Spinning Osama

One thing is clear from the wildly divergent arguments about what comes next after the al Qaeda leader's killing: You can find a pundit willing to say anything.

BY BLAKE HOUNSHELL | MAY 2, 2011

This Will Make Al Qaeda Weaker

In an email to its mailing list Monday, the Council on Foreign Relations went out on a limb with this bold headline: "CFR Experts: Bin Laden's Death a Blow to al-Qaeda."

Others went a step beyond the conventional wisdom, arguing that the death of the terrorist leader heralded the closing of a violent chapter in world history. "Killing Bin Laden is the end of the 'war on terror,'" bin Laden biographer and AfPak Channel editor Peter Bergen declared flatly Sunday in an appearance on CNN. Others used similar phrasing, including Daily Beast columnist Peter Beinart, who argued Monday, "The war on terror is over," even if the short-term threat of terrorism might rise. "Now that bin Laden is gone, al Qaeda really has lost its dominant force, its strategic guide," terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank chimed in.

No, It Won't

Perhaps no group of people was more cautious than U.S. officials in making grand, sweeping claims about the meaning of bin Laden's death. "Even as we mark this milestone," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Monday, "we should not forget that the battle to stop al Qaeda and its syndicate of terror will not end with the death of bin Laden. Indeed, we must take this opportunity to renew our resolve and redouble our efforts."

Praveen Swami, diplomatic editor for Britain's Telegraph newspaper, argues "there is in fact little reason for jubilation" in bin Laden's death. "The stark truth is this: a decade after 9/11, the jihadist movement is more powerful than at any time in the past."

Others went for the "Obi Wan Kenobi argument," projecting that bin Laden's power would only grow with his demise. "[I]n terms of his influence in the world, he is no more dead this morning than he was when he first moved into his compound without telephone or Internet access. He's no more dead today than are John Brown or Joe Hill in the US," writes Guardian pundit Andrew Brown. Also in this vein, the Times of India warns: "There is reason to believe that its elaborate network will endure and undertake retaliatory attacks to prove its vitality."

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Blake Hounshell is managing editor of Foreign Policy. Follow him on Twitter @blakehounshell.

OWLSNESTRECOVERY.COM

6:20 PM ET

May 3, 2011

A Good Thing?

Of course this is a good thing, Bin Laden is off the streets so to speak!

It seems less than sane to think that this being a good thing is even questioned by some. Yet I do agree with Mrs. Clinton because when a gang leader is arrested that does not mean his organization will stop.

However when you cut off the head, often the body will collapse. The concern of course is that we are dealing with a many headed monster.

-Rome Batchelor
www.owlsnestrecovery.com

 

OKAMI

8:26 PM ET

May 4, 2011

Bush's involvement

"Mr. Obama might have noted that this work began under President Bush, but as usual he did not," Abrams complained.

"It is also regrettable, but not unexpected, that President Obama would mention Bush only in passing and fail to specifically credit him with eight years of tireless work that contributed to this victory. As with so much else, Obama paints moments of success as beginning and ending with himself."

George W Bush lost all legitimacy in the search for Osama bin Laden when, six months after 911, he stated that he :wasn't that concerned" with him. from that time on, he lost any and all moral legitimacy concerning the matter, bringing up the spectre of al Qaeda and bin Laden only for political purposes.

primary credit goes to those individuals who actually got the job done. secondary, maybe tertiary credit, goes to President Obama for ensuring the job would be done, unlike his presdecessor.

 

MARTY MARTEL

7:09 AM ET

May 8, 2011

Pakistani government has U. S. by the throat

Now that Osama bin Laden has been found to be being sheltered so close to the heart of Pakistani government, foreign policy establishment in U. S. is in the full swing to once again rescue Pakistan getting a black eye over it.

It does NOT matter to these Pakistani apologists that Islamabad has been caught with their pants down umpteen times.

Pakistan has been able to get away with all the crimes against U. S. and still come out smelling roses because
Pakistani government has U. S. by the throat. US can NOT use its aid leverage to force Pakistan to stop supporting terrorist groups who kill US/NATO troops in Afghanistan day in and day out because US needs Pakistan’s help in ferrying supplies to those very US/NATO troops.

Furthermore Pakistan has spread a biggest malarkey with U. S. connivance that ’nuclear weapons are in danger of falling in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists if Pakistani government collapses’.

How can Pakistan be in danger of falling to the Islamic fundamentalists if Pakistani Army and ISI are SPONSORING those very Islamic fundamentalists led by Osama bin Laden, Haqqani, Mullah Omar and Hafiz Saeed as reported by ambassador Patterson?

Previous US ambassador Anne Patterson to Pakistan, wrote in a secret review in 2009 that ‘Pakistan's Army and ISI are covertly SPONSORING four militant groups - Haqqani‘s HQN, Mullah Omar‘s QST, Al Qaeda and LeT - and will not abandon them for any amount of US money‘, as diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show.

Ambassador Patterson had NO reason to mislead her own State Department and U. S. government.

US just keeps deliberately ignoring Taliban’s Pakistani connections in fueling and sustaining Afghan insurgency as reported by Matt Waldman in ‘The sun in the sky‘ on 6/13/2010, corroborated by WikiLeaks leaks on 7/25/2010 and then further corroborated by Chris Alexander, Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan from 2005 until 2009 in his article on 7/30/2010 titled ‘The huge scale of Pakistan‘s complicity‘.

Let us see if U. S. once again allows Pakistan to get away with a whitewash and a wink and a nod with few more billions in aid to boot after finding out that Osama bin Laden was sheltered so close to the heart of Pakistani government.