Death Of Osama bin Laden: A Monumental Hoax?

The Americans have finally announced the death of Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden. It took a while but it is finally here - the news that Mr. Osama bin Laden has been killed.

There is a school of thought that believes that Osama bin Laden was long killed in the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan but it wasn’t in the American interest to announce his death. I don’t know if that is the truth and, like the good professor James Bettinger of Stanford University once told me, a truth that cannot be proven is not a truth. However, I am intrigued - not so much by what is the real truth - as much as I am by the manner in which the truth is being orchestrated and presented to the world.

The “truths” that we are now being told do not ring true. There are so many things that do not fit together. In fact they sound downright stupid and implausible. Let us examine the following:

Osama bin Laden being labeled the world’s most wanted criminal

How far is this correct? The CNN, the BBC and even the NDTV calls Osama bin Laden the “world’s most wanted terrorist”. Is this fair? How does he qualify as the “world’s” most wanted? The term “world” would encompass all the countries on this earth. However, I know that in some countries, he is a hero and not a terrorist. Therefore, it is not fair to club those unwilling countries in the grouping of those countries who have declared him as a terrorist. Thus, I think we must downgrade him from the “world’s most wanted” to “America’s most wanted terrorist”.

Claim that the American Navy Seal entered the Pakistani state without the prior knowledge of the Pakistani government

I think this is bogus. I think the US had tacit approval of the Pakistani government and entered the Pakistani soil with prior knowledge of the Pakistani government and their security agencies. I cannot believe that the Americans would be so audacious as to commit an act of war on Pakistani soil, knowing full well that such an act is tantamount to infringement of Pakistani sovereignty. Pakistan is an ally and not a vassal state of the US.

However, it is convenient and, even expedient, to make such a claim. On the one hand, the Americans want to take full credit for the murder of their state enemy #1. It is good for politics. In fact, post killing, the American President grandly proclaimed that “Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan”. On the other hand, Pakistan as a Muslim state certainly would not want to be seen to be directly associated with the killing of a person who is seen as a martyr in most of the Muslim world. Thus, for the Pakistani government, it is good politics to claim ignorance and express consternation at the supposed unilateral American act. It is within the scheme of things for Pakistan to make feeble noises, once in a while, claiming infringement of their sovereignty etc. But at the end of it all, it serves their purpose to be seen as being totally ignorant of the American act.

Pakistan did not have a hand in the killing of Osama bin Laden

How could they have been involved, if it is really true that Osama was already killed in the Tora Bora caves years back? Also, if the claim that Osama was killed in the recent “targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan” is untrue and a charade, then surely the US cannot ask Pakistan to take part responsibility of the killing of Osama.

Further, Pakistan is a Muslim state and it will not go down well with their Muslim brethrens around the world - if it is known that they were directly responsible for the death of Osama. Thus, even if it is true that the Pakistanis collaborated with the Navy Seals to kill Osama, it will be in their interest to claim total disassociation with the act. The Americans recognize that compulsion on the part of the Pakistanis and, thus, they understand the need for the Pakistanis to distance themselves from the final act of killing Osama.

The death of Osama bin Laden is in no way the end of America’s fight against the Al Qaeda. In fact, it may be possible that this is actually the beginning of another phase in their war against terrorism. Thus, the value of Pakistani involvement as an ally in America’s fight against terrorism has not diminished in any way.

Sadly, however, the claim of Pakistani’s none-involvement is rather inconsistent and contradictory to what the American President had to say. I quote the following excerpts from the same speech quoted above:

 “Over the years, I've repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we've done. But it's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding”.

Burial of Osama bin Laden’s body in the sea

Why was it necessary to hastily bury the supposed dead body of Osama bin Laden at the bottom of the sea? The stated official version put out by the Americans for such a dubious way is to “prevent the final resting place of Osama bin Laden from becoming a shrine and a place of pilgrimage for his followers”. How far is this plausible? Is the truth something else? Could it be possible that the real objective is to make it impossible for any one to retrieve the body, if verifications were required? Was such a preposterous act necessitated for the reason that the dead body actually was not that of Osama bin Laden?

What exactly is the truth?