Oblivious to Osama
Intelligence practices need to improve and a genuine bid needs to be made at home to combat terrorism.
A year and a half after Osama bin Laden was whisked away from Abbottabad — under a daringly orchestrated US mission — Washington has concluded that there is no evidence that the Government of Pakistan knew of the presence of the al Qaeda leader in the garrison hill city, where he was found after a decade-long hunt. The commander of the US Special Operations Command, Navy Admiral William H McRaven, also confirmed at a special summit that Pakistan had not been informed of the raid. Since 2011, when Bin Laden was taken away, there has been debate over whether Islamabad had been hiding knowledge of his presence.
While McRaven’s statement clears the civilian government, it raises questions over our own intelligence capabilities. Given the strength and size of this network, as well as the money spent on it, it should not have been too much to expect some hint of information regarding Bin Laden’s whereabouts. For many in the country, it is still hard to believe that no one in the establishment or military knew that he was, in fact, residing in Abbottabad, along with his family. Many conjecture the argument that Bin Laden and other key militants were being protected and this will continue to hang in the minds of Pakistanis, given the realities of the country. At an internal level, we need to look into any possible support for extremist forces from within our territory. This is something we cannot evade.
The US security team, which has commented on its own successes against al Qaeda, has also commented on the need to build partnerships with other nations to work against terrorism. The challenge for Pakistan must be to prove that it is trustworthy enough to act as a useful partner. After all, today the country is seen as a focal point for militancy, with key al Qaeda and Taliban figures still possibly based here. For this purpose, intelligence practices need to improve and a genuine bid needs to be made at home to combat terrorism by going after its key perpetrators with full force, rather than opening ways for other countries to do so.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2012.
While McRaven’s statement clears the civilian government, it raises questions over our own intelligence capabilities. Given the strength and size of this network, as well as the money spent on it, it should not have been too much to expect some hint of information regarding Bin Laden’s whereabouts. For many in the country, it is still hard to believe that no one in the establishment or military knew that he was, in fact, residing in Abbottabad, along with his family. Many conjecture the argument that Bin Laden and other key militants were being protected and this will continue to hang in the minds of Pakistanis, given the realities of the country. At an internal level, we need to look into any possible support for extremist forces from within our territory. This is something we cannot evade.
The US security team, which has commented on its own successes against al Qaeda, has also commented on the need to build partnerships with other nations to work against terrorism. The challenge for Pakistan must be to prove that it is trustworthy enough to act as a useful partner. After all, today the country is seen as a focal point for militancy, with key al Qaeda and Taliban figures still possibly based here. For this purpose, intelligence practices need to improve and a genuine bid needs to be made at home to combat terrorism by going after its key perpetrators with full force, rather than opening ways for other countries to do so.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 19th, 2012.