In cold blood

Gordon Robinson, Gleaner Writer

So, terrorism's poster boy is no more. Or, as J.K. Rowling might put it, it all ends for Hairy Plotter. Incomplete scorecard reads Civilisation 2: Terrorism 0.

But the assassination of Osama bin Laden has, as usual, raised more questions than answers. It's also exposed the naiveté of United States (US) propaganda over the years that presented a picture of an aged incontinent hiding in a cave in the Hindu Kush attached to a dialysis machine that he pushed while shuffling around like a decrepit recluse. In fact, for many years now, he'd been hiding in plain sight in Pakistan. Not just in Pakistan but in a magnificent Pakistani mansion. And not just any lavish mansion, but the biggest and most deluxe of all the mansions in an opulent residential area. While his followers strapped on bombs to blow themselves and nearby 'infidels' to perdition, Osama lived in the lap of luxury with every personal need attended to by wives, concubines, security guards and couriers.

It gets curiouser and curiouser. The mansion sits in Abbottabad, a city approximately 50 kilometres northeast of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. It was built in 2005 expressly to bin Laden's specifications, which included the absence of telephone or Internet connections. Many retired senior Pakistani military officers reside in the area. If Usain Bolt were to set off from the mansion, it would take him about 19.19 seconds to arrive at Pakistan's military academy. As famous Chinese chef, Stephen Yan, might say, "Wok the heck?"

Did not one single Pakistani notice the tall, gaunt, bearded Muslim as he took his daily exercise in the compound? Did no one visit with a welcome-to-the-neighbourhood cake when the new neighbour moved in? Did nobody try to borrow a cup of sugar? Is Pakistani 'intelligence' so incompetent? It's obvious that Pakistan has, for a decade, been playing a dangerous game of double and triple cross supporting al-Qaida while pretending to be an ally in the 'war against terror'.

But didn't President Bush announce: "If you're not with us, you're against us?"

'Not the place of terrorism'

When it was felt that the Taliban were harbouring al-Qaida in Afghanistan and giving comfort to bin Laden, that nation was promptly invaded by US forces and ruthlessly reduced to rubble. But, it's possible that Afghan complicity has been greatly exaggerated. Now, even its recently installed American puppet president Hamid Karzai has spoken some home truths after the assassination. Karzai's speech isn't getting nearly the amount of coverage that the simpering tributes from England, France and Italy have been receiving.

Karzai said bin Laden's death in Pakistan proves Afghanistan is "not the place of terrorism.

"If the international forces are true allies of the Afghans, they should come out and say that the killing of Afghans, children and elders which took place over the many years on a daily basis was not a good idea."

He added that the war against terrorism shouldn't be carried out in Afghanistan, but in bin Laden's "safe haven, sanctuary and his training camp," a reference to Pakistan. Using Osama's death as his premise, he proclaimed, "The war against terrorism is not in the houses of innocent Afghan civilians. The fight against terrorism is not in bombing children and women in Afghanistan ... ."

Will the US now treat Pakistan as it did Afghanistan? But, wait a minute, doesn't Pakistan have nuclear capability? Oops. Whoa, there, Trigger, let's not mosey into that there town!

And let's be clear on some non-judgemental facts. This was a very one-sided 'firefight'. Bin Laden did not reach for a weapon nor did he fire a shot. Contrary to early reports from a fretful US media anxious to paint Osama as a crawling coward, neither bin Laden's wife nor any other woman was used as a human shield. The woman who died was caught in the crossfire. Bin Laden's wife was shot in the calf and helped to identify her dead husband for the US Navy Seals after he'd been first shot in the chest and subdued, then shot in the head. Capture was never an option.

Full Terrorism scores

So, America has achieved Osama's slaughter. Congratulations. Now what? And what did Osama achieve?

World travel will never be the same. Thanks to Osama, we must undress, make pornographic X-ray movies and be sexually assaulted by airport security just to board a transnational flight. We're no longer free to take any possession we desire with us. Simple personal effects like hair gel and nail clippers are banned.

His name has become a rallying cry and a recruiting tool for terrorism everywhere.

Al-Qaida cells and al-Qaida copycat organisations have multiplied like octomoms and are now deeply entrenched in all Western civilisations, especially the United Kingdom and US.

US official interrogation policies have been changed for suspected 'terrorists' who are regularly tortured. In order to accommodate this sinking to the level of the lowest denominator, suspects are kept in a detention camp far away from the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Contrary to American propaganda that would have us believe that our perspective on bin Laden as an evil monster is widely shared, he isn't universally reviled. In fact, the US was so afraid that his burial plot would be made into a martyr's shrine that they hurriedly scooped up the body, whisked it away, and dumped it in the Arabian Sea under the false pretence that they were handling the body according to Islamic practices. What nonsense! Islam has no practice of burial at sea.

The assassination hasn't received worldwide acclaim. Muslim reaction, including in Pakistan, has been noticeably muted. Former Pakistani president, retired General Pervez Musharraf, is already making rumbling noises about a violation of sovereignty and warned about al-Qaida retaliation. He should know. Musharraf lives in Dubai, but lots of retired generals live in Abbottabad.

It seems Pervez could easily land a job as a racehorse tout because, hey presto, on Friday, al-Qaida issued its first official warning of revenge to come.

So, in the end, America has proved that Osama was mortal. Big, hairy deal. Osama has changed the world forever. Latest score: Civilisation 2; Terrorism 4. My free advice to the USA, if it doesn't want the final score to be a rout, is that it should declare victory immediately based on bin Laden's slaughter; then instantly withdraw from Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Then America might try something achievable like reducing its fiscal deficit and putting Americans back to work. It might also consider, occasionally, minding its own business and not trying to force American values down the throats of foreign cultures. Any bets as to whether they'll take my advice?

If not, this so-called 'war on terror' (who noticed Obama's retreat from that appalling misnomer when he called it the "war against al-Qaida"?) will be, like a Dickens novel, neverending. And the US may find itself adopting Winston Churchill's description of the British victory over the German Afrika Korps at the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt (November 10, 1942) as equally applicable to Osama's execution. Churchill said, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Peace and love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.