Osama Bin Laden Killed in Pakistan-2

[A_Gupta]

On the Chai Ghar, this theory:

However I will go a step further and say that our military establishment not only knew where Osama was, but was keeping Osama deliberately in Abbotabad on American instructions. They were however kept in the dark about the final raid.

It does not take much to realise that by killing Osama at this very convenient time, Obama has pulled off a great coup at a time when he was in retreat on every front at home from health care to federal budget. Now Republicans find themselves outwitted and outsmarted by a terrific operator who has stage managed a brilliant political victory and is all set to win the elections in 2012 despite a largely disappointing first term.

Pakistan-US relations were at their lowest ebb and by carrying out this bold raid, US has taken the bull by the horns. That Osama’s end was nigh was written on the wall. The reason why the Americans acted in utter secrecy was not because they feared that Pakistanis would alert Osama. The Americans feared that Pakistan Army would move in, arrest Osama and hand him over to the Americans alive. This they feared would give Pakistan leverage in the post-war Afghanistan as Pakistan Army would demand that Haqqani network be recognised as a player with legitimate estimate. I suspect one day when history is written after documents are de-classifed, it shall record that American strike against Osama pre-empted a Pakistani plan to strike.

[Arjun]

On the Chai Ghar, this theory:

I am sure there are zillions of equally - if not crazier CTs, floating around in Pukistan...Do we really need to give them any credence on BRF?

[shiv]

On the Chai Ghar, this theory:

However I will go a step further and say that our military establishment not only knew where Osama was, but was keeping Osama deliberately in Abbotabad on American instructions. They were however kept in the dark about the final raid.

It does not take much to realise that by killing Osama at this very convenient time, Obama has pulled off a great coup at a time when he was in retreat on every front at home from health care to federal budget. Now Republicans find themselves outwitted and outsmarted by a terrific operator who has stage managed a brilliant political victory and is all set to win the elections in 2012 despite a largely disappointing first term.

Pakistan-US relations were at their lowest ebb and by carrying out this bold raid, US has taken the bull by the horns. That Osama’s end was nigh was written on the wall. The reason why the Americans acted in utter secrecy was not because they feared that Pakistanis would alert Osama. The Americans feared that Pakistan Army would move in, arrest Osama and hand him over to the Americans alive. This they feared would give Pakistan leverage in the post-war Afghanistan as Pakistan Army would demand that Haqqani network be recognised as a player with legitimate estimate. I suspect one day when history is written after documents are de-classifed, it shall record that American strike against Osama pre-empted a Pakistani plan to strike.

Any friggin excuse to save the izzat of the Paki army.

[Gilles]

A pretty interesting editorial by Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi

http://www.thefridaytimes.com/13052011/page1.shtml

Much the same mass delusion and intellectual hypocrisy is attached to arguments about how America has “violated our sovereignty” in the OBL case. Of course, they have. But the drones “violate” it every week on the basis of secret rules of engagement agreed upon with the Americans many years ago by the Pakistani military high command that are still in play. The media knows this but doesn’t want to ask the military to explain it.

The fact also is that our “sovereignty” was sold to America when our civil-military bureaucracy entered into unequal military pacts with the US in the 1950s, when it offered Pakistan as a “front-line” state for America in its war against the USSR when the rest of the post-colonial world was cobbling an autonomous “non-aligned movement”, when it sold our sufi soul to various jihadi organisations sponsored (as the modern-day equivalents of “America’s founding fathers” as per President Ronald Reagan) and paid for by America in Afghanistan. The civil-military bureaucracy hoodwinked Pakistanis by flogging it as a sovereign sale to “friends, not masters”. In the latest post 9/11 era, the US has paid $18 billion to Pakistan for buying into its “sovereignty” under General Pervez Musharraf and it is no surprise that much of this money has gone to replenish the Pakistani military or to line the pockets of usurpers.

Meanwhile, the military has fashioned a national security doctrine to suit its manufacture of a national security state. This is based on a “palpable and continuing threat from India” to undo Pakistan. In its latest formulation, the threat is supposed to emanate from India’s “capacity” to harm Pakistan rather than its intentions to make peace, which is a recipe for an arms race and not an antidote to war. It is true that India’s Hindu ruling elites were initially averse to the idea of Pakistan and hostile to the new country. They were also unfair in denying Kashmir to Pakistan. But since the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Pakistan, the deterrent has worked to obliterate any existential threat to Pakistan from India. The 1999 Lahore summit between the civilian political leaders of both countries was a confirmation of this new reality. Unfortunately, however, the military has become so obsessed with the idea of itself as the sole protector and saviour of Pakistan, a corollary of which is its continuing demand for constantly rising “defense” budgets and monopoly in foreign policy making, that it is not ready to open up its national security doctrine for discussion, debate and re-evaluation in the light of new economic, political and regional realities. This, despite the fact of disastrous military policy making in 1965 (Operation Gibraltar, that provoked war with India), in 1971 (war with India that dismembered Pakistan), in 1984 (loss of Siachin), in the 1980s (warlike tensions with India over Pakistan’s support to the Khalistan movement), in the Afghan jihad (whose militant Islamism blowback has crippled Pakistani culture and politics), in the 1990s Kashmir jihad (that has wiped out a generation of Kashmiris and created jihadi militias in Pakistan without yielding Kashmir), in the 1999 Kargil conflict (that led to a military defeat and the overthrow of a democratically elected government), and now gross incompetence or complicity in shielding OBL.

