Lawrence Wright’s “The Man Behind bin Laden”

From The New Yorker's archive: the staff writer examines the path and impact of Ayman al-Zawahiri.  View in browser | Update your preferences Profiles The Man Behind Bin Laden How an Egyptian doctor became a master of terror. By Lawrence Wright On Monday, President Biden announced that a U.S. drone strike had killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda since 2011. Alongside Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri had masterminded the attacks of September 11th, but for years had been overshadowed by his more infamous counterpart. In "The Man Behind Bin Laden," published in The New Yorker in 2002, the staff writer Lawrence Wright examined the path and impact of Zawahiri—an Egyptian-born surgeon whose biography, like that of his colleague, didn't entirely match terrorist stereotypes. (Wright's follow-up to his New Yorker reporting, "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11," would win the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, in 2007.) A guiding figure behind Egyptian Islamic Jihad before the group merged with Al Qaeda, Zawahiri had helped mold bin Laden into "the public face of Islamic terrorism," Wright observes, while he and his followers "provided the backbone." "Each man filled a need in the other," Wright reports. "Bin Laden, an idealist with vague political ideas, sought direction, and Zawahiri, a seasoned propagandist, supplied it."  More from the Archive A Reporter at Large The Secret Effort to Save the ISIS Hostages From 2015: The parents of five captives in Syria felt that the U.S. government had abandoned them. But they wouldn't give up. By Lawrence Wright A Reporter at Large America's Future Is Texas From 2017: With right-wing zealots taking over the legislature even as the state's demographics shift leftward, Texas has become the nation's bellwether. By Lawrence Wright More from The New Yorker Double Take The Death of Ayman al-Zawahiri The Al Qaeda leader was killed in Afghanistan by a U.S. drone strike. By Lawrence Wright Letter from the Southwest The Missing Migrants of South Texas Along the border, a nonprofit works to reunite families with their loved ones—alive or dead. By Rachel Monroe You're receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up.   Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our privacy policy    The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products and services that are purchased through links in our newsletters as part of our affiliate partnerships with retailers.    Copyright © Condé Nast 2022. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.