End of the road for a terror mastermind

By Pramod DE SILVA

The time - around 10.30 p.m. in Washington on May 1, the day that the rest of the world celebrates as May Day. It was also a Sunday. So when the White House asked its press pool correspondents and TV network personnel to come there quickly, they had only one question: What could be so big that the US President has to address the nation (and the world) at 11.30 p.m. on a Sunday?

It did not take long for them to figure out what it could be: Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the al Qaeda terror network has either been captured or killed. A little while later, President Barack Obama confirmed the demise of bin Laden in a landmark 10-minute address broadcast worldwide.

"I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children. Justice has been done," President Obama declared.

Osama bin Laden's life ended not in a remote cave in Afghanistan, as many thought it would be, but in a sprawling, well fortified mansion in the city of Abbottabad, about 65 Kms from Islamabad in Pakistan. It was not far from Pakistan's main military academy in Abbottabad, the equivalent of West Point in the US or Sandhurst in the UK. In other words, he was hiding in plain sight.

"Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body," Obama said.

The operation was carried out by a 24-men squad of the US Navy's elite SEAL Team Six (SEa, Air and Land), who took only 40 minutes to infiltrate the compound and literally bag their prize. Accounts of the final violent moments at the compound vary - we later heard that bin Laden was unarmed, but apparently resisted the commandos.

There is no doubt that this was one of the most successful anti-terrorism operations in recent times. The events there were monitored in real time at the CIA and at the White House. They heard that 'Geronimo', the code name for bin Laden, was killed. Later, the body was buried at sea, after being transported to the USS Carl Vinson.

Successful manhunt

It was perhaps the biggest successful manhunt of the present century. Osama bin Laden was a known figure even before 9/11, but those attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, in which more than 3,000 people perished and on the Pentagon, became the catalyst that raised the world's resolve to apprehend him.

The 'War on Terror' was born as a result of 9/11. Osama was on top of the FBI and Interpol lists of the world's most wanted terrorists and criminals.

But 9/11 was not the first or the only major attack perpetrated by al Qaeda. The WTC in New York was subjected to a bomb attack in 1993; US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed in 1998; more than 190 people were killed in the Madrid train bombings on March 11, 2004; the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings in London claimed 52 lives.

While that was the last major attack of al Qaeda in the West, many more attempts have been thwarted due to tougher security measures. Moreover, other terror groups inspired by bin Laden and his extremism have perpetrated attacks around the world that killed hundreds of civilians.

Osama bin Laden's death was thus a great relief to the American people and all peace-loving citizens the world over. In the words of Obama "For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda's leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda."

Spontaneous celebrations erupted in Washington, especially near the White House and at Ground Zero, the site of the WTC, in New York when news of Osama bin Laden's death was broadcast. Here in Sri Lanka, we know what it means to suffer at the hands of ruthless terrorists and also the sense of elation and relief that is felt when such a terrorist leader is killed.

In a fitting gesture, President Obama visited Ground Zero on Thursday to share the sense of closure with the relatives of 9/11 and other acts of al Qaeda terror.

Hard at work

But the route to capturing a terrorist leader is never easy. For the past 10 years, American intelligence officials have been hard at work following a variety of leads to track down the elusive bin Laden. High-tech surveillance techniques could only go so far, they needed to have a link on the ground. It was only in August last year that Obama received a possible lead that bin Laden could be operating from a safe house in Pakistan.

When one of Osama bin Laden's most trusted aides picked up the phone last year, he unknowingly led US sleuths to the doorstep of the world's most wanted terrorist. That monitored phone call ended a long search for bin Laden's personal courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (real name: Sheikh Abu Ahmed, a Pakistani born in Kuwait) the key break in a worldwide manhunt.

The courier, in turn, led US intelligence to the compound in Abbottabad. The compound has provided an intelligence treasure trove to the US, in the form of documents, hard drives, USB drives and CDs. The survivors of the attacks, including wives, offspring and several others are in Pakistani custody.

Many questions have been raised about bin Laden's life and death. How was it possible for the world's best known terrorist to live for at least five years in a Pakistani city without being detected? Why did not the White House release pictures of Osama's dead body?

Were Enhanced Interrogation Tactics (EITs) such as waterboarding used to glean information on Osama from certain suspects? Is such torture morally justifiable because it led to the death of a terrorist who has massacred thousands? And last but not least, how did those behind the operation pick the name 'Geronimo', knowing very well that he was actually a respected native American warrior?

The 7/7 London bus bombing

While the debate on these issues will rage on, the world cannot afford to be complacent on terrorism. Al Qaeda will certainly be affected by the loss of Osama, but it could be far from finished.

Eternal vigilance and constant action against terrorism is the only answer. Global cooperation is essential to eliminate terrorism in all its forms and we must never bow down to terrorism.

Perhaps the best commentary about bin Laden's death and terrorism itself - was this blog post by a New York resident: "When Osama bin Laden murdered 3,000 people, it was a Tuesday morning on a warm late-summer day. Ten years later, I heard of his death on a pleasant spring night. Where the towers once stood, new towers are visible above the cityscape. Life has gone on in ways big and small, while this obscene murderous theocrat hid in caves and compounds, behind blast walls and barbed wire.

“He met his end on a Sun day night in America, during baseball season, with everything he sought to disrupt and ruin continuing without him - as it has for some time with him. Living as we have and as we wish and as we will is the best revenge."

How true!