Further thoughts on Osama Bin Laden's death

Six inside witnesses. As expected, many bloggers are wondering about "wag the dog" scenarios. (Classical music buffs may prefer to call it a "Lieutenant Kijé" scenario.) The primary evidence against all "fake raid" theories is the report that six of Bin Laden's sons were nabbed alive. If this whole thing were a hoax, then official accounts probably would not have included that detail.

Eventually, someone is going to interview one or more of those six.

Who was that woman? Here's another detail which tells me that the raid really did occur as described: One of the bodies was that of a woman (perhaps Osama's wife) being used as a human shield. When you think about it, her death does not exactly redound to the credit of the SEAL team.

We've entered a grim world indeed when the old "Back off coppers, or the dame gets it" ploy results only in a hail of gunfire.

On the other hand... We have a fake photograph alleged to be that of Osama Bin Laden. Who engineered this con, and why? Was the photo prepared before the raid, or after?

The photo was published by a number of news agencies shortly after the raid. This fact tells me that the job was not a simple matter of hijinx perpetrated by a snickering civilian Photoshopper. The parties responsible for this hoax appear to have had serious journalism connections.

I consider the fake photo worthy of investigation. Don't let this mystery slide by.

When did the raid take place? Officially, Osama Bin Laden died on May 2. At least, that's what Wikipedia says. An on-site Twitter user confirms this time period. But there are rumors that he was killed earlier, perhaps on Friday.

The announcement was withheld in order to pose no conflict with coverage of the royal wedding -- at least, so runs one version of the rumor. Another version holds that Obama wanted to announce the deaths of Ghaddafy and Osama Bin Laden on the same day, but the former refused to co-operate.

Lest we forget... Anyone else out there recall this elaborate graphic depicting Osama Bin Laden's "Dr. No" hideaway? That hoax should remind us that the government does use the media to lie to us.

Some Pakistanis beg to differ. According to the International Business Times, two Pakistani television stations insist that Osama Bin Laden is still alive. The apparent source for this claim is a Taliban-affiliated group in Pakistan.

Bodies. If Osama had to be buried at sea because no country would take the corpse, then what happened to the bodies of his son and the woman presumed to be his wife?

What did Pakistan know? Steve Coll of the New Yorker has written an excellent piece addressing this topic.

Abbottabad is essentially a military-cantonment city in Pakistan, in the hills to the north of the capital of Islamabad, in an area where much of the land is controlled or owned by the Pakistani Army and retired Army officers.

It stretches credulity to think that a mansion of that scale could have been built and occupied by bin Laden for six years without its coming to the attention of anyone in the Pakistani Army.

The initial circumstantial evidence suggests that the opposite is more likely—that bin Laden was effectively being housed under Pakistani state control. Pakistan will deny this, it seems safe to predict, and perhaps no convincing evidence will ever surface to prove the case. If I were a prosecutor at the United States Department of Justice, however, I would be tempted to call a grand jury. Who owned the land on which the house was constructed? How was the land acquired, and from whom? Who designed the house, which seems to have been purpose-built to secure bin Laden? Who was the general contractor? Who installed the security systems? Who worked there? Are there witnesses who will now testify as to who visited the house, how often, and for what purpose?

The standard counter-conspiracy article: Read it here. Parts of this piece by Damian Thompson are boilerplate, but some of it demonstrates actual original thought, which surprises me. Like this:

No body. No photograph or DNA evidence – at least, not yet. [Update: The White House now says there was a DNA match between the body and tissue taken from bin Laden's dead sister's brain.] Conspiracy theorists are an ingenious bunch, but at the moment the White House is making this ridiculously easy for them.

Moreover, why did it allow bin Laden’s body to be dropped into the sea? Is the US really so sensitive to Islamic burial practices that it is prepared to hand conspiracy theorists such a gift?

Thank you for that, Damian. We'll probably never catch an American journalist making that (rather obvious) observation.

This article notes that conspiracy theories are even more prevalent in the Middle East than in the United States. I have no doubt that, even in Islamic countries, a lot of people are asking why there was no autopsy.

I do have a bone to pick with Thompson...

We’ve also seen young, Left-wing disciples of Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore happily draw on 9/11 “truther” theories constructed in the American fascist underground.

In a very technical sense, this statement is true. The author is correct to note that the "controlled demolition" nonsense first picked up steam on the right -- that is, on the fascist ultra-right, which has always been opposed to the Bush family and to the (pro-Israel) neocons. (In previous posts, we've looked at the origins of the "controlled demolition" meme.)

It is also true that these fascist musings were later picked up by some very naive (and very annoying) lefties, some of whom may also be fans of Chomsky and Moore. However, the wording of this passage might lead some to believe that Chomsky and Moore themselves believe in "CD" theories. That simply is not the case.

Many of the "truthers" are young people whose political views are rather vague, inchoate and contradictory. The same ninnies used to praise Ron Paul on the Democratic Underground boards.

Right now, CD-ism is primarily a right-wing phenomenon. (Example: Alex Jones, David Icke and Jim Marrs.) Correct me if I'm wrong, but to the best of my knowledge, no-one on the American left holding any position of responsibility has endorsed that silliness.