Expert Round up- Death of OBL

Even the two wars post 9/11 did not get the kind of attention that this story originating from Pakistan invited.Some called it the story of the decade.Pakistan - U.S relations have been at an all time low after Osama Bin Laden was taken out in a raid on his million dollar mansion in the scenic hill station of Abbotabad in the early hours of May 2. Pakistan has come under huge international pressure for coming up with responses to the many questions that are being shouted at her. Did Pakistan know about Bin Laden hiding ? If Yes, then why was he left unattended? If the reply is in the negative , then that raises more queries about Pakistan's abilities.The Opposition and people also have ended up being concerned if their country is capable of defending herself from foreign aggression inspite of the heavy defence budget. All of this pressure saw an in camera briefing to the Joint Session of Parliament on May 13 ,2011 take place in which military leaders of Pakistan took questions from parliamentarians. ISI Chief , Gen Pasha offered himself for accountability. U.S. Senator John Kerry,considered a fast friend of Pakistan has asked Pakistan to improve its policy towards fighting terrorists.

I obtained views on this historic development in my exclusive off air interactions with some renowned analysts and journalists. What they told me is reproduced below.

My sincere thankyou to them for giving me their valuable time.

Dr. Maria Sultan is D.G. South Asian Strategic Stability Institute SASSI. I asked her about the impact that OBL's death could have on the region. Dr. Maria Sultan is of the view that the killing of Osama Bin Laden should be considered an opportunity. This development provides U.S. with a chance of a relatively easier exit from the Afghan battle field.
At the same time, she is concerned about one aspect of the May 2 raid in Abbotabad . The fact that this operation was carried out in Pakistan could spell a dangerous phase for the country if it establishes the paradigm of similar operations in Pakistan going forward.

Col.(r) Inam Wazir is a defence analyst and has a keen eye on the developments in FATA. I asked him if the grilling that the miliatry chiefs faced in the Joint session of Parliament was something the army should be ashamed of and where did the intelligence failure lie in the entire episode.There is nothing wrong with the Army Chief and the ISI chief appearing before the Joint Session of the Parliament because the army is subservient to the constitution of the country. So, it is not in any way a sign of kneeling or of low morale of the Pakistan military.
Knowing Gen. Pasha very closely , Col. Wazir expected that confession from him that he made in the briefing to the Joint session of Parliament on Friday May 13.
Intelligence agencies are responsible for not knowing that Osama Bin Laden was living in that compound in Abbotabad - that indeed is an intelligence failure but not being able to prevent the U.S. operations on May 2 is not a mistake. United States used stealth technology in that operation and Pakistan, according to Col. (R) Inam Wazir lacks that technology.

Muhammad Hanif, Well known journalist and author of the critically acclaimed "A Case of Exploding Mangoes" gave his candid opinion when I asked him about his views on the Pakistan- U.S. relations post Bin Laden and Pakistan's reaction to that raid. Squabbling couple- that's what comes to Mr. Hanif's mind when he looks at Pakistan - U.S. relations over the last 10 years. Both have been doing things behind each other's back he says. In doing so,they fall apart but then also kiss and make up. If one goes by the results of this alliance its very clear that Pakistan would be better off away from the States and should start achieving results in the region with the help of its neighbours. A patch up with India is a good idea according to him.

He observes that there is nothing substantial in Pakistan's reaction to the U.S. Navy Seals covert operation in which Osama Bin Laden was killed. Pakistan's shouting about breach of its sovereignty does not make sense to him because this is something that's been happening for quite sometime now in the form of drone strikes inside Pakistan's territory.
"Let's continue with the work but lets make adjustments that do not get us bad PR" this is how Mr. Hanif sums up Pakistan's reaction .

Lt. Gen. ( r) has a keen eye on defence related developments. I asked him if the trove of info recovered from BinLaden's hideout in Abbottabad could spell trouble for Pakistan and how should Pakistan deal with the threat from India? Gen. Masood predicts that there would be some exaggeration based on the info recovered from bin Laden. This exaggeration he says would mainly be to exert pressure on Pakistan to correct its policies .

About Pakistan's future strategies he says there is no dispute over the idea that Pakistan should break away from militants totally.
Pakistan should instead focus on strenghtening itself. This can come about by making its people strong by providing them with education and implementing sound economic policies. Then, there will be no need to feel a threat from the Indians. If people are happy he says, all threats to any country die their own death. People are stronger than nuclear weapons.

Syed Ali was one of the first correspondents to reach the Abbotabad compound where Osama Bin Laden was killed. He described to me his experience.The compound appeared to be more of a safe house than a compound says Ali.
As a budding journalist he found himself reconciling the many different accounts that were available on the location. Different sources had different stories. To his surprise locals didn't have a clue what was going on around them. Foreign media teams did a splendid job covering the story. But what's the actual story, he says, no one knows!

This was a story he would never forget covering.