Such is the depth of Pakistan’s moral corruption, that Syed Saleem Shahzad’s death leaves al Qaeda and the Taliban on a higher moral ground than Pakistan’s infamous intelligence agency, the ISI.
Bin Laden: Death by Verb
How we define Osama bin Laden’s death matters.
After Osama: China?
If the killing of Osama bin Laden were a Hollywood murder mystery, the shootout scene in Abbottabad would be followed by the unveiling of the sponsor who arranged for the al-Qaeda safe house. Is it the Pakistani intelligence officer who appears early in the movie to assure his U.S. counterparts that he is fully committed to bringing bin Laden to justice? Is it the Saudi construction magnate who owes several major favors to the bin Laden family? Or perhaps it’s the U.S. embassy official who, it might turn out, believes that Osama is more useful alive than dead — until finally, he is useful no longer.
WikiLeaks: Gitmo Guards’ Rewards System for Detainees Backfires
Young Guantanamo detainee Yasser Talal Al Zahrani took advantage of guards relaxing the rules to commit suicide.
Osama bin Laden’s American Legacy
Back in the 1960s, Senator George Aiken of Vermont offered two American presidents a plan for dealing with the Vietnam War: declare victory and go home. Roundly ignored at the time, it’s a plan worth considering again today for a war in Afghanistan and Pakistan now in its tenth year.
A Generation Exhales with Bin Laden’s Death
The enthusiastic flag-waving. The gaudy red, white, and blue jumpsuits, the booming chants of “USA, USA, USA.” The huge crowd of jubilant young people gathered outside the White House, celebrating Osama bin Laden’s death. Is it right to celebrate the death of an individual, even one as abhorrent as bin Laden?
Bin Laden May Be Dead But His Grievances Live On
The grievances expressed in bin Laden’s manifestoes, such as U.S. military presence in the Middle East and support for Israel, will be enough to replenish the ranks of Al-Qaeda and like-minded groups as long as the United States continues to pursue those policies.
Osama’s No Martyr, But the Man Prevailed
Soon after the United States went to war against the Taliban in pursuit of Osama in October 2001, I penned a widely published analysis that at the time provoked controversy. However, it anticipated the course of the titanic struggle between a global power and a determined fanatic over the next decade.
Jihadi Butch Cassidy
We have, once again, played right into Osama bin Laden’s hands. This might seem like an odd assertion, since the al-Qaeda mastermind is finally dead at the hands of U.S. Special Forces, most heads of state have voiced their congratulations, and practically the entire U.S. citizenry is unified in celebration. But Osama bin Laden always understood that the weak use the weapons of the powerful against them, such as U.S. airplanes against U.S. skyscrapers.
Bin Laden: If Ever We Wanted to Bring ‘Em Back Alive
According to a recent WikiLeaks dump, if harm came to bin Laden, the West would be subjected to a “nuclear hellstorm.”