The Implications of the Death of Osama Bin Laden on United-States Pakistan Relations

By Katherine Anne Williams

“The United States has no better options other than continuing to work with Pakistan”.

“Al Qaeda wishes to weaken Pakistan’s delicate democracy by creating a popular backlash against the United States”.

Introduction

Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda’s leader was killed on the 1^st of May 2011 by American special forces within a mansion, 60 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan. The United States security forces had located Osama bin Laden in a mansion on the outer edge of Abbottabad in northwest Pakistan only 800 yards from a Pakistan Military Academy. This paper will look at the implications of the death of Osama bin Laden on the United States’ relationship with Pakistan.

The West’s Relationship with Pakistan

Joshua Foust, a fellow at the American Security Project, a non-partisan public policy and research organization based in Washington, D.C. states that the relationship between Pakistan and the United States might possibly be harmed due to Osama bin Laden’s long presence in Abbotabad, Pakistan, which was extremely close to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad and the fact that he had been living there for years, unnoticed, is quite suspicious. Relations may alter between the Central Intelligence Organization (CIA) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Pakistani secret intelligence organization, as there could perhaps be more distrust between them and this may lead to the United States government attempting to foster a positive relationship between the two organizations, as Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States is vital in the war on terrorism. Specialist in Terrorism and National Security, John Rollins, of the Congressional Research Service, the public policy research arm of the United States Congress, states the result of the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden leaves two sensible conclusions: either Pakistani officials were complicit in harboring Osama bin Laden, or the nation’s military and intelligence services were exceptionally useless in their hunt for top Al Qaeda leaders. The circumstances of Osama bin Laden’s death make it obvious that the United States still has severe problems in receiving support from Pakistan, and the United States government knows that these problems needs to be solved in order to win the war against terrorism.

According to market leader in business intelligence, Business Monitor International, many have criticized Pakistan for not sharing intelligence on Al Qaeda with the United States and its allies. Hui Wang from the China Daily newspaper states that the removal of Osama bin Laden will have detrimental consequences for United States relations with Pakistan. For many years, the United States has attempted to work with Pakistan for its support for its war against terror. The CIA said it did not inform Pakistan about the raid on the mansion housing Osama bin Laden prior to its execution of the raid, as it feared Osama bin Laden would be warned by Pakistan. The United States government has stated that it will investigate whether or not Pakistan helped Osama bin Laden avoid a decade-long search before he was killed. In spite of suspicions regarding Pakistan, Rollins states that top administration officials in the United States have stressed the requirement for close collaboration with Pakistan. The United States has no better options other than continuing to work with Pakistan. These experts argue that a United States detachment from Pakistan would probably only facilitate greater extremism and anti-American attitudes in Pakistan. Anthony Cordesman, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan foreign policy think tank in Washington D.C., states that there is a severe risk that many within Pakistan that oppose United States action in Pakistan will respond with greater hostility to the detail that the United States performed the raid on Pakistani soil, increasing anti-American sentiment in the Pakistan. Rollins states that a continued attempt to assist in improving Pakistan’s political, financial, and security circumstances is the greatest plan for improving relations with Pakistan which may lead to greater cooperation with the United States which is vital for the fight against terrorism.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001, the United States Congress approved more than $20 billion in foreign assistance and military “reimbursements”, for Pakistan, making the nation one of the top receivers of United States financial support over the past ten years since anti-American and anti-Western terrorist plots increasingly were traced to Pakistan-based extremist groups, and the Afghan rebellion continued to reside in “safe havens”, in Pakistan. Many in the United States have questioned the effectiveness of large aid payments to a nation that was making hardly any progress toward longstanding United States goals, which were apparently also desired by Pakistan. The United States government is now likely to increase pressure on Islamabad to find and detain Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, both of whom are believed to be residing in Pakistan.

Bruce Hoffman from the Combating Terrorism Center, an academic institution at the United States Military Academy in New York describes the Al Qaeda statement on the 6^th of May 2011, which imply that the organization will attempt to further damage Pakistan’s relations with the United States, which would be detrimental for the war against terror. Al Qaeda members called its jihadist allies and ordinary citizens in Pakistan to fight against the Pakistani government. Al Qaeda wishes to weaken Pakistan’s delicate democracy by creating a popular backlash against the United States and the remaining leadership was very clear about this.Due to this, the United States must and most probably will try to foster a positive relationship with Pakistan and will not discontinue its financial assistance and military reimbursements. Brigadier-General Mark Kimmitt, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs agrees, stating the United States is an influential actor in the stability of Pakistan and this is not the time to leave. Ending or reducing operations in Pakistan is counterproductive and reckless. The killing of Osama bin Laden does not alter the fact that Pakistan has over 100 nuclear weapons, which should and must be protected from Al Qaeda, which could use these weapons in terrorist attacks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the death of Osama bin Laden will not reduce or remove any counterterrorism strategies currently in place regarding Pakistan. Due to Osama bin Laden’s long residency in Pakistan, it is likely the United States may share less information with Pakistan, however, they will not be able to terminate their partnership with Pakistan in the war against terror as this would be detrimental and they must try and foster a positive relationship with Pakistan in order to capture terrorists residing in Pakistan. Severing ties with Pakistan would be counterproductive in the United States was against terrorism as Al Qaeda is already attempting to further damage relations with Pakistan where anti-American sentiment is growing. Abandoning Pakistan, which is already, has been proven to be containing many terrorists will make Pakistan a safe haven for terrorists who could easily plan terrorist operations from Pakistan, which the United States needs to prevent in the war against terror. The United States will continue to help improve Pakistan’s political, financial and security circumstances, but with discovering Osama bin Laden’s long presence in Pakistan, the United States may have leverage over the Pakistani government and will most likely increase pressure on Pakistan to unearth more terrorists in the nation.