Plunging Oil Prices Drag Down Stock Market

by John M. Curtis
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Copyright May 10, 2011
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                   When U.S. Navy Seals came knocking at Osama bin Laden’s door May 1, neither the U.S. nor Pakistan could easily explain how they got his address.  Shortly after his offing, President Barack Obama spoke on late-night national TV thanking Pakistan for all their help.  Less that 12 hours later, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari denied any involvement in Bin Laden’s downfall.  Forceful denials by the U.S. and Pakistan suggest both countries colluded in Bin Laden’s death.  Neither side wants to admit their involvement because of existing rewards and bounties.  When asked recently by the press what happened to the $25 million reward for Bin Laden, the State Department indicated they don’t discuss rewards or name the recipients of whistleblower actions.  Former Dubai-based Pakistani President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf denied than any special deal was made to get Bin Laden.

            Zardari’s immediate denials appearing in the Washington Post May 2 and now Musharrf’s categorical denials indicate that something went down.  “Pervez Musharraf has seen a media report, and let me make it clear that no such agreement had been signed during his tenure,” said Musharraf spokesman Fawad Chaudhry, denying that Musharraf  made a deal with the U.S. for Bin Laden before he left office Sept 9, 2008.  Musharraf’s denials that no deal was made either orally or in writing during his tenure as Pakistan’s military, civilian and intelligence leader don’t rule out his role in Bin Laden’s May 1 death.  Musharraf’s spokesman emphasizes that Musharraf signed no deals, not that he didn’t complete some type of trasaction for Bin Laden’s head either while he was in office or more recently when they had Bin Laden in the crosshairs.  Musharraf rejected British reports that he made a deal with Bush after Sept. 11.

            After the May 2 [Pakistan time] raid on Bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound 35-miles north of Islamabad, Pakistani authorities, led by Zardari, denounced the action as violation their nation’s sovereignty.  British reports indicate that if such a raid on Bin Laden were conducted, Pakistani authorities would deny such involvement.  “The Guradian report is baseless,” said Chaudhry.  Back in 2002, Gen. Tommy Franks disclosed an agreement with Pakistan for U.S. troops based in Afghanistan to cross the border to pursue terrorist fugitives.  Promoting amnesia is a powerful too for the Pentagon and U.S. government with respect to U.S. under-the-table dealing form CIA contractors or today’s bitter enemies.  Such was the case with Bin Lsden who fought a proxy war for the U.S. with his ragtag band of Arab holy warriors during the Afghan-Soviet War [1980-198900.

            By Sept. 11, 2001, Bin Laden rose to the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list, prompting former CIA Director George J. Tenet to declare war on Bin Laden and al-Qaeda in 1998 after bombing U.S. embassies in East Africa.  Musharraf came to power June 20, 2001in a bloodless coup, evicting democratically elected President Nawaz Sharif.  “If there is any such agreement, the Pakistan government should place it the parliament, and if there was any agreement, the American government should make it public,” said Chaudhry, denying that Musharaf had anything to do with Bin Laden’s recent downfall.  Chaudhry went overboard convincing the press that Musharraf had no cooperation agreement with the U.S. government after Sept. 11.  Musharaf “always rejected the U.S. request about launching raids in Pakistan,” ignoring the U.S. predator drone program that started under Musharraf.

            While publicly denying any cooperation with the U.S., Musharraf became former President George W. Bush’s biggest ally in the war on terror.  When Bin Laden and Taliban’s Mullah Mohammed Omar fled Tora Bora to Pakistan Dec. 17, 2001, Musharraf became Bush’s go-to guy about hunting down terrorists.  “Musharraf always rejected the U.S. request about launching raids in Pakistan,” insisted Chaudhry, emphatically blowing smoke, diverting attention now about what, if any, role Musharraf played in assisting the CIA and Pentagon in finding Bin Laden.  Pakistan’s forceful denials about helping the U.S. get Bin Laden raise red flags about the extent of key Pakistan government or former government operatives in getting Bin Laden.  Denying the Zardari government or ISI knew anything about Bin Laden’s whereabouts is simply not credible.  Blaming it on incompetence makes no sense.

             Sooner or later, the real facts will emerge on the circumstances under which the U.S. got tipped off about Bin Laden.  Judging by the lack of security at Bin Laden’s three-story Abbottabad compound, it appeared that local authorities knew what was happening and kept their distance.  Obama’s May 1 TV speech indicated close Pakistani cooperation.  Press reports on the scene in Abbottabad revealed a strong ISI presence, helping to create a cordon around the compound during the U.S. raid.  All the government smoke about the lack of Paikistani involvement serves Zardari’s purpose of  hanging on to power.  Any connection to any reward money would topple his government.  No one knows for sure to whom the $25 million went for information leading to Bin Laden.  One thing’s for certain:  Bin Laden can no longer terrorize the civilized world.

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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