The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden - from 9/11 to Abbottabad - Coursework Example

Terrorism The security analyst Peter Bergen has significantly executed an excellent job at recounting the 10-year United States track of Osama and consequential death of Osama Abbottabad, Pakistan (Bergen, 2013). The tense tone story with few sensationalism, Peter writes for about the first third of the book on the search for Bin-Laden and the last two-thirds on the arrangement for his raid on the compound, the invasion alone and the aftermath. The raid was never executed by the surprising Seal team, dangerous from an operational standpoint, and it was as well tricky from a political perspective. Political in the United States as well as in the world in which a futile raid would be devastating. According to video, The Hunt for Bin laden Part 1, in order to achieve the meticulously, and authoritative research of the most expensive manhunt of all time, Bergen managed to get himself into the house in the Northern Pakistan city of Abbottabad which served as Laden’s residence from around 2005. Bergen narrates that Osama was regarded as a militant leader, and most of his nuclear and extended families spent their time in hiding. According to the video, Laden’s first and second wives were learned and taught the children Arabic and read from the Qur’an in a bedroom. In fact, Peter claims that Osama instilled the moral standards on the children by lecturing them every day of how to behave. This was attributed to the fact that he was a disciplinarian. Such details stand out to be vital since they remind us that Osama was just human despite his views and acts. Many saw Osama to be more of a myth than man, but Bergen was quick to refute that claim. Bergen claims on the video that Bin laden, al-Qaida and contemporary Sunni military were never an existential danger to the human society and values as compared to the manner through which previous threats have been. In fact, the YouTube video reveals this aspect. It is worth noting that Peter focused on Foreign policy of President Obama. In fact, Peter focused August 1st 2007 campaign when Obama’s speech was criticized by the then competitor Romney. According to Peter, the president’s foreign policy focused more on the developments and reconciliation that did go well with the republicans. According to the video, recounts how he met Osama in Afghanistan in March 1997 presiding over the interview for CNN with the two colleague journalist. Whereas bin Laden came off as a mild-mannered individual during the interview, his rhetoric spewed a raw hatred of the US as revealed on the YouTube video. Osama declared war against the United States effectively during the interview. After the elapse of four years after the interview, Osama sent Al-Qaeda individuals into the United States of America to launch his attack on the people of America at the modern landmarks. According to the video, the hunters of Laden gathered huge amount of information from multiple detainee interviews, open source reporting, al-Qaida documents recovered on the battlefield and from arrests. These information was vital for the arrest and eventual kill of Laden. In fact, it is worth noting that it was the journalists that played a vital in locating Laden as highlighted on the video. This is revealed by the fact that there were many journalists at the battle of Turban as compared to the number of Special Forces. The limited number of Special Forces on the ground enabled Osama to escape to Pakistan. The part II of the video, The Hunt for Bin laden Part II, gives a very vital lead to Laden. According to video, the vital breakthrough was revealed a Pakistani who had grown up in Kuwait. The Pakistani appeared as some kind of a fixer for al-Qaida. The al-Qaida claims that he was not a vital member of the militia but the energy through which they downplayed his actions set off alarm bells at the CIA. Following a memo by CIA officials in August 2010 dubbed “Closing In on Osama bon Laden’s Courier” and a subsequent one in September, showed that the CIA took the lead seriously. Osama was a smart leader that managed the al-Qaeda from his house according to the Video. He could send memos to al-Qaeda members, Al-Shabab in Somalia, and any other terror linked group to get updates on the ground. That form of communication was vital because Laden was on the run and that it showed how damaged al-Qaida was. Even though the use of internet was working for Laden, he exposed himself too much to the outside world. According to Part II of the video, finding Osama was reduced to mere probability. It was a chance that was to some extent worth taking but at the same time might put Obama’s administration on the global spotlight if it failed. The CIS had trailed the Pakistani CIA back to the Abbottabad house and subsequently put the house under surveillance. According to the reliable source, that Peter did not reveal on the video, there was a 40% that Osama was in that house while others claimed that the probability was 0.8. However, this showed that subjective argument carried the day and that the raid was a risk worth taking. The Obama’s administration was briefed on every move because Americans was on stake and he risked his presidency was at risk by purring a raid by Special Forces flying in from Afghanistan. However, all were impressive as claimed by the video and on that Sunday night, Bin Laden’s home was raided and he was eventually killed. Peter has also presented his audience with an opportunity to understand the real happenings at Tora Bora and the internal wrangles within the Al-Qaeda. In addition, we get to understand the Al-Qaeda’s Operational Security techniques besides Osama’s tangled polygamous familial ties (Bergen, 2013). Therefore, from the video and the book, we can follow precisely about the Search and killing for Osama by the five stars. In addition the ‘decision’ and the complexity of the raid as well as the last words of Osama, Pakistan reaction as well as the aftermath. In conclusion, the videos and the book highlight the fact that terrorism is a global issue that require strong foreign policy. Reference Bergen, P. (2013). Manhunt: From 9/11 to Abbottabad: The ten-year search for Osama bin Laden. Vintage. Bergen, P. L. (2012). Manhunt: The ten-year search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf7v3-GQgdo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zolVMJxgXbk Read More