, the al-Qaeda leader dates his recording and confirms that he is indeed alive and well. The news spread around the world. One of the things we've lost in the West is the power of silence, is the power of silence. Bin Laden knew this power well. We wouldn't hear from him for 12 or 18 months, and then suddenly he'd reappear with a statement, a video or a speech, that would keep the world's media busy for three or four days.
• 77:00 - 77:30 He was a master of silence. Pressure is mounting on the American administration. It's been over a year since the collapse of the World Trade Center, and Osama bin Laden has still not been arrested. To deflect the tension, the White House found another scapegoat, Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator. President Bush wanted to kill two birds with one stone: show that America was making progress in its fight against terrorism, and finish the war that his
• 77:30 - 78:00 father had started ten years earlier. So the Bush administration will present Saddam Hussein as an ally of Bin Laden, capable of supplying Al Qaeda with weapons of mass destruction. A great game of manipulation that won't do any good, quite the contrary. The link between Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden,
• 78:00 - 78:30 was invented by US Secretary of State Colin Powell during a speech to the UN in 2003. Ambition and hatred were enough to bring Iraq and al-Qaeda together. Enough for al-Qaeda to learn how to make more sophisticated bombs and falsify documents. And enough for Al Qaeda to turn to Iraq for help in acquiring the necessary expertise in weapons of mass destruction. The average American can't... understand that 3,000 people have died in an
• 78:30 - 79:00 extraordinary attack, and that the enemy.., is in fact a band of fifty vanupieds in the mountains of Tora Bora. This will legitimize the war in Iraq. There's got to be a state behind it, there's got to be a big bad guy behind it, well organized, etc. This will enable the American administration to sell the war against Iraq. Not only is none of this true, Above all, many foreign observers fear the consequences of a war in Iraq.
• 79:00 - 79:30 This is particularly true of France. Ten days ago, U.S. Secretary of State Powell, mentioned alleged links between al-Qaeda and the Maghdad regime. Given the current state of our research and information, carried out in liaison with our allies, we have no reason to doubt this, There's nothing to suggest such a link. On the other hand, we need to consider the impact that military action, which is currently being
• 79:30 - 80:00 challenged, would have in this respect. Wouldn't such an intervention risk exacerbating the rifts between societies? between cultures, between peoples? Fractures on which terrorism feeds. But the Americans are ignoring the opinion of the international community. March 20, 2003, America embarked on a war against Iraq.
• 80:00 - 80:30 Saddam Hussein's army could not withstand the massive bombardment of the capital for long. 9 months later, the Iraqi dictator was captured, and executed. Initially, the country came under American occupation, but their management of power led to chaos. The US administration fired most of Saddam's Iraqi army officer corps and most of the civil service.
• 80:30 - 81:00 From one day to the next, they found themselves with no pay, no pension and nothing. What did they do? They threw themselves into the arms of the jihadists to fight against the American occupation. For the Americans have above all decided to hand over the keys to the country to the Shiite majority, which had hitherto been kept out of power. This radical change will rekindle tensions between the country's two Muslim communities, Shiites and Sunnis. And it is the terrorists who will benefit, as angry Sunnis swelled their ranks.
• 81:00 - 81:30 This was the birth of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Sunni support. This will be the turning point in the logic of al-Qaeda in Iraq, in other words, the sectarian or confessional conflict within the Muslim world between Sunnis and Shiites took precedence over the fight against the godless. This has given al-Qaeda a new lease of life, when the organization should have disappeared by now. It also gave Muslims who hated the United States a reason to join al-Qaeda.
• 81:30 - 82:00 In the 2000s, the terrorist organization was booming. Osama bin Laden set the example. Many Islamist groups around the world follow in his footsteps. Al-Qaeda has become a brand, a label that everyone wants to claim. Any protestor in the Muslim world,
• 82:00 - 82:30 this means that if he wants to be taken seriously, he has to wave the al-Qaeda flag, he has to say "I'm in". Meanwhile, Osama Bin Laden and his partner Zawahiri are hiding out in northern Pakistan, protected by the local population. Now on the run, Bin Laden knows he can no longer lead Al Qaeda, but he hopes that his lieutenants will take over.
