BIN LADEN'S BODY PLUS PAKISTAN IS NOT A GOOD ALLY

I suppose in the wake of Osama Bin Laden’s killing by US troops there will be a plethora of conspiracy theories all centered around the fact that his body was quickly disposed of afterwards leaving nothing but the soon to be released photos and the words of the crew involved to filter downwards into the public consciousness.

I’ve read a few bloggers questioning why this was done and offering examples of Che Guevera and Benito Mussolini to show how the corpse of a defeated foe is displayed to end once and for all any theorizing on that person still being alive.

True, this would have gotten rid of the doubters but people tend to cling to a physical presence even a dead one especially if they know the location of the remains.  The situation is much like the Soviet Union which took Adolph Hitler’s already burned remains after WWII and buried them secretly until 1970 when they removed them for fear of the East German government’s inability to stop info getting out on their location and it becoming a neo-Nazi shrine so at that point they were cremated and thrown into a nearby river.

Considering the level of fanaticism and the glorification of martyrs in Islam, I think the administration made a valid choice.

I would also like to say in terms of conspiracy theories, after enduring the last two years of President Obama being labeled a communist Muslim who was a token admitted to Harvard under affirmative action and who may not have even be a US citizen, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt this time.

The other thing I would like to say is when Bin Laden was found he was staying in a million dollar mansion in a wealthy suburb of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad a stone’s throw from a military academy and surrounded by the homes by many of Pakistan’s elites including government ministers.  The latest is that rather than being one of many safe houses he hid out in, Bin Laden and family had actually been there pretty much full time since 2005.

Of course this should spark outrage although many US politicians are very careful to couch this outrage in general statements about what a delicate situation exists there.  Last year the US pledged at least 1.5billion in aid to Pakistan.

Now the current government of Pakistan headed by Asif Ali Zardari husband of the late Benazir Bhutto may be friendly to the US but what’s also clear is there a vast intelligence infrastructure in Pakistan that is not answerable to anyone and they are sympathetic to terrorist groups for a number of reasons mostly to do with destabilizing their neighbor India and decreasing US involvement in the region.

So when even George Bush’s BFF Pervez Musharaff complains that the raid was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty it’s time to rethink the US-Pakistan relationship.     

I wrote more about Pakistan here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/03/losing-pakistan.html