Operation Rambo in Abbatabad

Osama Bin Laden was killed in a million dollar mansion in Abbatabad in a Rambo style raid masterfully executed by the US naval SEALS. The operation was swift and executed with high level of precision. Americans say it was a feat that would erase embarrassing memories of the failed 1980 hostage rescue mission in Iran during the tenure of President Jimmy Carter. President Obama's stakes were very high and failure would have spelt disaster for his re-election for the second term. In a country where a controversy was created about the birth certificate of President Obama and under intense pressure Obama who being the president of the most powerful country and who also affects the policies of almost the whole globe had to produce a certificate that proved he was a born American. Imagine what political havoc the failure at mission Abbatabad would have brought in this country.

The US officials, congressmen, senators and experts on Pakistan say it is difficult to know whether the military was aware of Osama's hideout so near to the military academy and 100 kilo meters from the head quarters of the Pakistani army. White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said ," the location there raises questions." He has vowed to "get to the bottom" of whether the Pakistani government provided help to Osama bin Laden in his decade-long efforts to avoid detection by those who were hunting him. He said on National Public Radio that "it would be premature to rule out the possibility." and added that "we're not accusing anybody at this point, but we want to make sure we get to the bottom of this.". Senator Carl Levin questions as to how it was possible that Pakistani authorities did not know Osmaa was living there for five years. Interestingly Pakistan 's ambassador in Washington Hussain Haqqani in interviews here also asks the question as how Osama's presence in Abbatabad remained elusive .He has demand inquiry into failure of the intelligence apparatus of Pakistan.

A story in New York Time [May 7, 2011] quoting Pakistani officials says the Obama administration has demanded the identities of some of their top intelligence operatives as the United States tries to determine whether any of them had contact with Osama bin Laden or his agents in the years before the raid that led to his death in Pakistan. American officials have demanded information on what is known as the ISI's directorate, which has worked closely with militants since the days of the fight against the Soviet army in Afghanistan. The suspicion among United States intelligence and diplomatic officials is that someone in Pakistan's secret intelligence agency knew of Osama's location, and helped shield him .Technical specialists are recovering phone numbers from several cellphones recovered at the compound."

President Zardari, the supreme commander of the armed forces in an article in Washington Post claimed that Pakistani intelligence agencies gave CIA information about the activities of the courier who was serving Osama in Abbatabad. The question is if he knew all this then why his own security forces did not arrest the biggest terrorist of our time. Osama was not found living in rugged mountains or even residing in a remote village .So far the government and the media here find it difficult to swallow the fact how this murderer of thousands of people escaped the hawkish eyes of intelligence agencies of both the USA and Pakistan for several years about his final abode in the famous summer resort, Abbatabad .

Pakistani government from President to the foreign office is known for giving funny statements on national issues and the FO statement on the killing of Osama surpassed every thing when it said ,"This operation was conducted by the US forces in accordance with declared US policy", is the most ridiculous to say the least. Off course the US conducted this operation according to its policy which was to hunt down Osama but why our own security agencies failed to locate his presence in Pakistan and eliminate this evil from the face of earth? No body knew of ultimate abode of Osama in Abbatabad? is the question which would keep haunting for years to come? The size and design of the house where Osama was living shows must it have been specially built to cater security requirements of its occupants. Osama's death in Abbatabad gives credence to Gen Musharraf's statements that "Osama could not survive long since he needed dialysis and this could not be administered in the remote fastnesses of caves in the tribal areas". This poses another question as to how he was getting medical treatment.

Pakistani military authorities admitting its failures have publicly accommodated a raid staged by foreign forces in the heart of the country. While conceding short comings, the head of the army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said that Pakistan would not tolerate a repeat of the American any more covert operation and warned that it would lead to a reconsideration of the relationship with the United States. The statement by the army's press officer said, "Any similar action violating the sovereignty of Pakistan will warrant a review on the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the United States." But leak stories in the US media are suggesting similar action if any credible information about the where about of Mullah Omar is available. The NYT editorial (May 2) said ,"After this, how can anyone keep a straight face — or keep from screaming — when Pakistani officials claim they have no idea where the Taliban's Mullah Muhammad Omar or dozens of other extremist leaders are hiding?

A story has surfaced about Osama's stay in another place in the same area. So far there been no confirmation of statement given to investigators by Bin Laden's Yemeni wife that before moving to Abbottabad house, they stayed for nearly two and a half years in a small village called Chak Shah Mohammad, near Haripur. Soon after her deposition to the investigators media teams and authorities swooped to this small village with population of few hundreds and found no trace of Osama's stay .The villagers said that it was next to impossible for any new person to come there and live without being noticed in this tiny village where every body knows every body. This statement of Osama's wife puts a question mark on the veracity of answers to investigators and may blur the out come of the inquiry.

The people in Pakistan were stunned and felt humiliated to learn from the foreign media that the most wanted man in the world was killed in Abbatabad. Imagine the disconcert of the overseas Pakistanis who are living among different nations around the world. Lackluster inquires this time around would further erode whatever confidence of the people is left in the system. An inquest at a much bigger level preferably by the full bench of the Supreme Court and assisted by retired army generals would help restore the trust and confidence of the nation.

Tailpiece: A former soldier Joe Glenton - jailed for refusing to fight in Afghanistan - gives his take on the death of the former US asset. Osama finally met his end at the cost of "For just 1.188 trillion dollars, over 7000 coalition deaths, an estimated 1.45 million dead Iraqis, and an obscure but likely massive number of dead Afghans, we have secured one Saudi terrorist. Bargain."

DISCLAIMER: Opinion expressed in this article is solely of the author and may not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Weekly Blitz.

Related Topics: International News receive the latest by email: subscribe to weekly blitz's free mailing list

Operation Rambo in Abbatabad

Comment on this item