Bin Laden - lessons for Israel

When President Obama, a reserved family man, announced his intention to convene a late-night press conference, everyone held their breath. Some people attributed his quick action to his rush to salvage his sinking prestige ahead of the upcoming presidential elections; others spoke of his great sensitivity and incredible humanism in informing relatives of 9/11 victims without delay that the monster had been nabbed and hurled into the sea, in order to prevent a gravesite that would have drawn zealous Islamic pilgrims.

As the United States and its allies celebrated the superb operational and intelligence achievement, which took years to plan and execute, the sense of satisfaction was doubly great as the arch-terrorist who became a martyr (after educating an entire generation to do so before him) swore to undermine the West, fight the Jews (not the Israelis or Zionists) and bring a new Holocaust upon them.

 Indeed, bin Laden and his people were overjoyed by the large number of Jews hurt at the World Trade Center. Had Obama truly been sensitive, he could have at least expressed empathy to the Israeli people, which was marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at the time, in his dramatic announcement.

He didn’t do it because he’s preoccupied with the struggle against global Islamic terror, just like Roosevelt was preoccupied with World War II and did not bother dedicating any effort or attention to assisting the Jews murdered in the camps, even when he could do so. Obama was bothered because we were dealing not with Afghanistan, but rather, with its neighbor Pakistan – the so-called US ally that provides a base and vitality to the Taliban and also a shelter for al-Qaeda. A wanted man like bin Laden could not have been hiding in Pakistan, in a suburb of the capital Islamabad no less, without the reputed and sly Pakistani intelligence service – which was supposed to be cooperating with America - knowing about it. Hence, the US operation did not involve Pakistani extradition, which America’s weak president couldn’t handle, yet despite his weakness the op required a bold American commando effort that deserves much praise.

Israel should stop apologizing