So what about old Bin Bag’s despatch? Good news, wasn’t it? Well of course it is some form of pay-back for September 9th and July 7th but you don’t have to be a political analyst to work out that this is not closure; satisfaction maybe.
Of course the world now anticipates a huge backlash from the crazy house of cards upon which Mr bin Laden sat. But to take one man from the top of the Islam fundamentalist hierarchy will do no more damage to al-Qaeda than pulling Martin McGuiness or Gerry Adams from the streets of Belfast would have done to the IRA; and how easy would that have been?
That is, of course, if you believe that Mr bin Laden is actually dead; which I don’t.
Conspiracy theorists are usually regarded as whacky paranoid loners with too much time and technological know-how on their hands; I only tick two of those boxes, so go with this for a minute.
Bin Laden’s “death” is a win-win situation for everyone with the possible exception of the Pakistanis. For Obama, it is the shot in the arm which his flagging popularity desperately needs; just look at those scenes on the streets of New York and Washington to witness a modern day lynch mob in action. Good job, Obama! Take another four years! And aside from the sweet taste of revenge, it demonstrates that obtaining Intel under duress – aka torture- is justified. He might even be able to pull a few troops home from Afghanistan. Ironically, “disappearing” bin Laden could do for Obama what 911 did for George Bush – keep him in the White House.
And then bin Laden himself; what of the Saudi-born adventurer who cut his teeth with the CIA funded Mujahedeen before becoming radicalised and attaining the status of the World’s-Most-Wanted-Man? He had nothing more to gain. His World Vision for Islamic Dominance lies in tatters with the CIA fuelled pro-democracy insurgence spreading like a cancer throughout the Arab world. The Arab Spring is doing for al-Qaeda what Gordon Wilson did for the IRA. If he had serious political aspirations, he’d still be in the caves of Tora Bora.
No, Mr bin Laden was offered terms, and he wisely took them. He was never going to be paraded in front of the world press or stand in the dock to account for his crimes against humanity. Everyone knew where he was for at least the last four years but no one did anything about it. Even the bounty hunters were warned off. Until, that is, last week when the Pakistanis decided to cash in their most valued asset and go public; then something had to be done about it. Bin Laden’s last reported location even suggests that he may already have been in American hands; just a short hop in a Black Hawk from Bagram Air Base.
I believe Mr bin Laden will be under the protectorate of the CIA and left to live out his remaining years painting model passenger jets or assembling jig-saws of the Twin Towers somewhere where he will not be found; free to do anything in fact, except write his memoir.
You may ask about those newspaper pictures of Obama and his inner circle in the aptly named “Situation Room”. You may see the casually dressed twelve in the “…Gee, this turn of events took us by surprise” manner of those suddenly summoned to witness the green light for decisive action that lead to that “Geronimo” moment. See them sitting, grim faced, hand to mouth (Clinton) or behind backs (Biden), watching the video feeds from the Navy Seals Six’s head-cams, evidencing the final moments play out in the life of their most feared adversary. Was this not what happened? Surely the invitation to the press to watch them watching is evidence enough? And wasn’t it a good enough reason for Obama to have missed the Royal Wedding?
But that scene is eerily similar to another one – albeit perpetrated by Hollywood – in which the inner circle of JFK’s administration observed the moon landing; except the “moon landing” actually took place in a huge warehouse in a remote region of the Sierra Nevada desert. Remember Capricorn One? Conspiracy theorists would say that there was more than a grain of truth in this: If you can’t actually get your rocket to the moon the moon will come to you – so the next best thing is to fake it. Just where did that shadow come from, and is there actually sufficient wind on the moon to make the Stars and Stripes flutter?
If I’m wrong about this, there will be a video popping up pretty soon on Aljazeera, telling us that he is alive and had just popped out for a six-pack of Carling when his human rights were infringed, his property violated, a subsidiary wife and much valued courier murdered, and a Black Hawk dumped in his back yard.
I mean, do we seriously believe that the analysts at Langley narrowed it down one house-stroke-complex simply because a $1m property ought to have a satellite TV and a terrestrial phone line? You could target almost every house in Wilmslow on that basis. And as for the politically correct burial at sea? Too much information and too little evidence.
So if this was, as I believe, “Capricorn 2” – and frankly I wouldn’t blame the Americans for one minute if it was - no one, Jews apart, really wants to catch and deal with war criminals these days.
