Jump to content

Bin Laden'S Death: 'Why Kill The Goose?'


Recommended Posts

Bin Laden's death: 'Why kill the goose?'

Pakistan is in the grip of a fierce debate about who knew what. The military won't come out of it well

Tariq Ali

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 May 2011 20.00 BST

Blinded by the thirst for vengeance, the United States targets and kills another enemy. Its citizens celebrate. And functionaries of the George W Bush period tell us that what it proves is torture at Guantánamo worked, after all. Europe applauds. Vassals elsewhere (including Pakistan's president) congratulate the US on mission accomplished.

This is slightly bizarre, given that Bin Laden had apparently been in a safe house near the Pakistan military academy for six years. Nobody believes this could have happened without the knowledge of senior intelligence officials. A meeting with one such person in 2006, which I recounted in my last book on Pakistan, confirmed that Bin Laden was in the country and being kept safe. The person concerned told me the Americans only wanted Bin Laden dead, but that it was in Pakistan's interest to keep him alive. In his words: "Why kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?" – a reference to the billions in aid and weaponry being supplied to the army. At the time I wasn't sure whether my informant was fantasising to amuse or misinform me; he was obviously telling the truth.

Pakistan is in the grip of a fierce debate, its politico-military establishment damned whatever the case. If they admit they were in the know, they stand condemned within their own ranks. There is a great deal of dissension among junior officers and soldiers unhappy about border missions in which they are forced to target their own people. If it turns out that the US didn't even bother to inform the Pakistanis that helicopters were on the way to clip Bin Laden, they stand exposed as leaders who permit the country's sovereignty to be violated at will.

The departing CIA chief Leon Panetta has said the decision was made early not to tell Pakistan so as not to compromise the operation. But stories are changing rapidly, and nothing can be taken at face value. As WikiLeaks revealed, there was a US-Pakistan agreement, that while the latter would tolerate drone attacks they would be forced to denounce them because of public anger. On the other hand, given that within the CIA the ISI is referred to as a terrorist organisation, there may have been anxiety about leaks. The helicopters that entered Pakistan airspace would have been cleared as part of routine reconnaissance, though in the past Pakistani radar has been jammed to facilitate raids. This time it was not.

Reliable sources in Pakistan are insistent that the army had no prior knowledge of this raid. Since there is absolutely no way Pakistan could have come out of this looking good, the ISI, had it known, would undoubtedly have attempted a pre-emptive move as this event will almost certainly affect future US aid. If the Pakistani army or intelligence were involved they could have easily moved the final showdown to a less embarrassing location – the mountains in Waziristan, for instance. Furthermore it has handed both India and Afghanistan a major opportunity to settle scores in the propaganda wars.

In reality, Bin Laden's death changes nothing, except perhaps to ensure that, economy permitting, Barack Obama is re-elected. The occupation of Iraq, the Af-Pak war and Nato's Libyan adventure look set to continue. Israel-Palestine is stalemated, though the despotisms in the Arab world that Obama has denounced are under pressure – except the worst of them all, Saudi Arabia.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban leaders will be relieved that they can no longer be tarred with the Bin Laden brush, but his killing does not change the situation there one bit. The insurgents might not be in a position to take Kabul, (they never could even during the Russian occupation) but elsewhere they control a great deal. The US cannot win this war. The sooner it gets out, the better. Until it does, it will remain dependent on Pakistan, the ally Americans love to hate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For some reason or another, Bin Laden had served his purpose. Whether the man or the myth was destroyed earlier this week is up for debate. I'm undecided although let me say I'm not leaning towards the conspiracy theories. But there's something about this whole thing that isn't right.

What I am certain about is that with Bin Laden's death, an era has come to an end. It will be interesting to see what the next stage of the "plan" is, and how the U.S. and it's allies proceed from this point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i must admit my perspective on the world has worsened since you started posting on this forum, i am unsure what i believe to be true anymore. Ultimately, i hope guru granth sahibji saves this world before it is too late

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i must admit my perspective on the world has worsened since you started posting on this forum, i am unsure what i believe to be true anymore. Ultimately, i hope guru granth sahibji saves this world before it is too late

Always Go to the Guru, and you will know whats up. Guruji has all the answers.

