Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 - 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born militant leader who founded and commanded al-Qaeda, the transnational Islamist organization responsible for numerous terrorist attacks worldwide, most notably the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. He remains one of the most consequential figures in the history of modern terrorism and a central reference point in debates over political violence, U.S. foreign policy, and the relationship between religion and militancy.

Born in Riyadh to a wealthy Saudi construction magnate, bin Laden was radicalized during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989), through which he helped organize Arab volunteer fighters and became associated with figures who would later form the nucleus of al-Qaeda. He founded al-Qaeda in approximately 1988. Following the Gulf War (1990-1991), he became increasingly hostile to the United States and Saudi Arabia, was stripped of Saudi citizenship in 1994, and operated from Sudan and later Afghanistan under the Taliban government. For a full account, see osama-bin-laden-history.

Bin Laden's operational role in al-Qaeda's major attacks, including the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa, the 2000 USS Cole bombing, and the September 11, 2001, attacks, is documented through judicial proceedings, intelligence assessments, and his own public statements and videotaped communiqués. He was killed on 2 May 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in a raid carried out by U.S. Navy SEALs under orders from President Barack Obama.

Areas of ongoing scholarly and policy debate include the degree to which bin Laden personally directed specific operations versus serving as an ideological figurehead, the nature and extent of Pakistani state knowledge of his presence in Abbottabad, the effectiveness of counterterrorism strategies employed against al-Qaeda, and the long-term consequences of his death for the organization and its affiliates.

Bin Laden as terrorist and mass murderer: The legal and governmental position in Western countries holds that bin Laden was a terrorist responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians. This view underlies U.S. and international law enforcement designations. See osama-bin-laden-western-counterterrorism-viewpoint.

Bin Laden as religious and political militant: Some analysts distinguish between bin Laden's self-framing as a defender of Muslim lands against foreign military presence and occupation and the designation of his methods as terrorism, arguing the political context of his grievances must be analyzed to understand the movement's appeal. See osama-bin-laden-political-grievance-viewpoint.

Bin Laden as product of U.S. foreign policy: A documented position, present in academic and journalistic commentary, holds that bin Laden's rise was substantially enabled by U.S. support for the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War and by subsequent U.S. policies in the Middle East. See osama-bin-laden-blowback-viewpoint.

Skeptical and revisionist viewpoints: A minority of commentators and researchers have questioned specific elements of the official accounts of bin Laden's activities or death, including the disposal of his body at sea and the absence of a public trial. See osama-bin-laden-skeptical-viewpoint.

Pakistani government awareness: Documented debate exists over whether Pakistani intelligence services (ISI) or other officials were aware of bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad prior to the U.S. raid, a question that has strained U.S.-Pakistan relations and remains unresolved. See osama-bin-laden-pakistan-abbottabad-controversy.

Legality of the killing: Legal scholars and human rights organizations have disputed whether the targeted killing of bin Laden, unarmed at the time according to U.S. officials, complied with international humanitarian law and the laws of war. See osama-bin-laden-targeted-killing-legality-controversy.

U.S. CIA and Afghan mujahideen ties: A documented dispute concerns the extent to which U.S. support for Afghan fighters during the 1980s materially contributed to the later formation of al-Qaeda. See osama-bin-laden-cia-mujahideen-controversy.

• osama-bin-laden-history - History
• September 11th Attacks - Main Topic: September 11 Attacks
• Al-Qaeda - Main Topic: Al-Qaeda
• War On Terror - Main Topic: War on Terror
• osama-bin-laden-western-counterterrorism-viewpoint - Viewpoint: Western Counterterrorism Framing
• osama-bin-laden-political-grievance-viewpoint - Viewpoint: Political Grievance Analysis
• osama-bin-laden-blowback-viewpoint - Viewpoint: Blowback and U.S. Foreign Policy
• osama-bin-laden-skeptical-viewpoint - Viewpoint: Skeptical and Revisionist Accounts
• osama-bin-laden-pakistan-abbottabad-controversy - Controversy: Pakistani Awareness of Abbottabad Presence
• osama-bin-laden-targeted-killing-legality-controversy - Controversy: Legality of the 2011 Killing
• osama-bin-laden-cia-mujahideen-controversy - Controversy: CIA, Mujahideen, and al-Qaeda Origins

1. Peter L. Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al-Qaeda's Leader (New York: Free Press, 2006). 2. Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (New York: Knopf, 2006). 3. The 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2004). 4. Bruce Riedel, The Search for Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2008). 5. Seymour M. Hersh, “The Killing of Osama bin Laden,” London Review of Books 37, no. 10 (21 May 2015): 3-12. 6. Mary Ellen O'Connell, “Unlawful Killing with Combat Drones: A Case Study of Pakistan, 2004-2009,” Notre Dame Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 09-43, 2010. 7. Vahid Brown and Don Rassler, Fountainhead of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973-2012 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013).