But the way to protect ourselves is to build trust and peace and trade and interdependence with our neighbours like India and Afghanistan and Iran and allies like America and the EU instead of trying to weaken or leverage them by internal and external state and non-state provocations as we have done in the past.

[ramana]

The Pakis had this crazy theory that Naizi did not surrender in 1971, but was signing a ceasefire document which yevil India converted into surrender document! Its laways someone else to blame for their incompetence/impotence.

[anupmisra]

The Pakis had this crazy theory that Naizi did not surrender in 1971, but was signing a ceasefire document which yevil India converted into surrender document! Its laways someone else to blame for their incompetence/impotence.

Coming from A A K (Tiger) Niazi, who was determined to fight till the end, that makes complete sense. He thought he was probably signing land deeds being transferred to him by terrified Bengali Yindoos. By the way, those rows and rows of relieved looking paki officers laying down their side arms including their belts? It was actually part of a program by the west to exchange inferior revolvers for spanking new semi-automatic Glocks with western style side holsters.

[Lalmohan]

^^^ oh i thought they were de-briefing in order to increase cultural cooperation and close activities with bangladeshi women?

[thayilv]

I remember reading (on BRF itself) some years ago, a paki article gleefully claiming that at the time of the surrender, he allegedly swapped his own personal sidearm with another old one and this was the gun he handed over during surrender. Such is the depths at which they stoop for H&D preservation!

[ramana]

Debka....

http://www.debka.com/article/20912/

The US pushes Pakistani intelligence to the wall

DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis May 7, 2011, 1:14 PM (GMT+02:00)

The Obama administration is presenting the successful Osama bin Laden hit as an epic American solo operation, unparalleled in military and intelligence annals, while leaning hard on Islamabad to sack certain officers of the powerful military intelligence army ISI including its head Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, accusing them of keeping the dead al Qaeda leader hidden for eight years.

The ISI chief is a close confidant of Pakistan's chief of staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani with whom Washington works closely and so the demand for Pasha's head is seen as casting aspersions on him too.

American sources reported Saturday, May 7 that five days earlier, just hours after bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a high-ranking US official landed in Islamabad with a demand to bring the ISI officers involved in sheltering the al Qaeda leader to book.

It now appears that the iconic jihadi leader first arrived in Pakistani in 2003 and stayed in the small village of Chak Shah Mohammad near Haripur 40 kilometers north of the Pakistani capital. According Pakistani sources, this information came from questioning the Bin Laden wife found and detained in the Abbottabad villa where he was killed. She said the family stayed in the village two and-a-half years before moving to Abbottabad in 2005.

debkafile's intelligence sources report that details are slipping out over bin Laden's secret Pakistani addresses over the years. The ISI used some of those compounds as safe houses for terrorists from other organizations. The Abbottabad villa compound is now revealed as having served as a byway station for terrorists from Pakistan-backed organizations heading for Kashmir, long a violent bone of contention with India.

In summer, however, it had a very different use: High-ranking diplomats and officials of the Pakistani foreign office used it as a holiday villa, attracted by the pleasant climate in this North West Frontier town. Dual Use!!!

Far from being off the beaten track, the property was therefore in regular use by the authorities in Islamabad.

In the mounting duel between the Obama administration and Pakistan, two conflicting versions of the bin Laden episode are unfolding, with potentially detrimental effect on the Afghan War and global war on terror.

The Americans have embarked on a two-pronged strategy:

1. Friday, May 6, President Barack Obama was cheered by members of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when he said: "Now in recent days, the whole world has learned just how ready they were. These Americans deserve credit for one of the greatest intelligence military operations in our nation's history." Pakistan was not mentioned.

Obama had just shaken the hands of the Seals members who returned from Abbottabad.

2. Washington is not only cutting Pakistan out of any role in the feat but bent on weakening Pakistani military intelligence and, in particular, the officials tied to Osama bin Laden, on the assumption that they are also in touch with other high-profile al Qaeda leaders and may even be harboring them too. The US also presumes them to be in connection with the very Taliban leaders American soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan.

The Obama administration is vitally interested in weakening the Pakistani factions maintaining those ties and showing Taliban they can no longer be relied on as protection against America's long arm. The US will ultimately corner Taliban's leaders, whether by diplomatic engagement or the methods which ended Osama bin Laden's life.

