Pakistan caught red handed following death of Osama

by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
May 4, 2011

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1410/pakistan-caught-red-handed-following-death

Islamabad has regularly been denying series of claims that, Al Qaeda kingpin Osama Bin Laden was living right inside Pakistan. But, after the successful operation at Abbottabad by the American forces and death of Laden, the world has already understood a simple fact, as to how, Pakistan was surely sheltering this most notorious terrorist and murderer.

Situated in the Orash Valley, Abbottabad is circled by forested hills cut by the Karakoram Highway, once part of the fabled Silk Road. Tourists come here in the summers for its pleasant weather. Abbottabad is also home to a large military base, and a prominent Pakistani Army academy.

That U.S. intelligence agents and special operations forces tracked bin Laden there, and that he appeared to have been with family and aides for considerable time, has raised questions about the role and veracity of Pakistan's government, a nuclear power and nominal ally of the United States in its war against Taliban in Afghanistan. It casts doubt on the degree to which Pakistan was complicit in hiding and protecting bin Laden, founder of al-Qaeda and mastermind of the terrorist attacks on the United States that killed thousands of Americans on Sept. 11, 2001.

Osama bin Laden was born into one of Saudi Arabia's most prosperous families, but he left home in search of revolution, found a path of fanaticism, inspired a murderous organization that terrorized the West, and ultimately became the most wanted man in the world. The most intense manhunt in history finally caught up with bin Laden, whose money and rageful preaching inspired the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and ripped a hole in America's sense of security in the world. Bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia on March 10, 1957. He became known as the most pious of the sons among his wealthy father's 54 children.

Bin Laden's path to militant Islam began as a teenager in the 1970s when he got caught up in the fundamentalist movement then sweeping Saudi Arabia. He was a voracious reader of Islamic literature and listened to weekly sermons in the holy city of Mecca. Thin, bearded and over 6 feet [1.83 meters] tall, bin Laden joined the Afghans' war against invading Soviet troops in the 1980s and gained a reputation as a courageous and resourceful commander. Access to his family's considerable construction fortune certainly helped raise his profile among the mujahedeen fighters. When bin Laden returned home to Saudi Arabia, he was showered with praise and donations and was in demand as a speaker in mosques and homes. It did not take long for his aims to diverge from those of his former Western supporters.

US President Barack Obama is expected to receive a bump in the polls following the killing of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, and even Republican strategists concede that Obama's leadership of the plan to kill Osama Bin Laden will boost his re-election chances. With the advantageous situation growing in favor of President Obama, some of the political and security analysts are now raising some doubts about the entire operation in Abbottabad as well as the death of Osama Bin Laden. Section of global media is showing signs of doubt on the death of Laden.

The Wall Street Journal in an opinion editorial said, "Across the Muslim world, the killing of Osama bin Laden has unleashed a swirl of conspiracy theories, with many Pakistanis, Afghans and Arabs refusing to believe U.S. assurances that al Qaeda's founder is actually dead.

"The U.S., which deployed a Navy Seal team to kill bin Laden in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad on Sunday, hasn't yet released any photographs of the Saudi fugitive's corpse. The body itself, U.S. officials say, has been buried at sea after bin Laden's identity was confirmed through a DNA test."

"In Abbottabad, many locals argue that the raid early Monday local time was a fake designed to embarrass Pakistan and bolster Mr. Obama's re-election chances.

"They're just making it up. Nobody has seen the body," scoffed Owais Khan, a local lawyer. He argued bin Laden would never have chosen Abbottabad, a wealthy, army-dominated town just 40 miles from Pakistan's capital, as a hideout."

Obama administration is saying that, they refrained from releasing any photograph of dead Laden, as those are "gruesome". On the other hand, Central Intelligence Agency officials told media, subsequently such photographs and videos will be released.

Now, the biggest question here is, why Pakistan and its armed forces as well as President Asif Ali Zardari gave shelter to Osama Bin Laden right inside the Capital city defying its commitment to international community of combating Islamism, Jihadism and terrorism. With this April 30 operation of US in Abbottabad, it is now evidently proven to the entire world that, Pakistan is sheltering, patronizing and instigating Jihadists and terrorists. On the other had, with a liar and corrupt man like Asif Ali Zardari in presidency, Pakistan will remain as a potential threat to global and regional peace, because, a man without morale like Asif Zardari can do anything for protecting his presidency.

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