Obama Gets Osama bin Laden

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 1, 2011
All Rights Reserved.                                         

         President Barack Obama gets the credit for the covert joint CIA and Special Forces operation that found and killed Osama bin Laden in his luxury compound only 30 miles north of Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad.  Since taking office Jan. 20, 2009, Barack let his CIA Director Leon Panetta know that getting Bin Laden, the mastermind of Sept. 11 and many other terrorist attacks against U.S. targets, was his top priority.  Since 9/11, the wily 54-year terrorist eluded U.S. detection, despite former President George W. Bush launching wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with the expressed purpose of getting Bin Laden and prosecuting the war on terror.  Bin Laden’s been a thorn in the U.S. side since cutting him loose from the CIA payroll in 1988 after the end of the Afghan-Soviet War.  Former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush hired Bin Laden and his mujahedeen fighters to defeat the Soviets.

            Terrorism was no stranger to past U.S. presidents, especially former President Jimmy Carter, whose administration botched the rescue of U.S. hostages held by Iranian terrorists since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.  Because of that past history, any attempt at Bin Laden carried heavy political risks.  Various terrorists plagued U.S. presidents for the last 35 years but none was more deadly and stubborn than Bin Laden.  His successful Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon established Bin Laden as U.S. Public Enemy No. 1.  In fairness to Bush, like economic recoveries, getting terrorists take time.  During the days, months and years following Sept. 11, Bin Laden lived on the lam, continuously moving about.  Settling nears Islamabad, only miles from Zardari’s presidential palace, couldn’t have been more audacious.

            Bin Laden was rumored hiding in the infamous caves along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border, raising eyebrows winding up in Pakistan’s capital, especially raising questions about the Pakistani government.  “I think the Pakistan army and government have a lot of questions to answer given the location, the length of time, and the apparent fact that this facility was actually built for Bin Laden and its closeness to the central location of the Pakistani army,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.).  Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf blamed it on “intelligence failures” urging the U.S.  to stop pointing fingers at Pakistan.  Despite blistering U.S. predator drone attacks inside Pakistan, the government denies any help to the U.S. military.  Musharraf’s recent denial mirrors the government’s official position:  That the U.S. operates on its own.

            When a combined CIA and Special Forces Unit, known as Joint Special Operations Command [JSOC], landed a Black Hawk helicopter into Bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound early Monday morning, they didn’t panic when they experienced engine failure, proceeding to storm the compound and kill Bin Laden.  When the dust settled, the elite Navy Seals and CIA team shot Bin Laden twice in the head above the left orbit, killing four others when meeting resistance, including a woman reportedly used as a human shield.  “It is Pakistan’s stated policy that it would not allow its soil to be used in terrorist attacks against any country,” said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahood Qureshi, continuing the denial.  President Obama admitted in his late-night Sunday announcement of Bin Laden’s death that it was indeed a coordinated U.S. and Pakistani operation.

            Unnamed U.S. officials indicated the CIA tracked Bin Laden personal courier and his brother to the Abbottabad compound, built with 12-18 foot security walls in 2005 at a cost of $1 million, a hefty sum even with Pakistan’s cheap labor, neither brother could afford, giving evidence of a high-value terrorist target like Bin Laden.  While it’s a tempting explanation, it’s far more likely that Zardari and his ISI Security Services provided the White House with the actionable intelligence.  Reports of the ISI presence at or around Bin Laden’s compound at the time of the U.S. raid strongly suggests coordination with Pakistani intelligence. “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 . . .” said Obama in his nationwide speech, prompting Pakistan’s forceful denials.

            Getting Osama bin Laden was a long time coming considering nearly 10 years since he evaded the long arm of U.S. justice.  “Justice has been done,” said Obama to a grateful nation, finally relieved that the criminal responsible for Sept. 11 and so many other terrorist acts against the U.S. and its allies finally got his comeuppance.  His death does not mark the end of our effort.  There’s no doubt that al-Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us.  We must and we will remain vigilant,” said Obama, serving notice that any criminal that attacks the U.S. will face the relentless arm of U.S. justice.  With Bin Laden safely dead, no one knows to whom his $25 million bounty goes for information leading to his arrest or killing.  Despite all the official explanations and Pakistani denials, it’s more likely that Zardari and Pakistan’s ISI delivered Bin Laden to Obama on the silver platter.

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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