“In a speech addressed to the American people on 29 October 2004, he [Osama bin Laden] rather gleefully noted that ‘al Qaeda spent $500,000 on the event [9/11] while America lost, in the event and its subsequent effects, more than $500 billion dollars; that is to say that each of al Qaeda’s dollars defeated 1 million American dollars, thanks to Allah’s grace.’ “
– Abdel Bari Atwan, The Secret History of al Qaeda, Pages 288-289