Pakistan's take is not just different but increasingly resentful: Its military intelligence insists the bin Laden operation would not have succeeded without close cooperation between the CIA and ISI and the two armies – or some factions thereof – which was maintained at least up until President Obama's decision to authorize the Abbottabad raid. This view is supported by some Western counterterrorism agencies engaged in the war on al Qaeda.

Pakistani officials suspect the US administration heads is deliberately denying them a measure of credit for the successful mission because, with bin Laden gone, Obama feels confident enough to go straight to the Taliban to negotiate an end to the Afghanistan war and dispense with Pakistan's good services as intermediaries. With the al Qaeda leader out of the way, he wants to see the back of a Pakistan role in Afghanistan.

debkafile's counter-terror sources warn that the rising acrimony between Washington and Islamabad may well deter Pakistani intelligence from fingering more wanted al Qaeda figures and their hideouts - or even encourage the ISI to stand aside when Taliban goes for American targets in revenge for bin Laden's termination

[SaiK]

the only thing faki intelligence is doing is chest thump back at India and say, they have identified targets to do a counter special ops.

besides talifakies, paki nukes must be taken away. unkill will have to be coaxed to this level, where he feels threatened by new clear ji hard icks, as a motivation to chew them up.

btw, this op has not only pushed into the wall, but way deep to the other side of the wall of no return, that is filled with filth. ISI=AQ is QEDed, and no more they need to look east side and chest beat, as every time they do so, this perfidious incident will haunt them with rectal pain for billions of years.

[svinayak]

The US pushes Pakistani intelligence to the wall

The Obama administration is presenting the successful Osama bin Laden hit as an epic American solo operation, unparalleled in military and intelligence annals, while leaning hard on Islamabad to sack certain officers of the powerful military intelligence army ISI including its head Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, accusing them of keeping the dead al Qaeda leader hidden for eight years.

With Raymond Davis Pakistan ISI took the initiative from US military in the Af Pak area and tried to do a geo political plan by asking Karzai to ditch US support.

With Osama killing US has taken the initiative back and will try to force ISI and Pakistan to accept all demands.

This see saw will continue for long time and India should not enter this game at all. It should not comment but keep its relationship with Afg steady.

[ramana]

X-posted...

[RajeshG]

debkafile's counter-terror sources warn that the rising acrimony between Washington and Islamabad may well deter Pakistani intelligence from fingering more wanted al Qaeda figures and their hideouts - or even encourage the ISI to stand aside when Taliban goes for American targets in revenge for bin Laden's termination

I doubt the above subtle threats against the west will be effective in restoring the mardangi of the TSPA fauj. The cheer-haran has been public - not subtle, the ghazis will have to do something public - not subtle. After some thought I doubt whether an attack on cowardly SDREs will do either. It has to be the West.

[anupmisra]

I remember reading (on BRF itself) some years ago, a paki article gleefully claiming that at the time of the surrender, he allegedly swapped his own personal sidearm with another old one and this was the gun he handed over during surrender. Such is the depths at which they stoop for H&D preservation!

And, then you are made to wonder where the pak fauji hid the original sidearm to fool the Yindians. Now thats an image to ruin your breakfast.

[Airavat]

According to a new Gallup tracking poll just out, Obama's poll bounce was six points. It lasted two weeks. And the Democrat is already back down to the 46% approval he had before he watched the SEALs raid on satellite cam the night of May 1. Forty-four percent disapprove now.

Why did Obama's poll boost get buried at sea so quickly

[sum]

With Raymond Davis Pakistan ISI took the initiative from US military in the Af Pak area and tried to do a geo political plan by asking Karzai to ditch US support.

With Osama killing US has taken the initiative back and will try to force ISI and Pakistan to accept all demands.

This see saw will continue for long time and India should not enter this game at all. It should not comment but keep its relationship with Afg steady.

Sorry if this Q was asked and answered before but here goes:

Was Redmond Davis a part of the safehouse team watching over OBL villa in Abbottabad and crossed a "red line" ( ISI words) by tracking the courier even in Lahore which led to his altercation and arrest?

[Ambar]

I doubt it, for the simple reason being Pakis would have been spooked enough to relocate Osama into some sewer under pindi GHQ. I think Reymond Davis was probably a part of CIA's mission to investigate the Pakjabi (esp. LeT) jihadis-ISI-AQ nexus that was probably too close to home for ISI's comfort.

