TAKEDOWN

by Leigh Lundin

A week ago, the moneyman and motivator behind the greatest crime of the new millennium faced the consequences. This week, like the rest of the world, we’re trying to sort out what happened.

Booted out of his own country as a religious madman, bin Laden found like-minded souls among the Taliban where he learned to wage war against the Russians. In short order, he turned his attention to the world’s other great superpower, the United States, eventually using four airliners as living bombs to kill more than 3000 citizens from around the globe.

Lives weren’t the only casualty, which included civil liberties, traveling freely, national economies, international trust, and his own family. In the days following 9/11, we had the world’s good will in our palm, but in our pain and rage, we made mistakes. Churchill said the United States always does the right thing– after it’s tried everything else. But we’re better than that, we persist, we get where we’re going.

To a person, we wished to nail the evil who wreaked this havoc. One man, Gary Brooks Faulkner, wanted bin Laden so much, he wandered Pakistan with a sword and knife until authorities arrested him, probably for his own good.

Although an urban legend took root that bin Laden lived in caves along the Afghan-Pakistani border, an evil BoBo of bin Laden’s wealth and privilege wouldn’t slum forever. Some knew better, journalist Christiane Amanpour, for one, whose sources years earlier reported bin Laden living comfortably in a Pakistan suburb. I don’t doubt our military intelligence had a good idea as well, but knowing the bad guy lived in Pakistan and knowing where he lived in Pakistan were two different propositions.

Oddly, Geraldo Rivera seemed to have similar notions and in the scramble of speculation before the White House press announcement, his instincts zeroed in, first guessing that the US had nailed a target and moments later wondering if it might be bin Laden.

Now that that mystery has been resolved, many more questions remain fueling geopolitical angst, conspiracy theories, and crime thrillers, the stuff of Tom Clancy novels. We’ll touch on a few of these mysteries.

Where’s the Long Form Death Certificate?

Is bin Laden really dead?

While the question intrigues on several levels, a many-person cover-up would be difficult to mount. On the other hand, it has to disappoint intelligence officials if he did die. It’s interesting to wonder if bin Laden might become terrorism’s Rudolf Hess in an Iron Mountain Spandau.

In a related issue, several commentators questioned why bin Laden was shot if he was unarmed. Perhaps the heat of the moment, the darkness, or interference with the wife in front of him could have caused him to be inadvertently shot. In London, some wondered if Navy Seals were under military aegis of something like the shoot-to-kill orders of Operation Kratos, but few are losing sleep about it. Besides, al-Qaeda people like bombs.

What was Pakistan’s Rôle?

Despite the State Department’s warm words for Pakistan’s shaky democracy and despite persistent rumors at least one Pakistani intelligence officer was present, Pakistan’s part seems to have been, kindly worded, their Nigel Bruce to our Basil Rathbone.

Whether Pakistan officials at any level knew where bin Laden holed up could be argued both ways but in fairness, evidence accumulated thus far suggests not. While bin Laden could no doubt have garnered support among radicals, he had too much to lose if his presence became known.

Who Else Knew?

Beyond Christiane Amanpour’s sources (and Geraldo’s guesses), a California college class working both mathematical models and social theories, deduced bin Laden was living in an urban setting, probably in a medium-sized Pakistani town. (Rumor has it Professors Charlie Eppes and Amita Ramanujan were not consulted.)

Who was that Masked Dog?

At least one dog may have accompanied the mission. Like the Seals, his name has not been revealed and it’s unclear if he wore dog tags.

What secrets were found?

We can only surmise, but apparently quite a haul was removed from the compound. The take apparently included dozens of hard drives and flash drives.

Bird Watching

Among other technology, techno-thrillers necessarily focus on newly revealed toys. I wondered at the photos of the crashed airframe, but whirlybird geeks are way ahead of most of us, speculating about the craft the Seals flew in upon. News articles simply refer to them as Blackhawks, but that’s not what crashed.

In efforts to stem the plummeting economy, Obama received criticism for killing off several (mostly duplicate or overlapping) military projects. Now experts are wondering if funding was secretly diverted to clandestine projects, because the crashed TAPO Airwolf helicopter appears like nothing else in our arsenal or on the books, a sort of stealth chopper in multiple senses.

News services commissioned Ugo Crisponi to put together the clues, which he envisions something like the rendering here.

Aftermath

A malignant cell has been excised but the cancer will fight back, trying to metastasize. Most of the world understandably feels relief bin Laden was disposed of.

My friend Steve and I chatted about the swirl of news. While I can’t celebrate death, I can’t think of anyone who deserved it more. Rashard Mendenhall tweeted similar sentiments about celebrating death (since removed under pressure from the Pittsburgh Steelers):

"What kind of person celebrates death?"

"I believe in God. I believe we’re ALL his children. And I believe HE is the ONE and ONLY judge."

"Those who judge others, will also be judged themselves."

"For those of you who said you want to see Bin Laden burn in hell and piss on his ashes, I ask how would God feel about your heart?"

Mendenhall is right about not celebrating death, no matter how deserved– we’re better than that. But, I also encourage people to not judge those feeling release and grim satisfaction, tonic after death and destruction and the pain of loss.

Ridding the world of bin Laden was a milestone, not an end point. Andrew Jackson and Wendell Phillips paraphrased John Philpot Curran in describing the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Unlike the end of World War II where the light of a new world shone over the White Cliffs of Dover, much work remains to do.

But we’ll get there.