Osama bin Laden’s family was airlifted out of the U.S.

Claim

The family of Osama bin Laden was staying in the United States on September 11, 2001. The family was allowed to, as the only people, and even helped to leave the country in private jets in the days after September 11, 2001⁰.

Background

It is claimed that Osama bin Laden conspired with a powerful American conspiracy which protected him and his family.

Facts

The bin Laden family is large with perhaps up to 600 members. Osama bin ladens father Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden had no less than 54 children with 22 wives¹. The parents of Osama bin Laden were divorced shortly after his birth, and he grew up with his step-father Muhammad al-Attas. Osama bin Laden severed relations with his family on his father’s side early on. None of those family members, who in the days after September 11, 2001, left the United States, had had any connection to Osama bin Laden, since he severed relations with his family. Immediately after the attack, those family members who happened to be in the United States sought the help of the American authorities, since they – rightly so – feared for their own safety. After a thorough interrogation, where it became clear that there had been no contact with Osama bin Laden, and that none of the family members had in any way been involved with the attack, they were allowed to leave the country, on September 19, 2001^2,3. All civilian planes had been grounded on September 11, 2001, but the ban was lifted on September 14, 2001. The family was thus not the first who were allowed to leave the country.

Logic

The claim relies on collective guilt: You are guilty, merely because you have some random connection to some bad guy. The technique is often used in propaganda. If a Jew committed a crime somewhere in the world, the incident was used by Nazi Germany to inflame a hatred against all Jews. Osama bin Laden was already wanted for other terror attacks against the United States, e.g. the attack on U.S.S. Cole in 2000 and the bombings of the American embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, in 1998. In 2001, most of the family members staying in the United States were students: They would probably not have been allowed to enter the country, if they had had any contact with Osama bin Laden. It is self-contradictory to point to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, when it is simultaneously claimed that he or his organization was behind the terror attack.

Conclusion

The claim is therefore:

• False
• Manipulating
• Self-contradicting

Sources

0. Løbeseddel, i11time.dk
1. Bin Laden Family, Wikipedia
2. The Bin Laden flights, Wikipedia
3. 9/11 and Terrorist Travel, Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Appendix B

Q & A