[Patni]

AP sources: Raiders, White House knew secret bin Laden raid was a one-shot deal

By Kimberly Dozier, The Associated Press – 1 hour ago
WASHINGTON — Those who planned the secret mission to get Osama bin Laden in Pakistan knew it was a one-shot deal, and it nearly went terribly wrong.
The U.S. deliberately hid the operation from Pakistan, and predicted that national outrage over the breach of Pakistani sovereignty would make it impossible to try again if the raid on bin Laden's suspected redoubt came up dry.
Once the raiders reached their target, things started to go awry almost immediately, officials briefed on the operation said.
Adding exclusive new details to the account of the assault on bin Laden's hideout, officials described just how the SEAL raiders loudly ditched a foundering helicopter right outside bin Laden's door, ruining the plan for a surprise assault. That forced them to abandon plans to run a squeeze play on bin Laden — simultaneously entering the house stealthily from the roof and the ground floor.
Instead, they busted into the ground floor and began a floor-by-floor storming of the house, working up to the top level where they had assumed bin Laden — if he was in the house — would be.
They were right.
The raiders came face-to-face with bin Laden in a hallway outside his bedroom, and three of the Americans stormed in after him, U.S. officials briefed on the operation told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a classified operation.
U.S. officials believe Pakistani intelligence continues to support militants who attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and actively undermine U.S. intelligence operations to go after al-Qaida inside Pakistan. The level of distrust is such that keeping Pakistan in the dark was a major factor in planning the raid, and led to using the high-tech but sometimes unpredictable helicopter technology that nearly unhinged the mission.
Pakistan's government has since condemned the action, and threatened to open fire if U.S. forces enter again.
On Monday, the two partners attempted to patch up relations, agreeing to pursue high-value targets jointly.
The decision to launch on that particular moonless night in May came largely because too many American officials had been briefed on the plan. U.S. officials feared if it leaked to the press, bin Laden would disappear for another decade.
U.S. special operations forces have made approximately four forays into Pakistani territory since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, though this one, some 90 miles (145 kilometres) inside Pakistan, was unlike any other, the officials say.
The job was given to a SEAL Team 6 unit, just back from Afghanistan, one official said. This elite branch of SEALs had been hunting bin Laden in eastern Afghanistan since 2001.
Five aircraft flew from Jalalabad, Afghanistan, with three school-bus-size Chinook helicopters landing in a deserted area roughly two-thirds of the way to bin Laden's compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, two of the officials explained.
Aboard two Black Hawk helicopters were 23 SEALs, an interpreter and a tracking dog named Cairo. Nineteen SEALs would enter the compound, and three of them would find bin Laden, one official said, providing the exact numbers for the first time.
Aboard the Chinooks were two dozen more SEALs, as backup.
The Black Hawks were specially engineered to muffle the tail rotor and engine sound, two officials said. The added weight of the stealth technology meant cargo was calculated to the ounce (gram), with weather factored in. The night of the mission, it was hotter than expected.
The Black Hawks were to drop the SEALs and depart in less than two minutes, in hopes locals would assume they were Pakistani aircraft visiting the nearby military academy.
One Black Hawk was to hover above the compound, with SEALs sliding down ropes into the open courtyard.
The second was to hover above the roof to drop SEALs there, then land more SEALs outside, plus an interpreter and the dog, who would track anyone who tried to escape and to alert SEALs to any approaching Pakistani security forces.
If troops appeared, the plan was to hunker down in the compound, avoiding armed confrontation with the Pakistanis while officials in Washington negotiated their passage out.
The two SEAL teams inside would work toward each other, in a simultaneous attack from above and below, their weapons silenced, guaranteeing surprise, one of the officials said. They would have stormed the building in a matter of minutes, as they'd done time and again in two training models of the compound.
The plan unraveled as the first helicopter tried to hover over the compound. The Black Hawk skittered around uncontrollably in the heat-thinned air, forcing the pilot to land. As he did, the tail and rotor got caught on one of the compound's 12-foot (3.6-meter) walls. The pilot quickly buried the aircraft's nose in the dirt to keep it from tipping over, and the SEALs clambered out into an outer courtyard.
The other aircraft did not even attempt hovering, landing its SEALs outside the compound.
Now, the raiders were outside, and they'd lost the element of surprise.
They had trained for this, and started blowing their way in with explosives, through walls and doors, working their way up the three-level house from the bottom.
They had to blow their way through barriers at each stair landing, firing back, as one of the men in the house fired at them.
They shot three men as well as one woman, whom U.S. officials have said lunged at the SEALs.
Small knots of children were on every level, including the balcony of bin Laden's room.
As three of the SEALs reached the top of the steps on the third floor, they saw bin Laden standing at the end of the hall. The Americans recognized him instantly, the officials said.
Bin Laden also saw them, dimly outlined in the dark house, and ducked into his room.
The three SEALs assumed he was going for a weapon, and one by one they rushed after him through the door, one official described.
Two women were in front of bin Laden — yelling and trying to protect him, two officials said. The first SEAL grabbed the two women and shoved them away, fearing they might be wearing suicide bomb vests, they said.
The SEAL behind him opened fire at bin Laden, putting one bullet in his chest, and one in his head.
It was over in a matter of seconds.
Back at the White House Situation Room, word was relayed that bin Laden had been found, signalled by the code word "Geronimo." That was not bin Laden's code name, but rather a representation of the letter "G." Each step of the mission was labeled alphabetically, and "Geronimo" meant that the raiders had reached step "G," the killing or capture of bin Laden, two officials said.
As the SEALs began photographing the body for identification, the raiders found an AK-47 rifle and a Russian-made Makarov pistol on a shelf by the door they'd just run through. Bin Laden hadn't touched them.
They were among a handful of weapons that were removed to be inventoried.
It took approximately 15 minutes to reach bin Laden, one official said. The next 23 or so were spent blowing up the broken chopper, after rounding up nine women and 18 children, to get them out of range of the blast.
One of the waiting Chinooks flew in to pick up bin Laden's body, the raiders from the broken aircraft and the weapons, documents and other materials seized at the site.
The helicopters flew back to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, and the body was flown to a waiting U.S. Navy ship for bin Laden's burial at sea, ensuring no shrine would spring up around his grave.
When the SEAL team met President Barack Obama, he did not ask who shot bin Laden. He simply thanked each member of the team, two officials said.
In a few weeks, the team that killed bin Laden will go back to training, and in a couple of months, back to work overseas.

