Too Little Transparency about Abbottabad

The death of Osama bin Laden raises many questions. The U.S. government is not doing enough in releasing information, thereby harming itself.

What a news story: We learned Tuesday evening that Osama was unarmed. A report that promised sensationalism: Osama bin Laden apparently could not adequately put up a fight against the American elite unit that stormed his house. Consequently, it must have involved a targeted killing.

It might have happened that way. Maybe. Because another interpretation of what happened in Abbottabad would be just as likely. Namely, the interpretation that bin Laden himself really was unarmed, his guards, however, were armed and he died during their battle with U.S. soldiers.

One way or another, everything is still speculation, but the report highlights the actual problem. The hesitant disclosure of information in Washington is leading to dire consequences. Because we don’t know enough about what occurred in Abbottabad, rumors are thriving and fables are forming. What makes this even more astonishing is that the U.S. administration must have gone through the possible scenarios after the seizure in Pakistan. All the same, the search and seizure of bin Laden were meticulously planned well in advance. For instance, on an air base in the Afghan city of Bagram, the property in Abbottabad was rebuilt to rehearse the operation.

But the slower new information is disclosed, the more critical questions will be raised. An example is U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay’s request to the U.S. government: “This was a complex operation and it would be helpful if we knew the precise facts surrounding his killing.”

It should be easy for America to disclose the facts because they have the sympathy of the majority of the public on their side. Most reasonable people don’t regret the death of bin Laden.

President Obama should confront the emerging rumors by seeing to it that all relevant information about Abbottabad, to the extent to which it’s possible, is published. Such a report would not come without contradictions; individual soldiers could certainly make differing statements about the very same things. Finally, an operation like this is highly stressful. When it comes right down to it, it’s about not dying and, if necessary, killing.

In the end, however, it is possible that it could surface that not everything was attempted by soldiers to capture bin Laden alive. Having made the operation transparent will benefit the government more in the long term than if the impression of suppression and cover up remains.