Almost 10yrs after the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001, the United States government says it has finally killed Osama Bin Laden, who was hiding in a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The man who they purported to have been responsible for the despicable act that claimed thousands of American lives. Osama was the target of the United States ‘War Against Terrorism’, as started by George W Bush. Through the rocky and mountain caves of Tora Bora region in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, the US deployed its arsenals to crush the Taliban, who are believed to be in league with the Al Qaeda network and its leader; the most wanted in the world.
Getting hold of Osama dead or alive was so important to ‘War-shington’ [pun intended]. Leaving him on the loose was a threat to US’ security at home and abroad.
Therefore to allay the fears of its citizens who even expressed indignation inter alia the cost involved in the counter terrorism war, the US government had to consistently refrain that Osama Bin Laden, the 54yrs old man they trained and armed years ago, is a clear and present danger.
As president Obama announced that ‘Jason had delivered the golden fleece’, Americans hit the streets to the White House in jubilant mood chanting USA! USA!!
Clean and dusted, Bin Laden together with his wife and son has been killed and quickly buried at sea with no material evidence.
The White House is telling the world that it is enough to just accept this not-so-believable tale. The claim being that the sea burial had to be done quickly out of respect for Islamic tradition, as anything otherwise would incense outrage from Bin Laden’s supporters in the Arab world.
On the contrary Muslim clerics interpret the burial as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.
And in fact Khadija Patel, a muslim woman and blogger based in Johannesburg, who I follow on twitter, tweeted that “the only time it's permissible for a Muslim to be buried at sea is when they die at sea and there's a fear of the body decomposing”.
So questions are being asked, as to the particular Muslim tradition America claims to be respecting.
Meanwhile the White House has said that it has not determined yet whether it will release photos of Osama bin Laden's body. Indeed dead [wo]men don’t talk, neither do they pose and smile for the cameras. That, this final move was such a clandestine operation unknown to Pakistani government even after years collaboration with US to fight terrorism is embarrassing to officials at Islamabad.
Is this how overnight a government can win the confidence of its citizens to probably continue fighting more wars? But what we do know is that, Al Qaeda in the last couple of years has not targeted America or its installations and citizens elsewhere directly.
There are many who dispute that indeed Osama was killed yesterday [Monday 2ndMay]. There’s the political school of thought by some analysts, which was even published in a book in 2009[Osama Bin Laden: Dead Or Alive-by Prof David Ray Griffin ] that Osama died on December 13,2001 as a result of a urinary complication linked to a kidney disease.
It is on record that Osama Bin Laden, after the 9/11 attacks, on four occasions through Arab press, insisted he played no role in the deadly attacks. Yet there have been a number of strategic video tapes, of him contradicting his earlier positions, accepting responsibility. These tapes, through forensics by experts, have been discredited as emanating from ‘counter intelligence agents’.
It is quite clear the United States government seem to be contradicting itself. To avoid the grave site of Osama becoming the rallying point for militants, Bin Laden’s killers bury him in the sea and refuse to release pictures that could by their estimation anger perceived Islamic radicals.
Inasmuch as ‘War-shington’ says it wants to prevent any incendiary responses, they have gone on by ceasing the opportunity to remind traveling American nationals and those residents abroad that Al Qaeda may still target them. According to an official release concerning Travel Alert which expires August 1, 2011, the U. S Department of State warns
“…Given the uncertainty and volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens in areas where recent events could cause anti-American violence are strongly urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations. U.S. citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times”
In essence, president Obama is telling the good and proud American people that, they are free from Osama Bin Laden but not yet safe from Al Qaeda and its network of militants across the globe.
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