[VKumar]

Why we will never see dead Osama bin Laden? What really happened?

http://raqibshah.wordpress.com/2011/05/ ... -happened/

Worth a read. at least explains why daily dialysis was not required.

[chetak]

Check this out for the sequence of operation and the time-line of the Abbottabad raid.

http://tinyurl.com/Animated-Time-Line-Geronimo

[Altair]

Was Redmond Davis a part of the safehouse team watching over OBL villa in Abbottabad and crossed a "red line" ( ISI words) by tracking the courier even in Lahore which led to his altercation and arrest?

I would not bet on it. Pakis may be dumb but they are also paranoid. If they even had guessed that OBL's courier was tailed they would have shifted him. Secondly, watchers travel in pairs,ALWAYS.

[Rahul Shukla]

NATO helicopter attacks Pakistani army post (MSNBC)

A NATO helicopter crossed into Pakistani territory and opened fire on a border post on Tuesday, wounding two soldiers and drawing return fire...

A Western military official in Afghanistan gave a different version of events, but he and a NATO spokesman said there was firing at the border.

The official said a NATO base in Afghanistan took intermittent direct and indirect fire from the Pakistani side of the border. Two helicopters flew into the area, and one fired across the border after twice taking fire from the Pakistani side...

The border incident took place in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region...

NATO said it was still trying to determine whether the helicopter crossed in to Pakistani airspace.

[SaiK]

cool.. it is not usa vs pakibans now, it is all nato vs. pakibans.

shows, pakibans' consistency in stinking ally relationship, soon to be in chaos and utter failure.

[Altair]

NATO helicopter attacks Pakistani army post (MSNBC)

A NATO helicopter crossed into Pakistani territory and opened fire on a border post on Tuesday, wounding two soldiers and drawing return fire...

A Western military official in Afghanistan gave a different version of events, but he and a NATO spokesman said there was firing at the border.

The official said a NATO base in Afghanistan took intermittent direct and indirect fire from the Pakistani side of the border. Two helicopters flew into the area, and one fired across the border after twice taking fire from the Pakistani side...

The border incident took place in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan tribal region...

NATO said it was still trying to determine whether the helicopter crossed in to Pakistani airspace.

NATO allies attack MAJOR NON-NATO ally!!

[svinayak]

cool.. it is not usa vs pakibans now, it is all nato vs. pakibans.

shows, pakibans' consistency in stinking ally relationship, soon to be in chaos and utter failure.

Now Pakistan will issue warning against NATO. NATO will become enemy of Pakistan.
Now PRC cannot directly assist Pakistan since it will have to tackle NATO.

This elaborate scheme had to be done to checkmate the rogue state problem.

[chetak]

Was Redmond Davis a part of the safehouse team watching over OBL villa in Abbottabad and crossed a "red line" ( ISI words) by tracking the courier even in Lahore which led to his altercation and arrest?

I would not bet on it. Pakis may be dumb but they are also paranoid. If they even had guessed that OBL's courier was tailed they would have shifted him. Secondly, watchers travel in pairs,ALWAYS.

They certainly had enough time to thoroughly interrogate him.

[Nandu]

Why we will never see dead Osama bin Laden? What really happened?

http://raqibshah.wordpress.com/2011/05/ ... -happened/

Worth a read. at least explains why daily dialysis was not required.

You could have given a hint that this a CT article taking about OBL's body being kept frozen beforehand. Could have saved a minute of my time spent reading that cr*p.

[IndraD]

An Egyptian named chief of AQ.

Doesnt matter, it is nothing more than a rag tag disorganised bunch of nuts incapable of doing any thing, it clearly proves a point, successful terrorism needs a state support.

[A_Gupta]

On the Chai Ghar, this theory:

I am sure there are zillions of equally - if not crazier CTs, floating around in Pukistan...Do we really need to give them any credence on BRF?

Posting it on BRF does not give it credence. Otherwise, e.g., discussing Islamism would give Islamism credence; discussing Chinese commie-capitalist ideology would give it credence, etc., etc. We would have to be silent.

