OSAMA BIN LADEN
PLUMBS THE DEPTHS
MAY 2nd
2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/
It was not
necessary for Bin Laden to die in this way, but it seems to have been
his choice. If he had believed in the cause he financed and
manipulated, he could have surrendered publicly any time in the past
few years and demanded to be put on trial. Had he done so, he would
have had quite a choice of how to play the field and even recruit more
followers. But Osama just believed in Osama and his ideas of how to
solve the world's problems. It was a belief he desperately wanted the
world to espouse. The way he went about it was, how shall I put it,
counterproductive?
He found the
combination of his considerable wealth and imposing presence played
very well with the dispossessed and all those who had genuine
grievances to lay at the door of their less than perfect societies,
governments, police forces and heads of state whose regimes were not by
any stretch of the imagination capable of making the change to liberal
democracy in a constitutional republic or monarchy. That these regimes
were supported by oil-wealth (western money with America the big
spender) and western military alliances (with America the big spender)
put him on a collision course with the US. But if that was not enough,
where there was no oil wealth, America backed and bankrolled a country
that ignored all UN resolutions in its occupation of Palestinian land.
So Bin Laden
took his stand. Seeing that the norms of law and order, the rules of
both war and peace were stacked against him, he decided with impeccable
logic to take advantage. Bound by no rules or laws at all, he would arm
the dispossessed with weapons and training in the art of terror.
It has to be
said he had very considerable success, but all of a negative character.
As with other historic examples, Bin Laden had nothing to offer by way
of alternative to our various attempts at civilization. It was yet
another example of 'Will without Idea' - to quote a well known parody
of one of the philosophers who inspired Adolph Hitler.
US Republicans
who are happy to give President Obama credit for ordering the careful
operation which culminated the action in which Bin Laden has just died
are now keen to criticize Bill Clinton for not dealing with him years
ago before the attack on the twin towers. I cannot agree. Clinton would
have caused different, unimagnable problems if he had attempted
continued premptive strikes on Bin Laden or tried to bring him before a
criminal court without cast iron proof of his actions in connection
with the terror attacks he had ordered and financed.
Bin Laden was
someone we had to endure. He was a product of the mistakes that any
superpower is prone to make. Any biologist who has studied the
principles of organic agriculture, or of the dietary health of animals
and humans, will confirm that the development of conspicuous growth
that produces any relative excess will produce a response by nature to
test it to the ultimate, to curtail the abuse of privilege and power
that may come from the amassment of wealth without due regard to the
less fortunate, and may through negligence allow the seeds of hatred to
germinate. Osama was driven by vanity, which prevented him from
accepting the conventional means of working for the betterment of his
fellow humans. He did what he did because he could, and because he
could manipulate his followers. There are others who will try to follow
in his footsteps. We must hope that they will diminish with time.
I can't help adding that, given what we have learned about the
desperate behaviour of New York's banking fraternity over the past few
years, it is only Bin Laden's pitiless methods rather than his choice
of enemies that .can be seriously criticized in demolishing the sacred
cows of US capitalism. It's a pity he didn't have a nice wife from
Balham telling him to "calm down dear" - though given the living hell
the Palestinians have endured, it is still possible to understand
people losing it big-time. That is where the Christian philosophy would
seem to have an overwhelming advantage if cycles of revenge and
distrust are to be broken.
MAY 4th 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13274176
Although the planning and timing of the actual raid was clearly kept a
secret from all (including the Pakistan ISI) it is pretty obvious that
the compound had been the subject of shared intelligence and suspicion
over the past year or two. I see no reason why relations with
Pakistan's current administration should be strained as a result of
what has just occurred; but it is clear there are those within the
Pakistani military and security service who have connections and
relations with those who are opposed to any alliance with the USA or
any western or non-islamic countries. That's just a fact. I don't see
how it could be otherwise. It in no way detracts from the bravery of
those in the Pakistan military and security services who have fought
against terrorism or the civilian population who have suffered terribly
from it.
I see
absolutely no point in releasing photos of the dead Bin Laden. As
for those who think he is still alive, why worry about them?
Anyone who can show that they have a legitimate need for proof of his
death can naturally be invited or send an official representative to a
private viewing of material evidence, including videos. A formal death
certificate can be issued by Pakistani authorities based on such
evidence.
