Good riddance

A man who uses religion to proudly kill thousands certainly deserves a shot to the back of the head.

There are times when the generally sound rule not to speak ill of the dead must be flouted. The killing of Osama bin Laden at a compound in Abbottabad certainly qualifies. A man who uses religion to proudly kill thousands and ignite wars that continue to this day, certainly deserves a shot to the back of the head, even if it came a decade too late. The world is rid of Osama bin Laden and that calls for celebration.

After a moment of jubilation, though, there is much to worry about and any optimism needs to be cast aside. US President Barack Obama’s announcement of the killing should give Pakistanis cause for concern.

First, he framed the operation itself as a purely American venture, saying: “Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.” Pakistan’s contribution to the action, according to Obama, was indirect, as he praised only the counterterrorism cooperation that made the operation against Osama possible. It is certainly possible that in this moment of triumph, Obama wanted the US to take all the credit, or that Pakistan, fearing even greater retaliatory attacks if its role becomes public, does not wish to be associated with the raid.

But there is also an equal chance that the US had intelligence they did not wish to share with our agencies because of doubts over their loyalties. Even if that is not the case, we will now have to answer a nagging question: How did Osama manage to find safe refuge in a Pakistani city, no less a city that is home to a military academy? Years of exclamations and protestations that Osama was hiding in Afghanistan and not our little corner of the world have now been shown to be hollow. The conventional wisdom has always been that the US and Pakistan are on the same page when it comes to al Qaeda and only differ on the Taliban. Osama’s presence in Abbottabad hints otherwise.

Consider that, instead of visiting Washington as he did a couple of weeks ago, had the ISI chief gone now and demanded that the drone attacks be stopped and US intelligence agents be withdrawn, the request would perhaps have met with more than reticence by the Americans. Osama’s presence in Pakistan, at the time of his death, will further alter relations between the two countries. We were servants before; we will become slaves now.

Obama’s speech also hinted that President Asif Ali Zardari was only informed of the operation after it had been successfully concluded. The notion that the US could carry out this raid, complete with helicopters flying over Pakistani airspace, without our military knowing about it, beggars belief. Parsing Obama’s words, it would appear as if he was the first to tell Zardari about what took place a mere two-hour drive from the President‘s House. Everyone already knows that when it comes to matters of greater import than carving out new provinces and general sales taxes, the civilian government is simply a front for the powers that be.

If all of this isn’t depressing enough, no one should forget that Osama was a symbol, a potent one sure, but not the be-all and end-all of terrorism. Do not be surprised if Osama’s vengeful acolytes ramp up their efforts and carry out retaliatory attacks in Pakistan. The al Qaeda leader had always claimed that if he died at the hands of Americans, the Muslim world would rise up in rage. That might have been hyperbole but the venom that Osama bin Laden spewed cannot be easily cleansed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2011.