The death of Osama bin Laden

May 03, 2011 Editorial

The news came late Sunday night. American forces had killed Osama bin Laden. The subsequent broadcast by President Barack Obama must have been the most televised news event, perhaps only surpassed by the Super Bowl, the Olympics and perhaps the recent Royal Wedding.
Television programmes were interrupted to bring this bit of news and to rekindle so many things. The stock exchange got a boost, President Obama’s rating surged ahead of his re-election bid, American spirit lifted, and the belief that the Americans can get whoever they want was reinforced.
Osama bin Laden was once a friend of the Americans. He was an ally when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. The relationship turned sour when American troops entered Saudi Arabia in the wake of the invasion by Iraq.
We in this corner of the world would not have paid any attention to Osama bin Laden had it not been for the attacks on the American Embassies in Tanzania and in Kenya in 1998. President Bill Clinton named him as a most wanted man and the hunt began.
President George Bush continued that hunt in earnest when the United States suffered its worst terrorist attack. September 11, 2001 will forever be etched in the history of that country. That event sealed bin Laden’s fate. The US offered a humungous reward for his head; George Bush pulled out a phrase from the Wild West—Wanted dead or alive.
This incident that has the western world celebrating is testimony to perseverance, to patience and of course, to serious planning. bin Laden’s death also caps a series of remarkable events. There were at least two reports that bin Laden had died. The Americans heard these things and while some believed there were those who said that they would not accept any such report until they saw a body.
In Guyana, we are quick to take the easy way out. We might have accepted the reports that the wanted man had died and that would have been the end of the matter. This very wanted man would then have surfaced to our detriment. The Americans persisted. There was the report about bin Laden being in the caves at Tora Bora. Then there were reports that he was terminally ill and might have died and was buried in a secret grave. Bin Laden himself scotched those reports when he broadcast a message on al Jazeera.
This killing is a lesson in many things. It teaches the importance of intelligence. We now know that the people arrested in the wake of September 11, 2001 provided credible information. How the Americans wrung the information out of them is not stated but the information was processed. They learnt of a courier and spent months identifying him. Patience paid off.
Guyana does not have the resources to execute such an attack. There was talk about a compound being surrounded by eighteen-foot high walls crowned with barbed wire. We now hear that the Americans actually built such a compound and trained for the fateful day. Nothing was left to chance.
Images of the celebration tell a story. One person who lost a relative in the September 11 attack actually said that while one should not celebrate a death this must be the exception. And why? Because bin Laden had become synonymous with everything bad; everything hostile.
Initial reports stated that at least three men and a woman died in the attack. The Americans lost none of the attackers but they did something that was designed to convince the world that the most feared man had died. They took the body with them. They meant to put an end to all speculation.
Guyana is more than halfway around the world from where this happened but it has implications. For one, a man of Guyanese parentage is rated highly on the list of wanted terrorists. It means that attention would turn to this country, not that we knowingly harbour any terrorist.
And then there are the anticipated retaliatory strikes. A dying snake lashes out in every direction. An aircraft out of Guyana could be attacked. It therefore means that security must be heightened. We are a careless people. We scan baggage haphazardly, especially if we are paid to look the other way. Such dishonesty could cause our death.

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The death of Osama bin Laden

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