[hnair]

[ramana]

Nightwatch comments 17 May 2011:


Nightwatch 5/17/2011

Al Qaida: In a recent meeting, presumably in Pakistan, al Qaida's council elected Saifal Adel (Abu Saif), one of the early members of al-Qaida, as chief of the party Command of Control for the time being, sources told the Pakistani news service, The News. However, Muhammad Mustafa Yamni is likely to be made al-Qaida chief after a grand consultation. Yamni is currently residing in an African country.

Saifal Adel is an Egyptian and has served at key posts in Egypt terrorist groups. He worked with Ayman al-Zawahiri in the al-Jihad group of Egypt. Zawahiri was bin Laden's number two. The News reported that Zawahiri would continue holding his posts of al-Qaida patron, and the chief of the al-Qaida Militant Command. Zawahiri also will monitor the international contacts, a task that had been done by Saifal Adel.

The News' sources reported that Adnan al-Kashri had been placed in charge of general information affairs. Muhammad Nasir al-Washi (Abu Nasir) is now in charge of al-Qaida Africa affairs and Muhammad Adam Khan Afghani was appointed to direct Afghanistan-Waziristan affairs. Fahad al-Qava had been appointed as the Urgent Operational Commander.

{Can someone draw up an org chart based on this info and blog it?}

Comment: The day after bin Laden's death, an Asia Times on Line analyst reported that the Saudi (bin Laden) faction and the Egyptian (Zawahiri) faction had had a falling out over leadership and policy direction. The full details of the policy split are not known, but what is known is that Zawahiri publicly supported the Pakistan Taliban in their moves to try to overthrow the government of Pakistan, under Musharraf and under the elected civilians. This included the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Bin Laden never associated himself with that policy. Bin Laden seems to have favored sensational attacks against Western targets over consolidating a base in Pakistan by taking over the government.

The Egyptians marginalized bin Laden. The lack of security and staff at Abbottabad - a single body guard - indicates bin Laden was a figurehead and a symbol, more than a hands-on commander. The computer disks and thumb drives, in this theory, call to mind Hitler with his war maps in the bunker in Berlin.

According to the Asia Times report, the Egyptian faction delivered the identity and movements of bin Laden's trusted courier to US intelligence and the courier was aware that he was being tracked so that he could lead US intelligence to the Abbottabad house. The courier was a key actor in an al Qaida intelligence operation to eliminate the Saudi faction and permit the Egyptians to take control.

The operation appears to have worked. The leadership selections, reported by The News, support the hypothesis of betrayal by the Egyptians. No Saudis are in senior leadership positions. Until the promotion of Abu Saif and other non-Saudis to leadership positions, the Asia Times report was just one hypothesis.

Based on statements by Zawahiri, al Qaida may be expected to help the Pakistani Taliban to try to seize control in Pakistan. For them, Pakistan is the objective, not Afghanistan.

So goal of born again Al Qeeda is to take over TSP and not Afghanistan.

[Gagan]

Raymond Davis AND HIS TEAM were probably keeping a watch on Muridke and Kala Shah Kaku.

LET has its HQ in muridke in a huge campus, where OBL had built a guest house, for his own and his fellow Jihadis' use. That city is protected by the ISI, and then that campus by LET's own armed Jihadis. That would have been a safe place for someone like OBL to hide out at.

Also if the US was pretending to watch Muridke, the pakistanis could be satisfied that the US was far from OBL, and the CIA didn't have a clue.

The good thing for the Raymond Davis team was that they could look at the Atomic Energy Minerals Center where Uranium rich ore is processed. But then one would think that the AEMC was old hat for the CIA guys. They would have gotten uranium samples ages (decades) ago. They must be keeping watch on it to prevent the LET guys getting hold of some yellow cake.

But the pressing need was probably to keep a watch on the LET HQ.

Raymond Davis in a way, sacrificed himself, so that his team could escape into the consulate. But he did so with the knowledge that his government would go all out to ensure his safety. Important lesson for India.

[ramana]

Satire in Pioneer!

OPED | Thursday, May 19, 2011 | Email | Print | | Back


Mullah Omar arrested in Pakistan!
May 19, 2011 2:27:20 AM

Nadeem F Paracha

Soon after the announcement that Mullah Omar had been ‘arrested by Saudi forces’, Pakistan's TV channels became animated. One famous TV talkshow host actually decided to host his show in a Bedouin tent. Instead of a chair, he sat on a camel wearing a Pakistani Army uniform

ISLAMABAD: In a daring raid, Saudi Special Forces arrested renegade Afghan leader, Mullah Omar, from a famous five-star hotel located in one of Pakistan’s most popular vacation spots — Bhurban.

The news spread like wildfire and people were seen cursing the Pakistani Government for allowing the Americans to undermine Pakistan’s sovereignty — again.

However, when it became clear that the raid was not conducted by the Americans but the Saudis, the frowns turned into smiles and many were heard saying, ‘Jazzakallah!’

Only minutes after the raid, Pakistan’s Prime Minister and Army Chief appeared on state-owned television and congratulated the nation and thanked the Saudi regime for helping Pakistan in its war against terror.

