Will India be able to deliver justice?

“Justice has been done”. As soon as US President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed, jubilant Americans flocked to Ground Zero to mark the death of world’s No. 1 terrorist. The killer of thousands of people was shot in the head in the 40-minute operation by US forces on the land of Pakistan.

The ‘Kill Osama’ operation has popped up a very significant debate in India. Can India conduct a similar operation against its enemies, who are hiding in Pakistan? Do Indian politicians have the resolve to bring to justice 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, LeT terrorist Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri and 1993 Mumbai serial blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim?

The whole operation makes clear one thing. Diplomacy with Pakistan without pressure does not work. Pakistan talks the talk but does not walk the talk. India has claimed it oft times that the US’ key ally in the war against terror – Pakistan – actually harbors terrorism. The claims made in leaked US government documents obtained by WikiLeaks prove it. The leaks say Pakistan’s security services used to tip off Osama bin Laden whenever US troops approached. Not surprisingly, the terror lord was found in a mansion in Abbottabad, home to many retired military and intelligence figures and just a mile away from the gate of the Pakistan Military Academy.

Whether the operation was carried out with or without Pakistan, the killing of Osama has exposed the two-faced Islamabad. Pakistan had used 9/11 as an opportunity to be an ally of the US in its war against terror. But this time, Pakistan has been left in a dubious state. If Pakistan says the US conducted this operation with its knowledge, it puts the South Asian country on terror radar. If Pakistan says it had no beforehand knowledge of the US’ operation, it proves the country is dumb enough to be fooled. US helicopters breached Pakistan’s defences and later Barack Obama informed Asif Ali Zardari about the triumphant operation.
But the point is: will New Delhi go beyond handing out dossiers to Islamabad? Will India be able to deliver justice to those who were shockingly terrorized and still painfully recall the horrific and deadly blasts in which their kin were killed? What will India do besides reiterating calls for Pakistan to arrest those behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people? Indubitably, Indian agencies know the addresses of most of the wanted terrorists, who scoff at India in speeches and vicious acts. So, can India do the US in Pakistan?
China has come out in support of its all-weather ally, Pakistan. Beijing has also indicated it would not force Islamabad to hand over perpetrators of 26/11 to India. Already, China-Pakistan ties are a cause of concern for India. And it is also worrying that China will use this moment to increase its influence in Pakistan, where most of the population is angry about the fact that the US forces killed Osama on their country’s soil.
Why is it that at every opportunity, our ministers plead to the United States to tell Pakistan to bring 26/11 perpetrators to justice? Indian politicians seem to have no determination to act tough with Pakistan. Even after 26/11, what India could do was to call back its High Commissioner from Islamabad. Osama’s death brings with it a lesson for the Indian government. Move beyond just talks, Mr PM. If Pakistan were to be persuaded by talks, New Delhi would have gotten hold of most of its wanted man by now. But this certainly is not the case. India’s naïve approach to stop Pakistan from sponsoring terror has produced no results.
The US has killed its Osama, but India’s many Osamas are still hiding in the safe havens of Pakistan. Will India be able to deliver justice now? Hopes are slim, sadly.

dramatically minimised collateral damage

We won't trot out Osama photos as trophies: Obama

Washington: US President Barack Obama has decided not to release photos of killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's body saying, "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies".

Announcing Obama's decision "not to release any of the photographs of deceased Osama bin Laden", White House Press Secretary Jay Carney read a quote from Obama to CBS "60 Minutes" to be telecast Sunday.

"When they landed, we had very strong confirmation that it was him. Photographs had been taken. Facial analysis had indicated that in fact it was him. We hadn't yet done DNA testing, but at that point we were 95 percent sure."

Obama saw the pictures? "Yes."

Reaction? "It was him."

Why not release them? "We discussed this internally. Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him. We've done DNA sampling and testing. So there was no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden."

"It is very important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of someone shot in the head are not floating around ... as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are," Obama said.

"We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. ... I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he is gone. But we don't need to spike the football. ... would create some national security risk."

Carney said in reaching the decision about not releasing the photos, Obama talked about it with Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"He held his opinion very firmly," Carney said.

Asked about CIA Director Leon Panetta's claim that a photo would be released, Carney said there's a "compelling argument" for releasing information. He says Obama was "engaged" in the discussion.

Osama would have been taken alive if he had surrendered: White House

The American commando team that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden would have taken him alive if he had surrendered, the White House said Wednesday.

"If he had surrendered ... then that would have been bringing him to justice as well," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. "But he was brought to justice on Sunday."

The American team "had the authority to kill Osama bin Laden unless he offered to surrender," he said. Asked about Pakistan's claim that the raid was unlawful, Carney asserted, "The raid was entirely lawful".

"We have a complicated but vital and important relationship with Pakistan," he said. "We don't agree on everything. But their cooperation has been essential."

Asked about the "firefight" in the bin Laden raid Sunday, and who was firing back at American forces, Carney said the White House has been "as helpful as we can be to provide as much information as we can", but that the administration won't be releasing details yet.

