Ideas@TheCentre
‘Death of a 54-year-old family father’
The dramatic news that Osama bin Laden was killed by an elite group of US Navy Seals this week evoked a number of sensible and silly responses from all corners of the world.
First the sensible, and this has come from the sober terrorism experts who are not overplaying or underplaying the fact that the Americans finally ‘got him.’
Yes, Al Qaeda will appoint a new leader, probably the even more ruthless Ayman al-Zawahiri. The fact that al-Zawahiri was formerly an Egyptian surgeon lends a somewhat Hannibal Lecter (granted the latter was a psychiatrist) flavour. However, Al Qaeda’s networks have been significantly disrupted, with several hundred of its senior members killed since September 11, 2001. Its capacity to plan large and complicated attacks is severely diminished. But it is still a power brand with which to rally terrorists, and bin Laden was the essence of the brand. Bin Laden had acquired mythical status and his death constitutes a significant blow.
President Barack Obama is also a major winner – from his gutsy decision to go ahead with the raid despite imperfect information and logistical misgivings about its success to his late night address on Sunday night in the White House where he avoided any ugly triumphalism and struck a sensible, serious and solemn tone – reminding Americans that ‘justice’ had finally been done but the fight against terrorism will still be a long one. The fact that bin Laden was killed during Obama’s tenure will also come in handy in the 2012 elections. It will be that much harder for Republicans to claim that Obama is ‘soft’ on terrorists.
Now the silly …
Pakistani leaders look duplicitous or just plain incompetent. Either way, they now appear silly. It is hard to believe that many senior political and military officials knew nothing about bin Laden being holed up in a relatively luxurious compound in Abbottabad – a town with a major military academy and filled with retired army generals.
Then there are the conspiracy theorists – including the Taliban in Afghanistan – who will never have enough proof. Just ask the ‘birthers’: they first demanded Obama’s birth certificate and now doubt its authenticity.
But the cake goes to a left-wing German commentator who chastised the Americans for celebrating the ‘death of a 54-year-old family father.’
Dr John Lee is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.
