Not Found in a Camping Tent
It’s amazing. Turns out that the most wanted man of the decade wasn’t living in some cave or camping tent at all. Osama bin Laden was living in relative comfort almost right next to the Pakistani equivalent of our West Point! In a compound in Abottabad, a garrison town that also happens to house many military retirees, the Al Qaeda chief spent the past five years hiding out and still directing his network as much as possible.
Probably would have been better living in a camping tent after all, no! Now here’s a thought-experiment of sorts – nothing to do with quantum physics, but interesting speculation all the same – what would you have done if you had to escape the tentacles of the multi-billion-dollar United States National Security apparatus, a collection of agencies all devoted to your capture?
In some ways it would have made sense to live out of a camping tent, to stay on the move, and to travel light. But in many other ways, such a decision would have been foolhardy indeed, for the more you move the more people you’ll have to come into contact with, and even if it’s just your entourage that does all “socializing” you’d inevitably wind up creating a decent enough trail for the bloodhounds.
No, as every outlaw knows, it’s best to disappear completely – and what better way to do that than hiding where your trackers would least expect it! Such was the case with Bin Laden’s decision to settle in Abottabad, less than an hour’s drive outside the capital city of Islamabad. Talk about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer! For it’s almost certain that while Bin Laden had some friends in the Pakistani security services it’s also most certain that as organizations they are interested in his capture. And so, to the last, the Al Qaeda leader continues to surprise.