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Initial analysis of the huge cache of documents seized at Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound shows he was not a figurehead but the operational leader of Al Qaeda, an active manager who communicated regularly with terrorist partners about plots and tactics, a senior intelligence official said.
"As a result of the raid, we've acquired the single largest collection of material from a senior terrorist ever," said the official, who spoke to reporters Saturday on condition of anonymity. "The materials have already provided us some important insights.... We are already disseminating intelligence across the U.S. government based on what we found."
The official, who refused to be identified because of the nature of his work, called the Bin Laden operation "the greatest intelligence success in a generation."
Seeking to dispel any doubts that it was Bin Laden who was killed, the U.S. government also released five videos seized at the compound, one showing Bin Laden as he did not intend to be seen in public.
With a blanket draped over his shoulders, he is huddled with a remote control in his hand, sometimes rocking back and forth while watching television footage of himself. His unkempt gray beard contrasts with the dark black and apparently dyed beard in outtakes also released Saturday of Bin Laden's public appeals.
The material found in the raid "confirms how important it was to go after Bin Laden," CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said in a statement.
An early review of digital, audio and paper documents "clearly shows that Bin Laden remained an active leader in Al Qaeda, providing strategic, operational and tactical instructions to the group," the unnamed intelligence official said....
