06 May,2011 08:33 AM IST | | Arindam Chaudhuri
Lest we forget, not very long back, Pervez Musharraf, said in a TV interview, "I think now, frankly, he [Osama bin Laden] is dead for the reason he is a kidney patient. I don't know if he has been getting all the treatment in Afghanistan now. And the photographs that have been shown of him on television show him extremely weak. I would give the first priority that he is dead and the second priority that he is alive somewhere in Afghanistan."
Cut to 2011, Osama bin Laden was hunted, and killed, not in any remote hideout in any tribal area of Pakistan but in Abbottabad, which is just a few kilometres away from the Pakistan Military Academy and Islamabad. This March, an Indonesian terrorist, Umar Patek, having links with al-Qaeda, was captured from this region. He was the one behind the Bali bombings and was an important agent of Jemaah Islamiya Tahir Shehzad (an al-Qaeda facilitator) who was also spotted in the same region.
The series of incidences and their proximity to Islamabad and Pakistan Military Academy suggest that the Pakistan government not only knew about the whereabouts of Osama but also provided him a safe haven. In spite of his members being found and killed, he never got spotted. Moreover, the military academy near Osama's hideout was visited just a month back by the Pakistani military chief General Asfaq Parvez Kayani. All these clearly indicate the Pakistani government always knew about Osama. Similarly, they know about all other extremist leaders and groups too but habitually and perpetually feign ignorance.
From using Osama against the USSR tou00a0 to bombing countries for oil ufffd the American establishment has done it all. What they are doing right now in Libya is settling scores with Gaddafi for having united the OPEC nations 40 years ago and for having raised the oil price ufffd something which resulted in the massive transfer of wealth from the Western nations to the Middle East.
No doubt, the Americans have done a great job in killing Osama, although for their personal interests, but getting carried away about their deed will be foolish. Osama's killing has revealed two key things. One, Pakistan is a rogue state and the most dangerous country in the world. And secondly, America ufffd that still supports such a rogue state and pampers them only for use against India ufffd can't be trusted any more. From nuclear plants to defence deals, India needs to stop selling itself to Americans and take a clear stance against Pakistan or any country that provides direct and indirect support to Pakistan
