I read a detailed account of the immensely detailed work that went into locating Osama Bin Laden and serving him with a message from the United States of America, a business card that read: Final Justice Served.
Something, though, cannot escape my mind: the thought that Bin Laden successfully avoided the most sophisticated tracing system in the world for ten long years. Time after time he re-emerged from his “cave” with communiqués to the Western World, and despite repeated attempts, was never foiled. Not until now.
The setting in the first quarter of 2011 is nothing short of historical. Country after country throughout the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab Peninsula is changing and evolving.
It was not easy to get rid of Mubarak. He refused to leave and showed loyalty to his country, but the foreign elements undermining his reign were simply too powerful. His inability to play their games led to his demise.
Gaddafi, however, still survives, despite NATO’s full-scale war against him, including attempts at targeted assassinations that are yet to achieve anything but to anger him and the Arab World. Try as they might, they only kill others, while Gaddafi manages to escape time after time. Anyone believing such attempts will remain unreciprocated is, at best, naïve.
Assad, having learned the lesson from his predecessors in the Middle East upheaval, has stopped at nothing, cutting off electricity and water to rebelling cities, using tanks, artillery and sharp shooters to send messages and overcome the rebels. He is determined to remain in power, as his father before him.
What if the information that eventually led to the visit to Osama’s mansion were leaked and solidified by sources that decided to sacrifice Bin Laden for the greater good?
For Radical Muslims, people are the cheapest commodity and the first to be used. Hezbollah brave warriors use civilians as a shield, Hamas “liberators” grab children to avoid hits, Palestinians use holy places, like the Church of the Nativity, as a refuge (desecrating it during use) and Ahmadinejad has stated that fifty million dead Iranians are a small price to pay if Israel attacks, in the fight against the Zionist regime.
Thus, a calculated move of disclosing Bin Laden’s hideout would be more than probable—it is both practical and also may bear the desired results.
For some odd reason, the Spring or Youth Revolution failed at inciting the masses against Israel, its normal unifying and distracting force. Regime after regime seems to fail, and nothing is able to stop this domino effect. The Arab rulers are afraid and will use every means at their disposal to protect their reigns. Bin Laden is a small price to pay; he has caused too much trouble already.
It is not that they do not subscribe to his methods or support Al Qaeda monetarily and otherwise. On the contrary, supporting any action against the West is holy work. They cheered as the Twin Towers collapsed within a short time on Tuesday morning, September 11th, 2001. Their wives and numerous children celebrated and glowed for days over this victory. But now their own survival is on the line, and it is easier to sacrifice someone else. In fact, it is his duty to die for their cause.
Americans cheering in the streets, pictures from Washington, D.C., in the middle of the night abound. America is proud, her President is floating on cloud nine—it happened on his watch, and he is harvesting the acclaim.
Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) “welcomed the elimination of Osama Bin Laden.” He was quick to issue a press release saying, “As we have stated repeatedly since the 9/11 terror attacks, bin Laden never represented Muslims or Islam. In fact, in addition to the killing of thousands of Americans, he and Al Qaeda caused the deaths of countless Muslims worldwide.” Hooper did not miss an opportunity to highlight his organization’s stealth objective and added: “We also reiterate President Obama’s clear statement tonight that the United States is not at war with Islam.”
No one said it better than Hamas. The Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya denounced the assassination of Sheikh Bin Laden, a “spiritual leader and an Arab holy worrier,” by US special forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, saying:
“If these news are true, then this means that it's part of the American policy based on the oppression and bloodshed in the Muslim and Arab world.”
Without doubt, there will be repercussions. The Islamists do not need excuses to murder, but Bin Laden’s assassination provides a galvanizing force to attack the large Satan (and his Zionist helper).
The real question now is will the attention of the Arab World be directed toward retaliation. Is Bin Laden a sufficient sacrifice? Will the troops rally behind their generation-old leaders (dictators) or will the demand for “Change” and “Hope” continue to fester and spoil the status quo?
Possibly the question is a different one: Does Iran feel this is the moment to go on the offensive, not because of Bin Laden, but given its own timeline of advancing to conquer the world and usher in a global Islamic caliphate? I do not know, but I am confident we will soon know the answer. Iran has not stopped its advances, its determination is nothing short of admirable and its abilities are frightening.
A day will come when history will judge a particular moment as pivotal. Our responsibility is to look beyond the news and see the greater picture. At the moment, we stand with great humility in light of the astonishing success and are thankful for the bravery of the men and women who always remain nameless.
