What did Osama bin Laden read?

This week, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence is releasing the list of English-language books that were recovered from the al-Qaida leader's compound after he was killed in 2011.



Among the categories of documents uncovered in the terrorist lair are declassified government material and publicly available government documents, which includes a copy of The 9/11 Commission Report.

Other texts listed on "Bin Laden's Bookshelf" include two works by philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky, "Bloodlines of the Illuminati" by Fritz Springmeier, "Obama's Wars" by Bob Woodward and several 9/11 conspiracy books.

The U.S. government also recovered a slew of manuscripts on France and its economy, Newsweek articles on the Bush administration and a "suicide prevention guide" called "Is It the Heart You Are Asking?"



"The Intelligence Community will be reviewing hundreds more documents in the near future for possible declassification and release," according to a news release. "An interagency taskforce under the auspices of the White House and with the agreement of the DNI is reviewing all documents which supported disseminated intelligence cables, as well as other relevant material found around the compound. All documents whose publication will not hurt ongoing operations against al-Qa‘ida or their affiliates will be released."