Osama Bin Laden Operation and some critical open questions

Last updated on: May 2, 2011 at 8:52 pm by Desh Kapoor

Osama Bin Laden Operation and some critical open questions 2011-05-02T20:52:33-05:00 Desh Kapoor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When I look at the operation that killed Osama, this is the main question I have right off the bat:

First of all, one needs to find who owned, constructed, financed, allotted the place where he lived. It was a “custom-built, over a million dollar home in a rich neighborhood of Islamabad’s suburb, bang next to the military academy without telephone or internet”. Heck there wont be more than 150-200 houses that expensive in the ENTIRE nation!! So what in the world was going on?

This compound – house and the rest of it was built in 2005 with walls, that were 12 to 18 feet high, topped with barbed wire. Four people apart from Osama were killed: One of bin Laden’s sons, two couriers and a woman being used as a human shield. Also, one helicopter was destroyed within the compound.

This place is a mere 800 metres from the Pakistan Military Academy, one of the country’s main training facilities for army officers and most of the residents of the neighborhood around there (Bilal Town) are civilians and businessmen. In fact, several rich people who fled the Bajaur tribal region due to anti-militancy operations launched by Pak Army reside in the area.

As Christopher Hitchens puts it bluntly in his article in Slate:

If you tell me that you are staying in a rather nice walled compound in Abbottabad, I can tell you in return that you are the honored guest of a military establishment that annually consumes several billion dollars of American aid. It’s the sheer blatancy of it that catches the breath.

There’s perhaps some slight satisfaction to be gained from this smoking-gun proof of official Pakistani complicity with al-Qaida, but in general it only underlines the sense of anticlimax. After all, who did not know that the United States was lavishly feeding the same hands that fed Bin Laden? There’s some minor triumph, also, in the confirmation that our old enemy was not a heroic guerrilla fighter but the pampered client of a corrupt and vicious oligarchy that runs a failed and rogue state.

The reaction of the residents explains what went on there:

Muhammad Saadullah, a student, told PTI, “I heard several big explosions and firing and got out of bed. I saw two helicopters hovering over the area and then there was more firing.” Saadullah said local residents came out of their homes but were told to go back inside by troops who had taken up positions in the area. “This is a very peaceful city and we never expected that something like this would happen here,” he said. (Rediff)

“After midnight, a large number of commandos encircled the compound. Three helicopters were hovering overhead,” said Nasir Khan, a resident of the town. “All of a sudden there was firing towards the helicopters from the ground. There was intense firing and then I saw one of the helicopters crash,” said Khan, who had watched the dramatic scene unfold from his rooftop. (HT)

This time around also Twitter was first off the block in terms of the news, as one of bin Laden’s neighbors live-tweeted the U.S. raid even before learning that bin Laden was its target. And then Keith Urbahn, erstwhile chief of staff for ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, broke the news after hearing credible rumors of the attack. These reports quickly went viral, with traffic peaking at more than 4,000 tweets per second, as per Twitter officials.

Intriguingly, Osama was buried in the sea – ostensibly to obviate any form of reverence around his grave. If there was a physical grave then it could have become a live memorial and become the hub of all kinds of terrorists.

As Osama passes into history, the question that is critical is – will his legacy too? I don’t think so. Because it wasn’t his legacy alone. It was of all those who sheltered him as well. Those who saved him can be expected to save his goals and legacy as well. Are we willing to call them out??

Pakistan

Terrorism

Previous Post

May 2, 2011

Osama has bin laden!

Next Post

May 12, 2011 Pakistan - not Osama - was the Mastermind of 9-11 Attacks on the US

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aarti Achievement and Leadership AfPak Africa Annual and Year-end Asia Audio Australia Behavioural Sciences Bhagwad Gita Bhagwad Gita Blogging Blogs Business Business Intelligence Business Strategy Cannes Careers Chanakya China Conservation Corruption Creative Daily Links Desh Poems Development & Welfare Devotional Audio Devotional Songs Drama Earth Economics Education Entertainment Environment Europe Everyday Quotes Featured Articles Featured Songs Finance Flickr Pictures Food Geo-Political Global Warming Globalization Health & Medicine Hinduism Historic History Humour India Indian Culture Indian music Indian Weddings Israel Issues Legal Link Love Minorities Misc Motivation and Personal Development Movie Lists Movie Reviews Movies Mumbai terror attacks Natural Disasters Nature News Outsourcing Pakistan Parenting Personal Philosophy Poetry Politics Poverty Quotes Recipe Regular Blog Post Relationships Religion Religious/Spiritual Audio Sciences Showcase Slideshow South Asia Special Stories Spiritual Quotes Spirituality Sports Stories Strategy Technology Technology Terrorism Travel Uncategorized US Video Women Women_s Rights Worship Yoga

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 September 2014 August 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

"Let your ________ before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Select your answer to see how you score.

Light So Shine Conscience Be Clear Voice Be Raised Face Shine