Bin Laden's Death Doesn't Ease Strained U.S.-Afghanistan Conflict

President Obama delivered a televised address in the White House on May 2, announcing that the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces. Though America’s 10-year pursuit to kill bin Laden finally met with success, Obama is not wearing a victory smile, and the American media also act differently than they did after the second Gulf War, when they published photos of American soldiers commanding the captured Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to open his mouth for inspection. Such a photo may give the American people a good feeling, but for many people in the Arab world, it’s regarded as an insult to the Arabian people as a whole. The U.S. government finally killed bin Laden, but so far, the media have not yet published any photos on the subject.

Bin Laden is dead; American society, however, still does not feel much tranquility. “Finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice,” said Obama, who now claims that “Justice has been done.” Yet America is not busy celebrating the victory; instead, they are worrying about a new round of revenge attack by the Islamic extremists.

The U.S.-Afghanistan conflict is not any better because of bin Laden’s death.

Anyone who has even a little knowledge about the Arab world knows that the “Saudi bin Laden Group” is itself entangled with the U.S. in many ways. The group has numerous branches in the U.S., Europe and Asia, with capital of more than $5 billion, involving petrochemical projects, long-distance communication, satellite communication, and so on. It has a close relationship with America. Osama bin Laden’s father, Muhammad bin Laden, is one of the directors of the board of a large-scale company in which the former American President George W. Bush has invested, and bin Laden’s brother Salem had once run an oil company with George W. Bush.

On the anti-Soviet issue, bin Laden was in absolute unity with the U.S. When the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979, bin Laden actively supported Afghanistan to resist the Soviet invaders, and in 1990 he returned home to Saudi Arabia as a fighting hero.

But the first Gulf War and the American garrison in Saudi Arabia after the war had upset bin Laden; gradually he turned into an anti-American warrior. Bin Laden was said to be the author of the 9/11 attack in 2001, and he has been on the U.S. wanted list ever since.

It has been America’s consistent policy since World War II to establish puppet governments in the Arab world. Looking back, we can see Iran and Iraq in this way; today we see the policy prevail in Egypt. Former Shah of Iran, Pahlavi, former Iraqi President Hussein and Egypt’s former President Mubarak all met, more or less, the same sad finale. Bin Laden, who was very close to the U.S. and who knew very well its true colors, chose to fight America in the most extreme way.

At about the same time of bin Laden’s death, in another country, the house of the Libyan leader Gadhafi was bombed in an air raid. One of his sons and three of his grandsons were killed. In the future, using air raids to kill the Arabian people will be a habitual practice of the Western world.

The name “Osama” refers to a legendary Arabic poet, and “bin Laden” in Arabic means “sons of Laden.” As for when Osama bin Laden was born and what his real name was, America still knows nothing. America’s Arabian policy hasn’t changed much; the U.S.-Afghanistan conflict will only get more and more strained. If America keeps up its foreign policy of establishing puppet dictatorships in the Arab world, there will only be more and more “Osama” and “bin Laden” in the days to come.