Bin Laden Documents Reveal His Fear of Not Entering 'Paradise'

More than 100 documents seized during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden have been released, including his handwritten will.

In his will, the man who declared war on the United States on September 11, 2001, claimed he had $29 million in personal wealth, and he wanted it mostly to be used "on jihad, for the sake of Allah."

In a letter, addressed to "the Islamic community in general," bin Laden tried to put his spin on U.S. troubles in Afghanistan.

"They thought that the war would be easy and that they would accomplish their objectives in a few days or a few weeks, and they did not prepare for it financially, and there is no popular support that would enable it to carry on a war for a decade or more," he wrote.

"The sons of Islam have opposed them and stood between them and their plans and objectives," he said.

That letter is undated but appears to have been written in 2010.

"Here we are in the tenth year of the war, and America and its allies are still chasing a mirage, lost at sea without a beach," he continued.

Bin Laden sought to portray the United States as hopelessly mired in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, comparing the U.S. combat position to that of the Soviet Union in the final years of its occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

"America appears to be hanging on by a thin thread. Due to the financial difficulties," he wrote. "We need to be patient a bit longer. With patience, there is victory!"

Bin Laden was also very aware of his own mortality, and revealed his fear of not being accepted into Islamic paradise.

In a 2008 letter to his father, the founder of al Qaeda wrote, "If I am to be killed, pray for me a lot and give continuous charities in my name, as I will be in great need for support to reach the permanent home."

There is no mention in the documents to indicate how bin Laden got to the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, but one hints that he was clearly tired of living there.

"I say that the latest time we can stay with our present companion brothers is the tenth anniversary of the attack on New York and Washington, after a few months from now; or at the end of this year, 2011."

He was killed before the anniversary was reached.

Al Qaeda was planning a media blitz to mark the anniversary. The group proposed reaching out to certain media outlets to arrange media coverage, but there was no discussion of a planned attack for that day.

Several documents also detail a running disagreement between bin Laden and al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq, which morphed into the Islamic State.

The documents were released by the office of the Director of National Intelligence.