On Sunday, May 1, 2011, US Navy Seals presented the world with a wonderful May Day present. Traditionally an old holiday celebrating spring and new life, this time they presented the world with the death of the most wanted terrorist on the planet, Osama bin Laden. Although all the facts have not yet been reported, and some probably never will be, its now known that Osama bin Laden lived in luxury in a $1 million compound, just a few miles from a Pakistani military academy. This raises interesting questions, which the Obama administration must make a point to have answered, credibly, in the coming days. How much did the Pakastani government know about Bin Laden? How could it be credibly possible for the Pakistani government NOT to have known about his present, apparently for years, just outside their capital?
The answer, of course, is that it isn't credibly possible. No reasonable person can believe that the Pakistani intelligence service, reputed to be competent, albeit brutal and infested with sympathizers to militant Islamist causes, did not know about Osama bin Laden's presence on their soil. This unfortunately bodes ill for the US-Pakistani relationship, and we call upon President Obama to demand answers to these questions in the days to come. If the US does not get adequate answers to its questions about Pakistani involvement, then it is time that the US reassess our commitment to continue to send billions of dollars to the Pakistani government. While Pakistan may have acquiesced in US forces going into Pakistani airspace to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, Pakistan's assistance in the war on terror at best has been grudging, and at times, outright hostile.
I will admit, this is a bit of a surprise operation, considering that I feel that President Obama has largely abdicated any pretense of leadership ability both in our foreign policy and domestically. Indeed, many of the Democratic party's problems in the 2010 elections were self-inflicted. A party which has no unity, which allows its members to ignore the wishes of party leadership, and to cooperate so openly with the republicans that some can be called republicans in all but name, deserved the trouncing they received at the polls. One of the reasons for this is the absence of party leadership by Mr. Obama.
Let us hope that this incident will show us a renewed leadership ability by Mr. Obama as he demands explanations from Pakistani officials, and the intestinal fortitude to follow it up with tough actions, including the suspension or restriction of US aid to Pakistan, if we do not receive the answers and guarantees that are needed.
