Bin Laden blame game begins

Tourist season starts again in Abbottabad

The two countries with most to gain or lose from the Osama Bin Laden shoot out are the United States and Pakistan. However, it's a bit like a snakes and ladders game at the moment. The Americans were quick off the mark to blame the Pakistanis for intelligence incompetence. This stung rather badly. It was a day before Islamabad could come up with anything to say. Before that happened many Pakistanis around the compound were putting their ten rupees worth into the mix. The shooting was condemned by some, doubted by others. The Americans then decided to tell the world that the first impressions should not be the lasting impressions. Bin Laden had actually not been armed and the woman thought to be a wife and a human shield was actually alive, albeit with a bullet in her leg. Children, who witnessed the carnage, were being "well treated". As President Obama and his team watched the event he must have seen the "truth". How come the muddle?

The Pakistanis did not react to this. They reacted to the stinging rebuke. Now they say they were tipped off two years ago, but the "world" should have done something about Bin Laden. Can't think what exactly?

In all these kind of events it is the minions that get the blame. So who better to get behind bars and beat the living daylights out of? It is the poor sod who sold the land to Bin Laden so he could build a fortress for himself. Now wouldn't you think the Pakistani authorities would have asked just at least one question whilst this edifice went up. I'd have asked "Who's going to live in this place?" but there are over 1,000 other equally good questions. But no. Nothing. The locals know better. Every time a creepy event occurs, the locals eventually spill the beans.

Mark Mardell of the BBC thinks the Americans never wanted Bin Laden alive. He's got a point. Why bother with the expense of carting him to Guantanamo Bay? You'd need more that an extraordinary rendition. In fact something out of this world. And the reward money has gone up in smoke, I'm sure of it.

David Cameron tells us we should all be on our guard in case Islamic fundamentalists get any ideas. That sort of implies we might have been better off if this episode had not been made such a public spectacle. Time will tell.

Bin Laden's Abbottabad compound is prized property indeed!

Half private compound - half private prison

I'm just wondering about those Pakistani authorities. Did it ever occur to them that a fortified house with fortified walls was something a tad odd in town? Abbottabad is apparently a sought after place for learning. It has a highly regarded set of educational establishments. Several secondary schools and the Pakistan Military Academy too. But not so high that a student might ask "Please sir, who lives in that fancy house we pass on the way to college?". Silence all round we are led to believe.

Do they have planning laws in Abbottabad? I can't believe all the banging, hammering and drilling went unnoticed. Very strange. Still no word from the Pakistan government. Maybe they're in shock. The world's most wanted found right under their noses. And it happened in Abbottabad, a town founded during the high days of British India by Major James Abbott in 1853. Would the major have been caught napping?

Another thing about Abbottabad is that it has long been a favourite of tourists. They've been flocking to this beautiful part of the world since colonial times. There are quite a few guest houses in town. Well, one less now! It wouldn't be that surprising if some enterprising soul adds the infamous compound to the tourist trail. "..and this is where Osama Bin Laden lived...."

Osama Bin Laden dead. Well, it had to happen one day if only by natural causes. This way, though, we know where he was and how long he'd been there. Spain used to be the hideaway of choice for many undesirables. Seems Pakistan is that place now.