You know all those people who said that bin Laden was effectively nothing to al Qaeda any more?
Yeah, they were wrong.
The wealth of information pulled from Osama bin Laden’s compound has reinforced the belief that he played a strong role in planning and directing attacks by al-Qaida and its affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, senior U.S. officials said Friday.
And the data further demonstrates to the U.S. that top al-Qaida commanders and other key insurgents are scattered throughout Pakistan, not just in the rugged border areas, and are being supported and given sanctuary by Pakistanis, a senior defense official said.
Our pals, the Pakistanis. Hey, Obama called them our friends. So what’s up with him and our buds? How’s he doing? Not so good.
President Barack Obama’s promised trip to Pakistan this year, once seen as a reward for a key ally in the fight against terrorism, is now a looming headache for the White House as it tries to determine whether the government in Islamabad was complicit in allowing Osama bin Laden to live for years within the country’s borders.
Obama told Pakistani officials in the fall that he planned to travel there in 2011, in part to soothe concerns that the president was favoring Pakistan’s neighbor and archrival, India, by visiting there first. White House spokesmen questioned this week by The Associated Press refused to say whether Obama still planned to go.
I love this AP analysis:
Canceling the visit could be seen as a sign of U.S. mistrust of Pakistan’s handling of extremists within its borders – as underscored by the news that bin Laden lived in what Brennan himself called within “plain sight” in a neighborhood home to many in the Pakistani military.
Gee, ya think? We don’t trust the effers that hid the man behind the murder of 3,000 Americans for six years right next to their darling ISI officers? Whyever would we mistrust those guys?
And this is my favorite al Qaeda quote:
Al-Qaida confirmed the killing of Osama bin Laden Friday and vowed revenge, saying Americans'”happiness will turn to sadness” in the first statement by the terror network since its leader was slain in a U.S. commando raid against his Pakistani hideout.
Hm, let me think for a minute… Nah. Still pretty happy bin Laden is dead.
well y’know, the key .. cultural document w.r.t. bin Laden is .. the figure of Colonel Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now” / which is to say that had the former “freedom fighter” simply retired after the Soviets were driven from Afghanistan, they’d have named a library in Peoria after him ..
If he had retired after the Soviets were driven out of Afghanistan he would not have become an enemy of the USA.
The talk of the US being “at war with Islam” is a crock of, er, gammon. The US has risked and spent, for various reasons, considerable treasure and blood protecting Muslims against people who want to kill or oppress them. It just happens that most of the people who want to kill or oppress Muslims are other Muslims. Hardly evidence of “being at war with Islam.” Now if “Islam” wants to be at war with the US, that’s another matter, but Muslims should reflect on what happened to Germany and Japan a couple of generations ago before they decide to try that. We’re like Meryl’s friend The Hulk. Don’t make us angry, we’re not nice people when we’re angry.
“It just happens that most of the people who want to kill or oppress Muslims are other Muslims. ”
true. the U.S. was just getting revved up 200 years ago when two key events occurred, events that continue to resonate in an ugly way: the beginning of the Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain and, even uglier, the entry of a certain deranged troll, al-Wahhab, into the history of the Arabian peninsula. with all the talk about Pakistan, it’s easy to forget that – like much of the Muslim world – the bombings and destruction of shrines is a *symptom* .. of Saudi meddling.
Mark Steyn has commented that the Wahhabis are the most successful practitioners of globalization of all, far more so than McDonalds. Wahhabism also probably represents the “Islamic Reformation,” about the prospect for which there is so much speculation. Islam doesn’t need a Reformation so much as an Enlightenment. I’m pessimistic it will get one.
I’ve read that the Deobandi sect in Pakistan and India derives fro the Wahhabis. The founder went on the Hajj and, on his way back, stopped off in the Nejd for a few years and was mightily impressed with what he learned there. (Nejd must have been an impressive tourist draw, no? Think of the amenaties for visitors.) He returned home and started teaching Wahhabi-style Islam in the borderlands of the Hindu Kush and the sect spread like wildfire. About 50 years later Wahhabis played a major role in the Mutiny. British writers differentiated between Wahhabis and Sunnis when writing about the Mutiny, though they noted that the two tolerably agreed with each other, and disagreed with the Shi’a. “G-d’s Terrorists” by Charles Allen discusses this matter.
You can say the same thing about Paul, Michael. Christianity went global as well. I don’t think all that much of Steyn. He was wrong about bin Laden being dead, and I think he’s dead wrong about Europe turning Islamic. He is overlooking Europe’s centuries-long history of bloodshed. The rise of the anti-Muslim right is evidence, to me, that there is about to be some backlash to the Muslims in Europe. There are no more Jews in their countries for the Europeans to scapegoat, so they’ll turn on what they perceive to be the enemy within–even the ones who aren’t the enemy. Just watch.
Meryl,
They’re scapegoating Israelis instead and it’s far more kosher cloaking it in “anti-Zionism”.
The Europeans, including the Brits, have been doing their pacific utmost to be complicit in the grinding down of Israel, rewarding the Arabs with funding while blasting Israel with rhetoric which has over the years has become the narrative.
Melanie Phillips had an interesting post in the British Spectator which is worth reading
An open letter to the Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Here’s a taste:
Cynic, I don’t disagree about that. But the Israelis are in Israel. Europeans can’t actively attack them. Europeans are going to physically attack Muslims in the years to come. Watch for it. They’ve suddenly realized that open borders are not such a great idea after all. The closing of the borders is a big, big deal. And a sign of things to come. Plus, when the Leviathan gas field comes online, Israel will be selling natural gas to European nations. That’s a game-changer. It will make Israeli clout equal to the oil ticks.
Of course, Jews will never be liked. We were never liked there. But they’re going to turn their frustration on a nearer target. One within their own lands. This time, it won’t be the Jews.