• 82:30 - 83:00 He feels that his mission is largely accomplished from... Because, he says, he put the jihad on track, and now it's up to other generations to fulfill the plan to restore Islam to its glory, to regain the caliphate, he's already talking about it, the Islamic caliphate, to reunite Muslims under the rule of Sharia and Islam.
• 83:00 - 83:30 And one of the men who will take up his torch is none other than Abu Moussa Balsouri, Bin Laden's former communications officer. In 2004, he wrote a 1,600 page text to relaunch his former mentor's caliphate project. He became the new theorist of jihad. Abu Moussa Balsouri believes that the 9/11 model is obsolete and counter-productive. The Americans are too strong, it's Europe that should be targeted. His idea is simple,
• 83:30 - 84:00 provoke hatred of Islam in Europe by committing murderous attacks in the name of jihad. Europe is a soft underbelly in which, according to him, the large, poorly assimilated muslim population is a formidable relay for the jihadist operation. Stigmatized and rejected, European muslims could eventually join Al Aaeda Al Souri's strategy was quickly implemented europe became the new target
• 84:00 - 84:30 Madrid in 2004, then London in 2005, were in turn hit by violent attacks. But al-Qaeda's new strategy was above all to establish a foothold in the Middle East. Another of Bin Laden's disciples is also gaining power. His name, Abu Moussa d'Al-Zarqawi, he is the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Americans have put the Shiites in power. So he's going to rally the Sunni population to his cause, to take over a territory.
• 84:30 - 85:00 A territorial settlement where they could live, have resources and be a champion of Islam. In Iraq's Sunni tribes, who were opposed to the Sunni segregation, to which the American occupier is proceeding, they will find a certain amount of support,
• 85:00 - 85:30 broader than those who are simply... ideologically close to them. Al-Qaeda was entering a new period. It was no longer the al-Qaeda we had known, enemy of the American army and the West. It had become a sectarian organization that also attacked Muslims. Since then, the West has been less concerned about the emergence of this new
• 85:30 - 86:00 terrorist model. Americans are still focused on the man who dared to attack them on their soil, Osama Bin Laden. In 2005, he was still nowhere to be found. In fact, he was entrenched in a secret fortress in northern Pakistan. He was not particularly surrounded by guards, nor did he seem to have planned any escape.
• 86:00 - 86:30 It was as if he felt sufficiently protected by the people around him. After all, Bin Laden didn't settle in just any town. Abbottabad is home to the Pakistani secret service and a military academy. In other words, the presence of the world's greatest terrorist cannot go unnoticed. I find it impossible to believe that the Pakistani secret services, who have such strong links with Al Qaeda and Bin Laden,
• 86:30 - 87:00 did not know that they had been in Abbottabad for years. Of course they did. To avoid satellite surveillance, Bin Laden remains cloistered day and night. He communicates with the outside world via a messenger. So he bides his time alone, watching television. In reality, he doesn't expect to live long. He's almost convinced that the Americans are going to kill him in the next two
• 87:00 - 87:30 years, and that it would be almost fitting for him to kill him in the next two years, because his life would almost mirror that of the prophet. He would have lived for two years in a spiritual retreat and then he would have truly died like the prophet. He would have truly, his life would have been in the image of the prophet's life. But Bin Laden remained locked up in his compound for 5 years, until Pakistani intelligence finally revealed his position to the Americans.
