Sorry for the week or so lay off folk, I was away in Pakistan, I had some, uh, business to attend to in Abottabad. Let me tell you, it is lovely around this time of year.
So how about that? Osama bin Laden, hide-and-seek champion from 2001-2011. I guess John McCain won't have to chase him to the gates of hell after all.
I had thought about writing about this subject immediately after it made news last Monday, but decided against it, hell, everyone from Wolf Blitzer to Anderson Cooper to Bill Maher was on bin Laden's death, I figured they would do well in my stead.
Of course, it is still worthy of a mention. I won't bother to go through the litany of praise for President Obama and all those involved in the operation, we have been over that, and justly so. The Pakistani involvement in this whole thing is really beginning to interest the folks here at The Four Corners (looks around), ok, so basically just me. Anyway, this is the new conundrum. What did the Pakistanis know? Was the intelligence agency,the ISI, complicit, or just embarrassingly incompetent? How do we proceed with them now? Well, my quick assumption is that, the situation, the World's most wanted terrorist/criminal living in a compound literally yards from the Pakistani military's West Point/Sandhurst is absurd to the point that I actually believe the Pakistanis when they claim innocence. I take the "embarrassingly incompetent" option. I mean, if the ISI was really harboring Al Qaeda's numero uno, placing him in an a large compound surrounded by military types some 30 kilometers from the capital is really just making it too obvious. Wouldn't someone say "Wait, if the Americans actually DO find out where he is, won't that be a little awkward?"? I mean, the ISI is just as reliant upon American funding and help as the rest of the country is, why would they make such a blatant risk? So yes, I actually think that bin Laden was just pulling the old trick of hiding right out in the open, much like Serbian war criminals did after the Balkans war ended.
Either way, its a damning indictment of the ISI/Pakistani military. The fact that this guy could live so close to the country's seat of government in relative comfort for so long without anyone getting a clue points to some pretty dopey spies, if my assumption is correct. The Keystone Cops are apparently the chief spies in Pakistan. I am not exonerating the Pakistani military or the ISI in anyway here, evidence points to the fact that they are involved in some pretty shady stuff, and are two-faced. However, I think that giving haven to top card in al Al Qaeda's deck would be far too risky and stupid a move, even for these guys.
Anyway, sorry no movie review from this weekend, I was planning on watching "The Way Back" with Ed Harris and Colin Farrell, but got caught up instead watching the most recent episode of Bill Maher, I couldn't wait to see what had to be said on bin Laden's death.
My birthday (the double-deuce, 22) is coming up on Wednesday. I would use this space to ask for cash donations for this enterprise, but will refrain from doing so. I will attempt to come up with some sort of celebratory post, I haven't thought of anything just yet though, I will see what I can drum up. My last two birthdays have been spent overseas (2009 in Istanbul, 2010 in Beijing). That run, so it seems, will be coming to a very unfortunate and early end. I, of course, will be working on Wednesday. Instead of birthday wishes, maybe sympathy cards would be apropos. No, no, no time for self-pity, there will be more time for adventures later on. A trip to Bangkok, Thailand, coupled with Australia, in late November is currently in the works. You heard it here first. Watch this space.
So how about that? Osama bin Laden, hide-and-seek champion from 2001-2011. I guess John McCain won't have to chase him to the gates of hell after all.
I had thought about writing about this subject immediately after it made news last Monday, but decided against it, hell, everyone from Wolf Blitzer to Anderson Cooper to Bill Maher was on bin Laden's death, I figured they would do well in my stead.
Of course, it is still worthy of a mention. I won't bother to go through the litany of praise for President Obama and all those involved in the operation, we have been over that, and justly so. The Pakistani involvement in this whole thing is really beginning to interest the folks here at The Four Corners (looks around), ok, so basically just me. Anyway, this is the new conundrum. What did the Pakistanis know? Was the intelligence agency,the ISI, complicit, or just embarrassingly incompetent? How do we proceed with them now? Well, my quick assumption is that, the situation, the World's most wanted terrorist/criminal living in a compound literally yards from the Pakistani military's West Point/Sandhurst is absurd to the point that I actually believe the Pakistanis when they claim innocence. I take the "embarrassingly incompetent" option. I mean, if the ISI was really harboring Al Qaeda's numero uno, placing him in an a large compound surrounded by military types some 30 kilometers from the capital is really just making it too obvious. Wouldn't someone say "Wait, if the Americans actually DO find out where he is, won't that be a little awkward?"? I mean, the ISI is just as reliant upon American funding and help as the rest of the country is, why would they make such a blatant risk? So yes, I actually think that bin Laden was just pulling the old trick of hiding right out in the open, much like Serbian war criminals did after the Balkans war ended.
Either way, its a damning indictment of the ISI/Pakistani military. The fact that this guy could live so close to the country's seat of government in relative comfort for so long without anyone getting a clue points to some pretty dopey spies, if my assumption is correct. The Keystone Cops are apparently the chief spies in Pakistan. I am not exonerating the Pakistani military or the ISI in anyway here, evidence points to the fact that they are involved in some pretty shady stuff, and are two-faced. However, I think that giving haven to top card in al Al Qaeda's deck would be far too risky and stupid a move, even for these guys.
Anyway, sorry no movie review from this weekend, I was planning on watching "The Way Back" with Ed Harris and Colin Farrell, but got caught up instead watching the most recent episode of Bill Maher, I couldn't wait to see what had to be said on bin Laden's death.
My birthday (the double-deuce, 22) is coming up on Wednesday. I would use this space to ask for cash donations for this enterprise, but will refrain from doing so. I will attempt to come up with some sort of celebratory post, I haven't thought of anything just yet though, I will see what I can drum up. My last two birthdays have been spent overseas (2009 in Istanbul, 2010 in Beijing). That run, so it seems, will be coming to a very unfortunate and early end. I, of course, will be working on Wednesday. Instead of birthday wishes, maybe sympathy cards would be apropos. No, no, no time for self-pity, there will be more time for adventures later on. A trip to Bangkok, Thailand, coupled with Australia, in late November is currently in the works. You heard it here first. Watch this space.
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