Baloch Community in Sweden: Osama’s Pakistan

By Vardha Khalil

The U.S. military action in Abbottabad and the eventual killing of Osama bin Laden in the operation not only shocked Pakistan but also compelled public and national circles to raise several question. Two of these questions were most important of all: First, why were the Pakistani authorities unaware of the presence of Bin Laden inside the country? Secondly how the US managed to conduct an attack on the Pakistani soil?

In order to ascertain the answers to these critical questions, the Pakistani government formed a commission which recorded statements of 201 persons and finalized an inquiry report. The report contains facts and figures about the Abottabad operation. In the report, the commission has not only highlighted many mistakes at political and military level but also severely criticized Pakistan’s official response to the crisis that damaged country’s reputation at international level and breached public trust in the government and the institutions of national security.

Because of its critical nature, the commission expressed concerns over its public disclosure saying that government might keep it secret to bury the truth. Though this concern was well founded the truth could not be hidden as Aljazeera leaked the report earlier this week.

According to the report, Bin Laden entered Pakistan through Tora Bora in 2002 and spent some time in South Waziristan and Bajur Agency. Then, he moved to six different places one by one including Swat, Haripur and Abbottabad. He moved with the help of only two of his aides and every time evaded police and other government authorities. During his nine-year presence in Pakistan, he not only built a house but his wife also managed to settle with him in Pakistan after ending her confinement in Iran, his children were also born there.

The commission has also pointed out a crucial flaw in Pakistan’s foreign policy. Pakistani government clearly failed to handle the crisis after this operation. The government was confused and ill-informed. It failed to launch a positive response and even it tried to distance itself from this event. The commission has observed that Pakistani government launched an inquiry into the matter on public pressure and not by its own will. This inquiry was initiated reluctantly. The commission says that Pakistani government and its institutions failed at every level of planning, threat assessment and positive response.

The report has held the Revenue Department, National Database and Registration Authority, local police, government and military responsible for the presence of Bin Laden in Pakistan for nine years. Report also demands all these institutions to make a public apology for their negligence.

The report of Abbottabad commission not only indicates negligence regarding Bin Laden’s presence and US raid but it also portrays a clear picture of the failure in other national matters as well. Corruption and political pressure have damaged Pakistani institutions. These weak institutions failed to locate high value target in Pakistan for nine years. How somebody may hope that they will capture other terrorists who are targeting hundreds of innocent people around Pakistan on daily basis.

Aljazeera has also claimed that the page number 157 of this report has been obliterated which contained the statement of former ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] Director General Ahmad Shujah Pasha. This point should also be noted that Pakistani intelligence apparatus has once again played its role in removing key information from the commission report to hide facts regarding national security. The commission’s observation raises some serious questions about the compatibility of the Pakistani government and its mechanism of response. In addition to the many problems haunting Pakistan’s new government, revising policies and tactics could be more challenging. Because this time negligence might prove fatal in a world where such mistakes are no longer tolerated.

Vardha Khalil is a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She wrote this article exclusively for The Baloch Hal.