It was late Sunday night, May 1, 2011, that Americans took to the streets in jubilation over the news that the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 airplane attack on the Pentagon, Twin Towers, and the downing of American Airlines flight 97, was killed by two dozen American Special Forces in the town of Abbottabad, Pakistan. Besides the questions that Pakistani security forces [police and military], Pakistani intelligence [ISI], and government officials have to answer about how the world’s most wanted and notorious fugitive could have lived in a residential compound roughly 200 yards from the Pakistani military academy for the past 4 years or longer. For the Obama administration, it is a matter of providing credible evidence that bin Laden was indeed killed in the ensuing firefight between his security and the commando assault from American rapid, strike-force troops. One of the curious things that seem to require some clarity is that Osama bin Laden was shot twice in the head although he did not have a weapon; yet he was supposedly given the opportunity to surrender but he chose to resist, instead. In fact, Aljazeera was the first source to mention that Osama was unarmed and afterwards, officials of the US government confirmed the accuracy of the report as mentioned in the sometimes controversial Arab news agency. To wit, was Osama bin Laden executed mafia-style, by a bullet to the head from U.S. Special Forces?
There is no information on what action bin Laden did to avoid capture and refuse to surrender, or even what threat an unarmed terrorist such as Osama bin Laden posed to the Navy Seals. After he was killed a DNA sample was taken from a deceased bin Laden to confirm his identity, his body was buried within 24 hours, respecting Muslim tradition. The most puzzling thing of all is, why take the body instead of just leaving the bloody corpse in the bedroom on the second floor of the house? Let Osama bin Laden’s relatives in Saudi Arabia along with the Pakistani government decide what to do with his body? The only real proof that the American military operatives need is the photos which show that bin Laden was actually killed. Come to think of it, why haven’t pictures been sent to some U.S. allies who are members of the Arab League or prestigious Muslim clerics who can authenticate what appears to be dead body of the slain al-Qaida leader.
The threat from global insurgency is still an ongoing concern, as the most dangerous terrorists are the al-Qaeda in Yemen, Afghanistan Taliban, al-Qaeda in Pakistan, Hamas, Hezbollah, the PLO, Iran and perhaps the Islamic Brotherhood in Egypt among others. Although al-Qaeda has become more decentralized with numerous splinter groups and sleeper cells operating in many countries, in some ways it makes the efforts to finally defeat global terrorism somewhat problematic. The only thing that can be done is to remain at a constant state of vigilance and as long as there is economic inequality, religious fanaticism, educational disparity, poverty, lack of access to technology, disillusionment, repressive governments and human rights violations, then these destabilizing problems will continue to exacerbate the implementation of even more suicide bombings and other murderously violent acts.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 3, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