Interestingly, religious parties like Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and some banned sectarian organisations, along with Imran Khan’s Pakistan Thereek-i-Insaf which had originally called a joint Press conference to condemn the raid, changed their stance half-way through the conference when told that the raid was by Saudi forces and not the Americans.

Munawar Hussain, JI, chief, was first heard lambasting Pakistan’s PPP-led civilian Government for letting the country’s sovereignty be violated by the Americans, but after a reporter confirmed that the raid was executed by Saudi forces, Munawar turned to Imran Khan and embraced him.

‘Mahshallah!’ he exclaimed. “Today is a glorious day for our Islamic republic!”

Imran Khan and JUI chief Fazalur Rehman had earlier questioned the real identity of the man arrested from the five-star hotel, saying that even if it was Mullah Omar, we should be ashamed because Omar was a freedom fighter, conducting a liberation war against the Americans.

However, after it became clear that the arrest was made by Saudi forces, both Imran and Fazal then claimed that Mullah Omar was no friend of Pakistan and that he was not even a Muslim.

In a joint statement, JI, JUI and PTI, congratulated the nation and said that they had been saying all along that the Taliban were Pakistan’s greatest enemies and should be exterminated.

The statement also said that the PTI and JI will continue to hold sit-ins against American drones which were parachuting evil men like Mullah Omar into Pakistan and violating the sovereignty of the country. For this, the statement suggested, that Ahmad Shah Abdali should be invited to invade Pakistan and defeat the Americans.

When told that Abdali died almost two hundred years ago, PTI and JI termed this to be nothing more than western propaganda.

Imran Khan added, that from now on he should be addressed as Imran of Ghaznavi and that one of Pakistan’s most prominent revolutionary and youngest nuclear physicists, Zohair Toru, was building anti-drone missiles.

Toru, who was also present at the conference, confirmed this while licking a lemon flavoured popsicle. He said it was a very hot day and popsicles helped him concentrate.

Meanwhile, a military spokesman also held a Press conference to give the media a briefing on the details of the raid.

He said the raid was executed by Saudi Special Forces who came from Saudi military bases in Riyadh.

The helicopters then landed on Margala Hills in Islamabad. On the lush hills, Saudi soldiers disembarked from the copters, got on camels and rode all the way to Bhurban in broad daylight.

They were twice stopped at checkpoints by Pakistani Rangers but were allowed to cross when some Saudi soldiers said something to the rangers in Arabic. It is believed that the Saudis promised the Rangers jobs in Saudi Arabia.

An eyewitness claims the Rangers smiled and waved to the departing camels, cheering ‘marhaba, marhaba’.

The camel army reached the five-star hotel in Bhurban at 11:00 am and right away rode their way into the sprawling premises.

The camels were also carrying rocket launchers, sub-machineguns, pistols, grenades and popcorn, all concealed in large ‘Dubai Duty Free’ shopping bags.

The military spokesman added that although the Pakistan Army had no clue about the raid, there were a dozen or so Pakistani military personnel present at the hotel.

When asked whether these men questioned the camel riders, the spokesman said that they did see the armed camels enter the hotel but the military men were at the time more interested in interrogating a 77-year-old Caucasian male whom they had arrested for smoking in a non-smoking area.

“After the Abbottabad incident, we are keeping a firm eye on Europeans and Americans,” the spokesman said.

Even though the white man turned out to be an old Polish tourist, the spokesman praised the military men’s vigilance. “Our country’s sovereignty is sacred,” he added.

According to the Pakistan military, the Saudis then rode their camels into one of the hotel’s kitchens and fired teargas shells.

This way they smoked out the chefs and their staff out into the open. From these, a Saudi commander got hold of a one-eyed chef with an untidy beard.

The Saudi commander looked at the chef and compared his face to a photograph he was carrying. He asked: ‘Al-Mullah-ul-Omar?’ To which the chef was reported to have said: “No, al-chicken jalfrezi. Also make very tasty mutton kebabs.”

The commander then asked, ‘Al-Afghani?’ to which the chef said, “Yes make Afghani tikka too. You want?”

A reporter asked the military spokesman whether the Pakistani military men present at the hotel witnessed the operation. The spokesman answered in affirmative but said they didn’t take any action after confirming that Pakistan’s sovereignty was not being violated.

The reporter then asked how the military men determined that Pakistan’s sovereignty was not being violated. Answering this, the spokesman said that since the camel riders were speaking Arabic there was thus no reason for the military to charge them with violating Pakistan’s sovereignty.

This statement made the media men at the Press conference very happy and they consequently began applauding and raising emotional slogans praising Islam, ISI and palm trees.

Soon after the announcement that Mullah Omar was arrested by Saudi forces, the country’s private TV channels became animated. One famous TV talk-show host actually decided to host his show in a Bedouin tent. Instead of a chair, he sat on a camel wearing a Pakistan Army uniform.

