A Promised Land: The Clash Between Obama and Osama Bin Laden
In Obama's recently released book, 'A Promised Land,' he gives us insight on the US raid into Abbottabad to take out Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden.
Former, USA President, Barack Obama recently published his book called ‘A Promised Land.’ In his book, Obama recalls the time he broke the news of the USA raiding into Abbottabad to kill Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda ruler. According to Obama, Pakistan took the news rather well and the raid was easier than he had expected it to be.
Obama’s book, ‘A Promised Land,’ released on Tuesday, 17th October, and gave a detailed insight into the US raid in Abbottabad to kill the world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, on May 2nd, 2011 inside his compound in the town.
USA and Pakistan are allied states, and Obama knew that proposing a raid in the country would not sit well with Pakistan and violate their sovereignty, however, he decided to go through with it anyway because he did not want to miss a chance to target the Al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden. “Whatever we chose to do in Abbottabad, then, would involve violating the territory of a putative ally in the most egregious way possible, short of war- raising both the diplomatic stakes and the operational complexities,” he wrote.
Moreover, Obama also revealed that the reason why he released his book after the elections was because he did not want it to affect Biden’s position in the elections; as Biden seemed to oppose the raid in Pakistan to kill Osama Bin Laden.
Once the US troops had executed Osama Bin Laden, Obama spoke to several world leaders, including Pakistan’s then President, Asif Ali Zardari. He expected Zardari to be uneasy with this breach in sovereignty. However, Zardari seemed to congratulate Obama on his success and show genuine support recalling how his wife had been executed by extremists related to Al Qaeda.
“I expected my most difficult call to be with Pakistan’s beleaguered president, Asif Ali Zardari, who would surely face a backlash at home over our violation of Pakistani sovereignty,” Obama wrote. “When I reached him, however, he expressed congratulations and support. ‘Whatever the fallout,’ he said, ‘it’s very good news’.”
Similarly, the USA Military chief, Mike Mullen, called Pakistan Army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvaiz Kayani to inform him about the raid. Upon which Kayani requested the US troops to come clean and finish the target, Osama Bin Laden, quickly so Pakistan can manage the reaction of the public efficiently.
Furthermore, Obama mentioned that he chose not to involve Pakistan in the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden as he did speculate that some elements of Pakistan were linked with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. He stated that as soon as he found that Bin Laden had been living in a compound in Abbottabad, he decided to go in for the kill immediately.
Since the location of the compound was so close to Pakistan’s Military West Point, even the slightest leak in information could ruin the opportunity of this raid, claimed Obama. Although he did appreciate Pakistan’s efforts and cooperation on multiple counterterrorism operations regarding the Afghanistan issue; Obama claimed that the information about the attack on Osama Bin Laden was too sensitive to be shared.
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