Osama bin Laden shook the world on 9/11. Today it is clear how his wider plans failed | Jason Burke

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The al-Qaida leader envisaged an economically battered US withdrawing from the Middle East – and a global Muslim uprising. Then the tide turnedOn 11 September, 25 years ago, Osama bin Laden drove with a small number of al-Qaida retainers and aides to a remote location in eastern Afghanistan. His convoy of SUVs was accompanied by a minivan converted into a makeshift communications centre.The van’s rudimentary equipment did not allow Bin Laden to watch the 19 men he had started sending to the US m