• 87:30 - 88:00 The Pakistanis, who must have felt a little annoyed by the whole affair, said nothing for quite a long time. The next problem was getting the information out, which had to filter out little by little, until it reached the American people, and the American presidency chose the best moment... to carry out its operation. On May 1, 2011, just a few days after announcing his candidacy for a second term,
• 88:00 - 88:30 U.S. President Barack Obama gave the green light to Operation Neptune Trident. The operation was to be swift and discreet. Top U.S. officials followed the assault from the White House. At 11.30pm, some 20 Navy Seals, elite American soldiers, were teleported to Abbottabad. It must have been chaotic at the time,
• 88:30 - 89:00 because there were a lot of people running around, lots of children and lots of women. And the Navy Seals didn't want to kill any of them if they could avoid it. But the orders were clear. They were to open fire at the slightest resistance. The American soldiers searched every room in the complex one by one. The messenger and his brother come out guns blazing.
• 89:00 - 89:30 They are shot. The Seals run through the house, up the stairs. And when one of Bin Laden's sons appears, he too is shot. Since the beginning of the assault, Osama bin Laden has remained seated in a room on the third floor. He makes no attempt to flee.
• 89:30 - 90:00 They caught a fleeting glimpse of Bin Laden's head upstairs, so they went up and opened fire. We don't know if there were two or three shots, but he was hit in the head and chest, and he died almost instantly. So it wasn't a big shoot-out, it was very quick, surgical. The assault lasted 38 minutes.
• 90:00 - 90:30 The American soldiers didn't linger. They retrieved all documents, computers and hard drives, but above all, they took Osama bin Laden's body with them to make it disappear. A few minutes later, President Barack Obama prepares to announce the news to the world.
• 90:30 - 91:00 The United States has carried out an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and a terrorist responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Very quickly, Americans took to the streets to celebrate this symbolic victory. Ten years after the attacks, they feel they have finally had their revenge.
• 91:00 - 91:30 It feels like the end of a long episode in American history. Unfortunately, however, the world has changed. And the violence of the ideas instilled by Bin Laden still endures in countries like Syria. For while Americans rejoice at the event, Bin Laden's heirs are creating a monster far more disturbing than Al Qaeda.
• 91:30 - 92:00 The Islamic State group. Daesh. Bin Laden is dead, Zawahiri is hiding in Afghanistan, a new generation is taking up the torch. The theorist Al-Suri and the bloodthirsty Zarqawi, who would be replaced by Baghdadi after his death in 2010. Baghdadi and a number of others have transformed the system, countering the historic al-Qaeda and developing a strategy of territorial control in Iraq and Syria.
• 92:00 - 92:30 In 2012, Al-Qaeda in Iraq extended its reach into Syria, reclaiming areas abandoned by dictator Bashar al-Assad. The country has been in the throes of civil war since the Arab Revolution, and the terrorists took advantage of the situation to win Syrian Sunni tribes over to their cause. And today, the world's biggest jihad is in Iraq and Syria,
• 92:30 - 93:00 and people come to fight from all over the world. Just like the jihad in Afghanistan, in the 80s. In fact, Baghdadi compares his action to that of the Afghan jihad. On July 5, 2014, he made his first public appearance in the Great Mosque of Mosul, a city now in the hands of the terrorists. On that day, he came to proclaim himself Caliph of the Islamic State, the new name of the terrorist organization.
• 93:00 - 93:30 A book that guides and a sword that makes victorious. And your brothers and sisters, the Mujahideen, Allah has granted them victory and expansion. He has strengthened them after long years of jihad, patience and struggle against the enemy of allah.
• 93:30 - 94:00 They strengthened them to achieve their goal, and they hurried to design the caliphate and enthrone an imam, and I was chosen to be your suzerain. A caliphate with a territory and men to defend it. This was Bin Laden's grand project. Baghdadier is making it a reality. The Islamic State, is an administration, it's an army with a leader, a mission, resources, vehicles and equipment, and it wages war.
• 94:00 - 94:30 The restoration of the caliphate will be very difficult to uproot. But today, we have measures, we have strategies, we have armies, but we don't have a political project to offer in the face of this political project planted by Bin Laden. A new terrorist entity, even more violent than its predecessors. A new international war, this time on Syrian soil.
• 94:30 - 95:00 New waves of attacks, particularly in France. For the past 40 years, history has been repeating itself, and Islamist terrorism and its power to contaminate.