The USA Eliminates bin Laden; Pakistan Pays the Bloody Bill

Osama bin Laden, the godfather of terror, has been shot by a U.S. task force in Pakistani territory, and Islamabad is being presented with the bill for the more or less heroic operation — and in more than one way, at that. Firstly, the country has fallen into a bad light. How can it be, people are asking themselves worldwide, that the most wanted man in the world has resided, unrecognized, for six years in a spa resort near Islamabad? Anyway, Washington is assuming that Pakistan’s intelligence and government hid under a blanket with the “Prince of Darkness.” Islamabad is denying it, but feels compelled to make a humiliating partial confession.

Secondly, Pakistan is getting not only the rage of Washington as a disloyal brother-in-arms, but also the bloody revenge of the Taliban and by extension, al-Qaida. At least 80 people were killed in a double strike on a police barracks, and more than 100 people were injured. The motive for the attack: revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden.

After the shooting, al-Qaida and the Taliban swore that they would attack wherever logistically possible, at the moment it became possible, [but luckily] the USA and Europe are not situated within range of the terrorists who are paying a bloody bill with Pakistan, an Islamic country that has played a double game. On the one hand, Pakistan assured Washington that it will be a partner in the war against terrorism. On the other hand, the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI, has always had the best connections to the Taliban and al-Qaida.

The terrorist network isn’t thanking Pakistan for the support. After the death of bin Laden, the world has to be shown that it’s still alive, that it can still strike back after taking huge blows, and that the claims that can be heard everywhere are untrue: that the movements toward democracy and freedom don’t indicate the future of the Arabic states, but the uncompromising war against the West.

In terms of the war, it’s clear that al-Qaida doesn’t command the same amount of resources as it did several years ago. The documents that were found on Osama bin Laden’s estate do indeed prove that the godfather of terror wanted to derail trains in Europe. But the plans weren’t concrete. Lately, bin Laden himself had more of a symbolic significance; the 9/11 mastermind could organize and arrange very little recently.

Terrorism experts are wondering whether it’s at all possible for al-Qaida to strike in Europe. Since the attacks in Madrid in 2004 and in London in 2005, the Islamists here haven’t been able to implement any large-scale assassination attempts. The danger now exists that al-Qaida is trying to strike again.