Though most of his guests — that included prominent ex-generals, clergymen and strategic analysts — praised the operation and heaped scorn at Mullah Omar, there was one guest, a small-time journalist, who disagreed with the panelists.

He asked how a wanted man like Mullah Omar was able to live in Pakistan undetected and that too while working as a chef in a famous five-star hotel. He also said that Mullah Omar had also been appearing on various cooking shows as a chef on various food channels.

To this, the host snubbed the journalist telling him that he was asking irrelevant questions.

‘But before this operation, everyone was supporting the Taliban and telling us they were fighting a liberation war against the Americans,’ the journalist protested.

‘No,’ said the host, ‘it was the civilian Government that was in cahoots with the Taliban. It should resign.’ ‘No,’ the journalist replied, ‘it was our agencies!’

This made the host angry and he slapped the journalist. He threatened the journalist by saying that he would lodge a case against him in accordance with the Islamic hudood ordinance.

The journalist responded by saying that the Saudis had violated Pakistan’s sovereignty. Hearing this, the host slapped the journalist again, saying he will get him booked for blasphemy.

At the end of the show the host and the panelists burned an American flag and sang the Pakistani national anthem in Arabic. Then, after handing over the treacherous journalist to the authorities, they proceeded to Saudi Arabia to perform haj. However, they were soon deported by the Saudi regime for violating Saudi sovereignty.

-- The writer is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com.

[Raja Bose]

AP sources: Raiders, White House knew secret bin Laden raid was a one-shot deal

By Kimberly Dozier, The Associated Press – 1 hour ago
Small knots of children were on every level, including the balcony of bin Laden's room.

From the descriptions given in the article, clearly OBL was living a retired life in a thoroughly domesticated household with children and grand children running around - this was no fella actively running Al-Keeda or living on the edge watching out for Amirkhan SOF trying to smoke him out. I guess even the Sheikh couldn't account for Paki perfidy, all the while thinking he would be living out his final days smoking the doobie and eating the bakra.

[sum]

Based on statements by Zawahiri, al Qaida may be expected to help the Pakistani Taliban to try to seize control in Pakistan. For them, Pakistan is the objective, not Afghanistan.

Hope this causes the TFTA/RAPEs to start cowering in dark, narrow corners as the fiath-fool are coming to hunt you down..

[Arjun]

Posting it on BRF does not give it credence. Otherwise, e.g., discussing Islamism would give Islamism credence; discussing Chinese commie-capitalist ideology would give it credence, etc., etc. We would have to be silent.

The impression that TSPA / ISI was either complicit in hiding OBL or totally incompetent not to know of his presence / US action- has been the biggest battering to its image since '71. CTs dispelling this are not in India's interest...you might want to post with the qualifier that these are H&D-saving CTs....wouldn't like any wrong takeaways for newbies accessing BRF.

[shyamd]

SSS tweets that ISI planted story ofl Saif Al Adel taking over. This is because india was putting pressure by highlighting Kashmiri as a major threat. Pak was worried that india may force west to ask Pak about Kashmiri's whereabouts.
So ISI planted story on Saif Al Adl appointment to deflect attention.

[Klaus]

ShyamD ji, according to you S^3 is basically an ISI mouthpiece, so what are his motivations behind tweeting something like this? One can say that ISI made him tweet so as well!

I'm not doubting what you say, just trying to sift through the disinformation.

[shyamd]

^^ Although it does sound ideal that Saif Al Adel is the new chief. He has a very impressive record, he's a former Egyptian SF officer. His real name is Mohammed Al Mekkawi, he's an egyptian and is in the NWFP area. Worked with Zarqawi in Iraq and ran major ops against the west in Iraq.

I have a gut feeling that what SSS is saying is true - don't know why. But at the same time I see Mekkawi's record and background, he's a perfect fit - but we don't know how ideological he is. The next CEO needs to give strategic direction and needs to be ideological, not an operational expert which Makkawi is. Thing is, Makkawi is in NWFP leading anti ISAF ops, so there is nothing to say that US won't ask TSP publicly to find him and hand him over - which means SSS is not exactly speaking the truth.

But again Kashmiri is ON THE AQ Shura and is seen as a TSP hand, so ISI may be trying to avert his capture and keeping him in there (perhaps he is a joint CIA ISI asset in the Shura, so don't want too much attention on him). They don't want India to put too much pressure to capture Kashmiri, because US may overlook his anti india activities if Kashmiri is providing intel on AQ. So, as long as Kashmiri is under no pressure then TSP may have a hand in the AQ.

Another reason why I believe him is that the KSA GSS (leading Anti AQAP ops) is saying that decision is not yet made after a meeting in Aden - but the name is Wahishi and Said al shehri - check out my post in the Af-Pak thread about it.

There is more to this, so lets see.

[ramana]

Most likely llyas Kashmiri is not in the lead to ensure West doesn't link AlQ to Kashmir and gets targetted. And having a West Asian/North African preserves the unique selling point sof AlQ.

Otherwise its LeT WANA wing.