Menachem Begin was the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before becoming Prime Minister Begin, he was responsible for the bombing of the British administrative and military headquarters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 in which 91 people got killed. For years this attack was dubbed as the deadliest terrorist attack of the 20th century. In fact Britain, according to Eqbal Ahmad placed a 'dead-or-alive' bounty of £100,000 on his head. Three decades later he signed a peace treaty with Egypt’s dictator Anwar Sadat and both of them received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978!
            With the death of Osama bin Laden the United States of America is screaming full throttle that the ‘most wanted man ever’ and the ‘most notorious of all’ has been done to justice. Hang on sir, I have a question. Wasn’t he the same man whom you in 80s dubbed as Mujhid fighting against the ‘Godless’ Soviets. Then he was your friend. Post 90 he became your enemy. Why and how? Can you answer that?

Betrayed friend
Osama fought for proxy war in Afghanistan then why as a Muslim and Arab he would betray USA. In the pretext of liberating Kuwait and safeguarding Saudi Kingdom from the attack of Iraq America occupied Saudi Arabia and when the liberation process was completed it refused to leave the holy places of Muslim. It angered Osama and he repeatedly asked them to vacate from the Saudi Arabia (Eqbal Ahmad and Ahmed Rashid). His preservation in asking US to leave Saudi Kingdom angered both the Americans and the Saudi Royal family. Finally he was deported to Sudan where he began to think ways of forcing US exit. Until then he didn’t use any violent methods. As per Eqbal Ahmad Osama comes from the tribal clan ‘Laden’ and in tribes words are honoured. US didn’t honour its word and revenge was the next thing.  From Sudan as per US solo claims he carried attacks against American interests. Then US brought pressure on Sudan government and made Osama to flee from their land into Afghanistan. And here to Americans utmost disbelieve Osama joined the ranks of Taliban.

Taliban part of Great Game
Taliban has never been classified as terrorist organisation despite its regressive and sometimes inhuman ways to treat its own people. In spite of Taliban being the most repressive and primeval they were promoted by US in collaboration with Pakistan to protect their oil pipelines to run from the Caspian Sea to Pakistan. “Both Pakistan and the United States,” argued Eqbal Ahmad in his interview with David Barsamian on the topic ‘Terrorism: Theirs and Ours’ “pick the most murderous, by far the most crazy of Islamic fundamentalists groups, the Taliban, to ensure the safety of the pipelines.” Recently in a weekly newsmagazine of India ‘Frontline’ in response to the many inaccuracies in the best selling book ‘Three cups’ wrote that “In Dec 1997 the State Department and the oil company UNOCAL feted a Taliban delegation that travelled to Washington and Houston” (Empty Cups, Frontline, May 20, 2011). Writing for Tehelka newsmagazine Pakistani journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai recalls an interesting incident involving Osama and the Taliban. “Osama had summoned me to Afghanistan to announce the launch of his International Islamic Front for Jihad against the United States and Israel in May 1998. The Taliban,” writes he in his article ‘Osama and after, My three encounters with Osama’ “had not approved the idea, and were furious. Taliban’s spiritual leader Mullah Muhammad Omar had angrily insisted that there could only be one ruler of Afghanistan — Osama or himself. Osama apologised, and was sure to obtain the Taliban’s approval” (Tehelka 14 May 2011).
According to Ahmed Rashid Taliban were ready to cave in the demands of US in safeguarding their pipelines but changed their mindset and demanded that America recognise them first. The change presumably happened because Osama was in the ranks of Taliban, although Rashid doesn’t mention it. In Chapter 10th of his book ‘Taliban’, Rashid writes, “Until his arrival the Taliban leadership had not been particularly antagonistic to the USA or the West but demanded recognition for their government.” Betrayed by the US Osama didn’t want his hosts to suffer the same fate.
In October 2009 the former chief of Saudi intelligence for 24 years, Turki al-Faisal proposed a seven-point action plan for Barack Obama to achieve progress in Afghanistan. Writing for ‘International Herald Tribune’ from where Indian Express  had quoted him, Turki writes change the “media theme from attacking Taliban and calling them terrorists to concentrate on Al Qaeda and foreign terrorists”. Broaching the subject further he explains that US should convene a meeting of intelligence agencies of “Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia to devise ways of eliminating Al Qaeda’s leadership” (Push India, Pak to fix Kashmir: Saudi prince to Obama, Oct 14, 2009). It is a generally held belief that with the entry of Al Qaeda in Iraq US’s ‘New Middle East policy’ to redraw maps in Muslim countries including Iran, Pakistan and Turkey failed. That is why Osama became the special wanted man for USA for he again came in their path of interest. 

