The Commission, after interviewing some 300 witnesses, has painted a picture of total chaos. PHOTO: AFP
We have our own version of Wikileaks. Indeed this leak, of the Abbottabad Commission report into the May 2011 raid by US Navy Seals, which ended with the killing of Osama bin Laden, constitutes virtually a hemorrhage of information, rather than a leak.
It is, indeed, unfortunate that the report, completed by the Commission set up under Justice Javed Iqbal by the Supreme Court in June 2011, was not officially made public and we needed to wait for a media leak to learn of its contents. The Commission itself had recommended, after it was submitted to then prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, that it be realeased. This, of course, never happened, and the emergence of the report with the al Jazeera channel, from where it has, of course, been widely picked up by the media, raises questions regarding the possible exchange of money and the matter of who profited from this. The aspect needs inquiry in itself, with a commission possibly required to do so.
But meanwhile, the details of the report leave us quite a lot to think about. The Commission, after interviewing some 300 witnesses, has painted a picture of total chaos and a lack of coordination between key agencies — and attributes this as the factor, which allowed the world’s most wanted man to remain in the country for some nine years, embarrassingly going undetected even though he had located himself in the garrison town of Abbottabad. The Commission blames this on the top leadership of military and civilian agencies, stating that it is finally responsible for the inefficiency demonstrated by subordinates at all levels, who failed to pick up information about the presence of Osama in Abbottabad. Also disconcerting are the details of the US raid. While the Commission’s finding that it took place on the basis of intelligence provided from the ground and support leading up to it, is not surprising, we should be concerned over how long it took to detect a foreign presence, ominously close to our capital city, with air force planes scrambled from the Sargodha Airbase only hours after the US troops had conducted their mission.
As a nation, we should also be concerned about the lies told by persons in responsible positions. The Commission has identified lies told to the effect that all that had happened had been with Pakistan’s consent. There must have been others who lied as well in the highly sensitive matter, though the Commission also notes that some key witnesses who appeared before it, including the then defence minister, were truthful and made no pretences.
The Osama episode, and all that it entailed, then clearly involved a security failure at the top level. As a country with a great many security and intelligence concerns, we should carefully consider all that has come out and all that we now know. The Commission sensibly decided to name no individuals. This was wise given that the entire issue is one of the overall working of the system rather than the responsibility of one or two individuals. Something else to look at is also the secrecy of our state. The report, which has now made headlines everywhere, should have been before us long ago. This did not happen. As in many other matters before this, there may have been an attempt to cover up what happened in Abbottabad that night in May 2011. Naturally, this is unfortunate. All those responsible for matters of governance should remember that we live in an age where nothing can remain hidden for very long. It tends to surface one way or the other, and the best policy in such circumstances would be to put it before citizens openly so that the whole saga of leakages and what these entail can be avoided. This would be just one lesson to learn from the Abbottabad saga and its aftermath.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (9)
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As some one mentioned, OBL was a money machine. More than $10B went to the Military establishment. If OBL was found, milking uncle Sam would have been different. The report also exposes double dealing that Pakistan establishment engaged. President Mushraff has categorically stated that OBL was not in Pakistan. Where did he get that information, to be so sure. Let us hope Pakistan can implement one or two of the many recommendations of this report.
I bet the people associated with the original Wikileaks don't like being compared with the Pakistani leaker's who did it solely for money. Might be a good time for the Pakistan govt to honor their original commitment to the Pakistani public/American's/World and release the report.
Abbottabad Commission did not pose following questions to the Zardari government,which became essential, particularly in view of the goverment's favourable response on the eve of OBL death and President Zardari letter in the USA media:- 1) What was the declared 'Policy'', of the government on the most wanted man OBL/ Al Quaeda when it assumed power in the year 2008?. 2) Was any policy / guigelines regarding search, apprehension etc of OBL/ Al Quaeda members issued to the various Ministries/ intelligence agencies ?. If yes what were those,and if not, why was no policy issued ?. 3) Was any instructions, issued by the PPP government to Ministries / Intelligence agencies to continue or discontinue the policies of Musharraf government on the subject of OBL/Al Queda or counter terrorism?.If not why?. Since nothing on the subject was ever issued by the PPP government in any type of media, it could be assumed, that there was no government policy on OBL/ Al Queda.The responsibility of the failure thus lies,on the government of the time which failed to issue any policy/guidelines on the subject resulting in humiliation of the entire structure. Lack of clear governmental direction on the subject to the concerned is the main cause of debacle.This,is not failure of the state structure.
Finally, an editorial worth ET's stature.
I think any one who has some time should read this report. The Pakistani media is not telling the full story. Reading the actual report has astounded me as to how useless the ISI is. Every page of the report tells a new story of its incompetency. It makes me scared as a Pakistani to know how unprotected I am.
Issues which have great interest for public should be handled in a transparent way to avoid the embarrassing situation at the end day.
The report is 'blah'.
It does nothing in fixing responsibility, revealing something that's of substance, and suggesting course corrections. It is more of a cover-up for the authorities.
It just says - "yeah, he was here. We didn't know. Let us move on. But, US is a Bad Boy."
And there are reputed journalists in Pakistan who have the temerity to compare a nobel laurette (Dalai Lama) to Biggest terrorist (Osama Bin laden) on TV!!
So, Is it any wonder Pakistan is a failing state? It has lost itself to an ideology that's unproductive and dangerous at the same time. It doesn't even seem to have the will to do a course correction.
"As in many other matters before this, there may have been an attempt to cover up what happened in Abbottabad that night in May 2011." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ So next a Commission to analyse the Kargil Fiasco......luckily the Commando is readily available as a witness!
What is this brouhahaha? +++++++++++++++++ OBL was the perpetual money machine....count the CSF moneys coming to Pakistan while he was alive and Pakistan the leading Non Nato ally in the war on terror. More money than being sought from IMF:).