The aim is not to create fear, but its good if you feel this way, if it means you will get up and do something and not live in apathy. We are going to have to do something. What we are already doing is not enough, we are really going to have to increase our Sikhi 10 fold. I know im not one to talk, as im am hypocritical, but we as a race must get together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pentagon Dinner Guest al-Awlaki Slated to Replace Osama

Anwar Al-Awlaki is like Osama's right hand man, one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. He is one of the suspects held accountable for 911.

Yet he was invinted and having dinner at the pentagon?

Qaeda-Linked Imam Dined at Pentagon after 9/11 link = proof

So the US invites one of the supposed most dangerous terrorists in the world, to have dinner with them, and just months after 9/11. Even though they knew he played a key role. Wake up guys, you know there is something extremely wrong with this.

And you can find numerous other accounts, where he has returned back to the pentagon to have meetings, and yet he is a supposed terrorist. One of the worlds most wanted. Supposedly

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Harjeet.

Remember what we spoke about yesterday and restrain any superfluous talk brother.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You see this is what confuses me. So why was Hillary Clinton looking so shocked? The pictures Obama and his security team were watching were of the compound from the air (this was confirmed by the President's spokesman this evening), i.e. an aerial view of the house at the same time the SEALS were within the house. What was so shocking about a roof and a couple of windows that made Clinton put her hand to her mouth in shock?

If the place had been bombed from the air, and the compound was destroyed then I could understand her shock. But that didn't happen. The action was taking place within the walls of the compound. So what was she watching (from the air) that caused her to freak out?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share


  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt


  • Topics

  • Posts

    • yeh it's true, we shouldn't be lazy and need to learn jhatka shikaar. It doesn't help some of grew up in surrounding areas like Slough and Southall where everyone thought it was super bad for amrit dharis to eat meat, and they were following Sant babas and jathas, and instead the Singhs should have been normalising jhatka just like the recent world war soldiers did. We are trying to rectifiy this and khalsa should learn jhatka.  But I am just writing about bhog for those that are still learning rehit. As I explained, there are all these negative influences in the panth that talk against rehit, but this shouldn't deter us from taking khanda pahul, no matter what level of rehit we are!
    • How is it going to help? The link is of a Sikh hunter. Fine, but what good does that do the lazy Sikh who ate khulla maas in a restaurant? By the way, for the OP, yes, it's against rehit to eat khulla maas.
    • Yeah, Sikhs should do bhog of food they eat. But the point of bhog is to only do bhog of food which is fit to be presented to Maharaj. It's not maryada to do bhog of khulla maas and pretend it's OK to eat. It's not. Come on, bro, you should know better than to bring this Sakhi into it. Is this Sikh in the restaurant accompanied by Guru Gobind Singh ji? Is he fighting a dharam yudh? Or is he merely filling his belly with the nearest restaurant?  Please don't make a mockery of our puratan Singhs' sacrifices by comparing them to lazy Sikhs who eat khulla maas.
    • Seriously?? The Dhadi is trying to be cute. For those who didn't get it, he said: "Some say Maharaj killed bakras (goats). Some say he cut the heads of the Panj Piyaras. The truth is that they weren't goats. It was she-goats (ਬਕਰੀਆਂ). He jhatka'd she-goats. Not he-goats." Wow. This is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard in relation to Sikhi.
    • Instead of a 9 inch or larger kirpan, take a smaller kirpan and put it (without gatra) inside your smaller turban and tie the turban tightly. This keeps a kirpan on your person without interfering with the massage or alarming the masseuse. I'm not talking about a trinket but rather an actual small kirpan that fits in a sheath (you'll have to search to find one). As for ahem, "problems", you could get a male masseuse. I don't know where you are, but in most places there are professional masseuses who actually know what they are doing and can really relieve your muscle pains.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use