With bin Laden’s End, a New Opportunity Emerges for the World

On May 1, the U.S. announced that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had already been shot dead by American Special Forces in a suburb of Pakistan’s capital. As the news was released, people in U.S. streets were elated, and former President Bush proclaimed that justice had been done.

For his crimes, bin Laden deserved death, yet his death certainly does not mean the problem is over. On the contrary, it could open up Pandora’s box. However, this also means that if U.S. policy can make a fresh start, perhaps it can take advantage of this opportunity to resolve the religious conflict and initiate improved relations.

In the past, al-Qaida’s leader bin Laden had a strict organizational structure for everything from money to weapons and training. After U.N. troops invaded Afghanistan and al-Qaida’s organization was fragmented, bin Laden was transformed into an ideological leader. From time to time, he issued anti-American speeches over the Internet, enthusiastically promoting the continuation of the Holy War.

Eliminating bin Laden certainly cannot put an end to all anti-American organizations, but instead broke them up into numerous cells, creating divisions inside each country, each waiting for orders to launch a retaliatory attack. Also for this reason, countries across Europe and America have successively raised their alerts to the highest levels, warning expats to stay away from crowded places and to fly or take trains at their own risk. There is also a rumor that al-Qaida holds a certain number of nuclear weapons in Europe, and that it is just waiting for an opportunity to detonate them.

In the short run, bin Laden’s death caused the crisis to worsen, but whether it will radicalize present Islamic organizations in the long run has yet to be seen. Frankly speaking, the storm of revolutions in North Africa did not at all originate from al-Qaida, but instead from the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi extremist organizations, gradually becoming the mobilizing backbone of the masses. Although their objective is comparatively mild, al-Qaida is presently waiting to forcibly take leadership. This is the new challenge the Western world faces — a wave of extremism without bin Laden.

Naturally, U.S. authorities worry about the after-effects of bin Laden’s death. After DNA testing was done on his remains, in compliance with Muslim ceremony, he was buried at sea within 24 hours. The aim of this was to prevent him from becoming the new martyr of the jihad and heartening his followers to visit his grave in flocks.

It can also be said that, not only was bin Laden’s death not necessarily negative, but that it could even open up a new opportunity to let the Muslim and Christian worlds have a chance to resolve their hatred, to join hands and cooperate, and U.S. President Obama could play a crucial role in the peace process.

In the middle of Obama’s name is a typical Islamic name (Barack Hussein Obama) and in Indonesia, he received Islamic education. While in the U.S. this led him to suffer to the fullest attacks that he “is not an American,” but it also earned him the respect of the Islamic world. Twice he spoke in Cairo and Istanbul, causing people to believe that he truly understands and sympathizes with the Muslim world.

Of course, when he took office, Obama inherited two post-9/11 anti-terrorism and anti-Islam wars. But now, through bin Laden’s death, he can take advantage of this opportunity to end these two wars. We think that Obama should start to consider peace talks with the Taliban and isolate al-Qaida, and, after the situation calms down, withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, thus ending this arduous and thankless war on terrorism.

After all, al-Qaida’s objective is terrorist violence, and the Taliban is different. It is a regional armed religious group in the countryside of Afghanistan, which has political appeal. At the time of 9/11, al-Qaida was thriving under the protection of the Taliban, and when allied forces invaded Afghanistan, they simultaneously declared war on both.

But the U.S. military is very clear that military force alone cannot eliminate the Taliban. Afghan President Hamid Karzai started to be in secret contact with the Taliban while the U.S. turned a blind eye. Now that bin Laden has died, although al-Qaida is still the target, if Obama can change strategies and rope in the Taliban using political talks to resolve the Afghanistan problem and give up its hunt for Taliban leader Mohammed Omar, while also gradually withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, this would be an unprecedented new policy of reconciliation.

The precedent has already been proven in Iraq that the truly effective tactic is not powerful suppression, but instead to bring together different factions for reconciliation and dialogue. One strong military alone is not the secret to success in Iraq, nor will it be so in Afghanistan.

However, if the U.S. pushes for a policy of reconciliation, it must still be undertaken with caution. Otherwise, not only will it face destruction by al-Qaida’s terrorist organization from the sidelines, but Pakistan could even hinder its efforts from within. Even if Pakistan is an ally of the U.S. in the fight against terrorism in name, in reality the U.S. did not even inform Pakistan before it came in to shoot bin Laden.

Obama is now at a pivotal point in history. He could very well claim victory against terrorism and use this as an opportunity to turn over a new leaf by launching a new undertaking for peace. This not only could leave him with an immortal achievement, but more realistically, if U.S. troops can begin to return home, come late next year it will certainly be a big help as Obama seeks to serve another term in office.