On where bin Laden was shot, Carney said: "Above the neck." He said he would not go into "operational details" of the Osama bin Laden raid, but he said that the American team's efforts "dramatically minimised collateral damage".

Asked if bin Laden's location have been known without torture techniques, Carney said: "I can say with certainty that no single piece of information, with the exception of the address of the compound, was vital to this, was singularly vital to this, because we're talking about tiny bits of information that were compiled by unbelievably competent professionals ... over nine and a half years." There was no "thread" that "held the thought together", he said

BAD DEATH OF TERROR

12-year-old daughter saw captured Osama executed

Islamabad: Osama bin Laden was unarmed at the time of his killing and his 12-year-old daughter saw her father being shot dead, it was revealed on Wednesday, even as the exact circumstances of the al-Qaida chief's death remained unclear and the White House changed versions.

An Arabic TV station claimed the child had, in fact, said her father was taken prisoner and then shot, in an execution of sorts.

The girl is now in custody with a Yemeni wife of Osama's, an Inter-Services Intelligence ( ISI) official said. Up to 12 women and children who survived the US raid on their villa were now in custody, he said.

The child, reported to be 12 years old, "was the one who confirmed to us that Osama was dead and shot and taken away", said the official.

An Arabic television station went further, saying, "a source in Pakistani security quoted the daughter of Osama bin Laden that the leader of al-Qaida was not killed inside his house, but had been arrested and was killed later".

Four bodies were retrieved from the daring covert attack, including one of bin Laden's sons, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Up to three women and nine children, including the young Yemeni woman who was shot in the leg and a daughter of the Saudi-born mastermind, were in detention, he said. "There are a lot of questions we want to ask them," another intelligence official said.

Taliban create special unit to avenge Osama killing

The Taliban have created a special unit in Afghanistan to avenge the killing of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, an outfit commander in Afghanistan told Al Jazeera.

"We have created a special unit to avenge the martyr Sheikh Osama bin Laden," Dawran Safi told the satellite TV channel. "We will take forward his standard and wage war against foreigners and their agents," Safi said in an interview from the Afghan capital.

Wife shot in leg, screamed Osama's name

Osama bin Laden's youngest wife, Amal Al-Sadah, 27 was shot in the leg in Monday's raid on the Abbottabad complex where the terror kingpin was in hiding.

Reports say that Osama and those with him in the sprawling three-storey structure were taken by surprise when the Seals descended on them. The al-Qaida chief was sleeping in a baggy salwar suit, reports say.

As the Seals secured the compound and moved into the building, there was confusion and reports say, she shrieked out Osama's name which gave the terror mastermind away in the melee.

Early reports had said she was being used as a human shield to protect Osama but later the US establishment came up with a denial of the story. It was later said that one woman had indeed got caught in the crossfire and had died, but she was not Osama's youngest wife.

This unnamed woman could well be the wife of bin Laden's courier, Sheikh Abu Ahmed, who died in the raid. In the new version of the story that White House press secretary Jay Carney gave out, he said: "bin Laden's wife rushed the assaulters and was shot in the leg but not killed."

Al-Sadah was was married to Osama when she was just 17 and fiercely loyal to her husband. Their wedding took place in Afghanistan. Yemen born, the marriage was reportedly arranged to strengthen the al-Qaida chief's links with the Gulf.

Her father was supposed to have been "proud" when he gave her away to the global terror kingpin. But bin Laden sent her back to Yemen out of concern for her safety. Al-Sadah refused to stay home and managed to return despite being under surveillance. She told interrogators that she had been living in the mansion since 2005.

Bin Laden had €500 cash, was ready to flee

In indications that Osama bin Laden was prepared to flee at short notice, cash totalling 500 euros and two telephone numbers were found sewn into his clothing when he was killed by US commandos deep inside Pakistan on Sunday.

US media reported that this information was given by top intelligence officials to members of the Congress at a classified briefing at which CIA director Leon Panetta was present.

Another US media report said the American troops that swooped on bin Laden's compound at Abbottabad may have laid their hands on the "largest potential intelligence coup of the post-9/11 era".

The Navy Seals, which conducted the 40-minute operation, carried off five computers, 10 hard drives and more than 100 storage devices and removable flash drives, the Wall Street Journal said.

A CIA task force, which has already conducted a preliminary analysis of the material, is hunting for leads on the location of the slain al-Qaida leader's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is widely expected to ascend to the top of the outfit.

US publication 'Politico', quoting sources who attended Panetta's briefing, reported that the CIA chief told lawmakers about the items found in bin Laden's clothing in response to a question about why he wasn't guarded by more security personnel at his home in Abbottabad.

The answer, according to one source, bin Laden believed that "his network was strong enough to give him a heads-up" before any US strike.

The evidence of cash, which amounts to $740 and phone numbers was divulged to support the US administration's belief that bin Laden was prepared to escape the compound if alerted to an impending attack.