Author: S Rajagopalan
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 4, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/336260/US-to-probe-Pakistan%E2%80%99s-Osama-support-system.html
The United States is to conduct a probe to
determine whether the Pakistani establishment really had no clue to the presence
of Osama bin Laden right under its nose for years or it actually helped the
Al Qaeda chief stay in hiding unhindered.
In initial comments regarded as sufficiently
damning, White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan said it is "inconceivable"
that bin Laden didn't have a support system that allowed him to remain so
close to the Pakistani capital for an extended period of time.
"We're going to pursue all leads to find
out exactly what type of support system and benefactors that bin Laden might
have had," Brennan told reporters at an extensive briefing on the dramatic
operation.
"People have been referring to this as
hiding in plain sight…We are looking right now at how he was able to
hold out there for so long and whether or not there was any type of support
system within Pakistan that allowed him to stay there," he said, but
took the stand that he was "not going to speculate about what type of
support he might had on an official basis inside Pakistan".
Brennan's comments came even as there was
indignation on Capitol Hill, with several Senators raising pointed questions
on the Pakistani claims that it had no information on bin Laden's presence
anywhere in the country. And a senior Congressman said a dozen Al Qaeda leaders
are still in hiding in Pakistan.
"Of the 20 senior leaders in Al Qaeda,
at least a dozen of them we believe to be travelling around Pakistan someplace,"
said Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Senator Joe Lieberman, who heads the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said
"Pakistan must prove to the US they didn't know that bin Laden was in
the (Abbottabad) compound".
Senator Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, said Pakistan has a lot to answer for. "I think the
Pakistani army and intelligence have a lot of questions to answer - the location,
the length of time and the apparent fact that this facility was actually built
for bin Laden and it's close to the central location of the Pakistani army,"
Levin said.
At least one Senator, Frank Lautenberg, demanded
suspension of the massive aid that the US doles out to Pakistan every year
until Islamabad comes up with a satisfactory explanation on how bin Laden
could live in such close proximity to Islamabad for so many years.
"Before we send another dime, we need
to know whether Pakistan truly stands with us in the fight against terrorism.
Until Congress and the American public are assured that the Pakistani Government
is not shielding terrorists, financial aid to Pakistan should be suspended,"
Lautenberg said.
Former National Security Advisor James Jones
expressed the view that Pakistan's intelligence and military establishment
were "'certainly probably" aware of bin Laden's hideout. "For
whatever reasons, they chose not to disclose it until perhaps recently. I
don't know because I left the White House about six months ago. But it does
raise a lot of questions, no doubt about that," said Jones, who as Obama's
previous NSA undertook a host of visits to Islamabad.
For all the damning revelations arising from
the Osama episode, the Obama administration appears to have opted to proceed
cautiously vis-à-vis Islamabad. Among the leading voices counselling
continued cooperation with Islamabad are Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry and senior Republican
Senator John McCain.
"As the President made clear, it's important
to note that our counterterrorism cooperation over a number of years now with
Pakistan has contributed greatly to our efforts to dismantle Al Qaeda. And
in fact, cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound
in which he was hiding," Clinton said during a joint media appearance.
"So looking forward, we're going to continue
to make progress. We're going to continue to keep the pressure on Al Qaeda
and its syndicate of terror. We're committed to this partnership. We think
it is in the best interest of the security and safety of the United States,"
Clinton said.
