A big question mark is hanging over the killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid on his compound in Pakistan after Washington said Al-Qaeda leader was “unarmed” when shot.
The administration of US President Barack Obama initially said that Al-Qaeda leader was armed and was killed in a firefight when he resisted capture by US troops.
“After a firefight, US forces killed Osama Bin Laden and took custody of his body,” a senior US official said on Monday.
But a day later, the White House said that bin Laden was “unarmed” when he was shot dead.
“In the room with bin Laden, a women — bin Laden’s wife — rushed the US assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed,” Obama’s spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
“Bin Laden was then shot and killed. He was not armed.”
The contradiction has created confusion how Al-Qaeda leader resisted the US capture at a time when he was unarmed.
An attempt by the White House spokesman to explain the situation added to the confusion.
“Resistance does not require a firearm,” Carney said.
“We were prepared to capture him if that was possible,” the US spokesman said, without providing a clear explanation.
“We expected a great deal of resistance and were met with a great deal of resistance.”
When a journalist insisted: “He wasn’t armed,” Carney replied: “But there were many other people who were armed in the compound. There was a firefight.”
“But not in that room,” the journalist pressed.
“It was a highly volatile firefight. I’ll point you to the department of defense for more details about it,” Carney said.
Kill Mission
The contradictions in the US position on how Bin Laden was killed have sparked speculations that the raid was a “kill operation”.
This was evident in the explanation given by the White House spokesman on Bin Laden’s death.
“He was enemy No. 1 for this country and killed many, many innocent civilians,” Carney said.
“No apologies.”
The US commandos who hunted Osama Bin Laden even said that they were under orders to kill Al-Qaeda leader, not to capture him.
“This was a kill operation,” a US national security official told Reuters.
This claim was somehow repeated by CIA director Leon Panetta.
“The authorities we have on bin Laden are to kill him. And that was made clear,” he said.
“But it was also, as part of their rules of engagement, if he suddenly put up his hands and offered to be captured, then they would have the opportunity, obviously, to capture him. But that opportunity never developed.”
Adding to the controversy, Washington has shocked many around the world by stating that it has buried Bin Laden at sea.
Furthermore, the Obama administration has been resisting calls to release a graphic photo of Bin Laden’s dead body.
Though Washington tried to explain its reluctance to release Bin Laden’s photos by saying that the pictures are gruesome, the position has created many questions.
“It’s fair to say that it’s a gruesome photograph,” said White House spokesman Carney.
“I’ll be candid. There are sensitivities here in terms of the appropriateness of releasing photographs of Osama bin Laden.”
All in all, the controversy about Bin Laden’s death and whether Washington was really seeking a fair trial to him leaves many questions unanswered.
Time will only reveal the truth. Hopefully soon.
Source: OnIslam
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