Who is terrorist! Whose weapons? 
 Osama was not born with Kalashnikov in his hands nor did he play soccer with grenades in his teens. He was blamed for violence but few people dared to ask what violence and with whose weapons. It is not Muslims who have made the modern weaponry. They have not made mass destructions weapons. World Wars were not fought by Muslims. Atom Bombs on Japan were not dropped by Muslims. Contras in Nicaragua were not trained by Muslims. Ethnic cleansing was propagated not by Muslims. Terror State Israel was not made by Muslims. Colonisation was not their invention. Nation states were not the creation of Muslims. Muslims didn’t enforce economic and medical blockade as was done to Iraq. Suicide bombing was not started and glamorised by Muslims. African countries were not enervated by Muslims. Afghanistan didn’t attack any country. Despite enormous wealth and huge human resources Muslims have even not procured their own indigenous weapon technology. All this has come from West. They sell it to rest of the world and if someone tries to make it independently that State is quickly labelled as ‘threat’ to ‘international community and order’ (and international community and order is always presided by USA and its allies). But on buying there is no prohibition. Small States cannot procure they can buy. They cannot give competition in weapons to West. The West has the monopoly to sell and manufacture weapons. USA occupies the lands of free men and then with its aggressive media and lackeys calls them terrorists, insurgents, rebels. Power legitimizes its occupation in the name of ‘liberation’. Power legitimises terrorism in the name of ‘security’. Power legitimises heinous crimes in the name of upholding ‘law’ and ‘international order’. Power legitimizes the killings of millions in the name of ‘justice being down’.
Before labeling someone as terrorist one must ask who places this tag on whom. Because labeling anyone means easy access to control. The term terrorist has never been defined because “definitions involve a commitment to analysis, comprehension, and adherence to some norms of consistency” (Eqbal Ahmad, Terrorism: Theirs and Ours).  As per US accusations Osama attacked only those countries which are part of its allies in occupation. Ajaz ul Haque in his weekly column asked a pertinent question in response to media campaign launched by some channels: ‘What if Aiman-al-Zawahiri is caught in India? (Osama in Pakistan, Write Hand GK, May 08). That may seem too removed, far fetched and speculative to the limits but take the case of US spy Raymond Davis who shot dead two Pakistanis in full public glare. He was not put on trial despite clear evidence but was rescued with even US President Barack Obama interfering. In case of Osama no evidence has been produced. Only the sole accusations of US, and its lackeys pick up the thread and spin it around the major parts of earth. Davis has not been called terrorist despite evidence because power legitimized his actions. Osama represented everything evil because he had no power to justify his actions.

Place in the history
In 1960s it were ‘gooks’(Vietnamese) who were the enemies. It has to be asked how many American presidents have been elected who were not the supporters of Vietnam occupation. No USA President has been tried in court for wanton killings of millions of men around the globe. Who gives them legitimacy to attack and occupy the lands of free men? Yet how many States in the world call American actions as terrorism. Boxer Muhammad Ali’s World Championship title was snatched from him for his anti war speeches. No one can oppose US interests. They are paramount. Post Cold War Osama became the central figure because he opposed US corporations and sucked away Taliban from the influence of America. One should not hurl abuses at Osama and in the same way not heap expletives on his supporters. Osama represents resistance against American occupation, against a burgeoning capitalist and hegemonic order. His methods may not have been revolutionary. “He was neither the Lenin of the Islamic revolution,” Rashid wrote in his seminal book Taliban, “nor was he the internationalist ideologue of the Islamic revolution such as Che Guevara was to the revolution in the third world.” Yet in the coming years he will be hailed as symbol who fought against injustices, against oppression, against occupation, who refused to give in when the whole world stood against him.  He would become the legend whom USA tried to bury in sea as his country of origin feared that his burial would raise tempers in the volatile region and burying him in his adopted country Afghanistan would have made his comrades restless. Such was the fear of that man that he was not caught but assassinated.
Nothing is permanent. If Israel had two Prime Ministers who were once among the list of most wanted men you never know the man whose assassination was celebrated by few may be hailed greater than Che, greater than those intellectuals who discuss a lot but didn’t change anything. As more people dig in for analysis on Osama his legend would continue to grow. 

Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 18 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 IST