Osama bin Laden's son threatens revenge on the United States: 'We are all Osama'

Osama bin Laden in 1998
(Image credit: Mazhar Ali Khan/Associated Press)

The son of assassinated al Qaeda ringleader Osama bin Laden released a video message Saturday entitled, "We are all Osama."

In the 21-minute speech, Hamza bin Laden promises revenge on the United States for all "those who defended Islam," though he also mentions his father's death. "We will continue striking you and targeting you in your country and abroad," he said, "in response to your oppression of the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and the rest of the Muslim lands that did not survive your oppression."

Hamza is in his mid-20s and is considered a new face for an aging terrorist organization overshadowed by the Islamic State. His whereabouts are unknown, but documents recovered from his father's compound suggest Osama bin Laden's aides were attempting to reconnect him with Hamza when Osama was killed in a 2011 raid by the United States.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.