03 May,2011 08:42 AM IST | | Imran Gowhar
The most wanted man is now dead. Osama Bin Laden, the face of global terror, was hunted down and killed by US troops on Sunday (I know the television channels have not shown us any other news since Monday morning apart from this and you probably have had your fill of Osama already, but please bear with me...)
Now, that the 9/11 mastermind is dead, can we hope for peace? Hardly. The developed countries are already on high alert to meet retaliation, which they are sure will surface.
Even Chief Minister Yedyurappa announced that the state has sounded high alert to counter any possible threat.
And those who have been following bin Laden's infamous exploits predict that even in death he will continue to haunt the world for decades to come ufffd killing one man,
however powerful, is not going to put a halt to terrorism. It needs combined efforts of all nations to do so.
Obama has the perfect trump card to play in the 2012 elections to eliminate his rivals
However, Osama's death is a big step in that direction, and there is great rejoicing everywhere ufffd especially among Obama's supporters. What better trump card to play in the 2012 elections than elimination of the US's top enemy?
The next question is, will the US withdraw from the Gulf? Will there be lesser interference in the affairs of other nations now that their chief reason for being in Gulf is gone? Hardly.
No one believes that the US troops will withdraw. While Egypt's Brotherhood is calling upon Obama to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq, there are US think tanks and strategists who are of the opinion that the President should finish off the job before he withdraws ufffd wipe off al-Qaeda.
Anyway, the Internet is teeming with trivia on the dead terrorist, obits, prophecies of retaliations, arguments and counter arguments ufffd so anything more I write will be outdated and redundant.
One aside: When my twin boys were born, I was strongly tempted to name them Obama and Osama. I only desisted in the face of strong opposition from my wife.