That Hamas and Fatah are joining to prepare for a new Palestinian
election is an obvious necessity, as they must have a single, elected
government. Unfortunately Israel will not negotiate with the elected
government that follows, on the grounds that Hamas supporters are
terrorists. That could be true of a few of them and would be reasonable
if Israel gave a fig for the law and the UN, but it doesn't.
Netanyahu has no intention of returning the land seized and settled by
Israel. Result: more deaths must be expected of innocent citizens of
all nations, creeds and colours who have no say in this dispute. The
death of Bin Laden will make no difference at all, and growing
democracy in the region, even if Al Qaida has no part in it, will not
bring support for Israel's illegal position.
The Moral
Maze discussion on Osama Bin Laden was extremely good. Many
points were very well covered.
What was overlooked was the extreme danger for the American troops
doing the job, and the very limited time and opportunities.
There was a 40 minute violent fire-fight, and it could have gone wrong
right up to the last minute.
At any moment a prepared explosion could have blown up the attackers
and Bin Laden could have escaped.
When they finally got to him, he had not surrendered.
It turns out he was unarmed. But suppose he had been an Osama
look-alike with a suicide vest.
Anyone in charge at that moment would have taken the decision to take
him down, and then verified his identity, and then taken him away to
make sure they had the right man. That is what they did. Any other
action risked disaster, militarily and politically.
It has NOT made the world a safer place.
Nothing will. That is not the issue or even the aim. If safety was the
key to life, we would not be here. Let me put it really simply just in
case there are people who still don't get it.
Due to the excessive amount of murder and mayhem organised and promoted
by Osama Bin Laden over many years, involving the deaths of people all
over the world, there was a strong case for his arrest and trial before
an international court. Realising his freedom was seriously at risk,
Bin Laden managed to go to earth in Pakistan, a country suffering
domestic confusion and division where he had a chance of hiding away
without being detected.
There were then two possibilities:
1. The Pakistan authorities locate and arrest Bin Laden.
2. Failing (1) above, the US goes in and takes him out.
Number one above failed. We do not know exactly why, and it doesn't
make a lot of difference. I do not consider unqualified blame can be
laid at the door of the Pakistan administration.
That left option (2). There is nothing more useful to add.
Legalistic arguments cannot override at this level, where by definition
law enforcement has broken down. Even 'laws of war' are a convention,
not an a priori truth. The BBC has quoted a typical pundit (turns out
it's the Archbishop of Canterbury, who I rather admire) as saying "The
killing of an unarmed man leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling".
Diddums, he must be spared that of course, that is what the law is for
isn't it? Well, no. The purpose of laws is to avoid violent or damaging
and escalating conflict. The abuse of law is more subtle than the
refusal of law, but each can cause the other and both can result in a
situation where law enforcement within the law is rendered impossible -
see Gödel, Escher, Bach for further enlightenment. Unless the law
is enforced by the 'sovereign power' the social contract breaks down,
and with it all law.
OBITUARY (Highly recommended): http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/02osama-bin-laden-obituary.html
There is now another debate about whether
water-boarding is torture, when the obvious answer is: if applied
either
repeatedly or to a sensitive person, yes.
If
used to scare a terrorist
into talking because he believes mistakenly his end has come, certainly
not. Torture, as the world means, is physically damaging.
Waterboarding
properly timed leaves a terrorist in much the same condition as before.
after recovering from the shock that caused them to cooperate. Whether
what they say is the truth is not relevant to this debate. That always
has to be assessed. If it warns of a pending attack, there is nothing
to lose by acting prudently on it.
MAY 16th 2011
Senator John Kerry seems to have done a good job on his visit to
Pakistan, not to apoligise but to ensure future cooperation in
anti-terror operations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13407465
He has explained the secrecy of the raid as a security necessity, and
surely that is credible from any point of view.
MAY 22 2011
In a frank and informative interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr,
President Obama indicated that, if he had to,
he would mount a raid like the one that took out Bin Laden again if it
meant preventing plans to attack Americans and their allies 'coming to
fruition'. This declaration was not aimed at Pakistan or any other
country but at terrorist leaders, financiers and controllers who might
think they were safe if they had sufficiently terrorised and
blackmailed any individual(s) within another county's security services
so as to prevent those services from discovering and betraying their
presence.
nnnn.