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| India-Pakistan |
| Hersh and Abbottabad |
| 2015-06-16 |
| [DAWN] Hersh has made certain allegations that, even if we assume for the sake of argument are accurate, could not have been confirmed by the Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... Commission given the circumstances described. None of this, of course, establishes the credibility of Hersh's allegations. The Commission met with the widows of OBL and one of his alleged couriers. Their accounts flatly contradict Hersh's account. Were they coached or intimidated? Were they world class imposters? Was Shakeel Afridi a diversionary 'dummy'? Was it possible for our primary power and intelligence centres to be neither complicit nor incompetent and yet remain unaware of Osama's presence and unprepared for US responses over a whole decade? No clear answers are available. The Americans never came up with a credible explanation for the alleged burial at sea of OBL or their refusal to show photographs of his corpse even privately to Pak authorities. But Hersh's account of OBL's disposal seems to stretch credibility. His account raises too many questions and he answers too few except through flat assertion. Even so, can Hersh's main thesis still remain credible? Only if there was massive lying and deception at operational command levels in both the US and Pakistain. Too many people at too many levels and at different times and places would have had to be involved to bring it off and keep it secret. The risks would have been unmanageable. Yet there remain several unanswered questions which do not constitute evidence but justify a degree of scepticism. Official and semi-official accounts and responses were often marked by inconsistencies and questionable plausibility. This makes it even more incumbent upon the prime minister to rectify the outrage of burying the Commission report including the Dissenting Report. |
| Posted by:Fred |