A clear indication of the high-level of protection offered to bin Laden by the Pakistanis was his last place of residence. When US military personnel finally caught up with al Qaeda’s leader and dispensed long overdue justice, bin Laden was living unbothered deep inside Pakistan in Abbottabad, a military town known as the heart of Pakistan’s army establishment. Rawalpindi, the army’s headquarters, is called its “head.” Many high-ranking Pakistani officers live in Abbottabad, which hosts Pakistan’s most prestigious military academies.
Bin Laden’s home in Abbottabad is an elaborate luxury compound that may have been built for him in 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported. The compound is valued at $1 million and was described by one American official as“extraordinarily unique,” which gave the American intelligence operatives tracking bin Laden “confidence” that he may be living there.
The $1 million sum is, of course, nothing compared to the $1 billion that the Pakistani army has been receiving annually from the United States for being a supposed “ally” in the War on Terror. And so, as it turns out, the Pakistani military’s greatest fear these past ten years was more likely not al-Qaeda terrorist attacks, but rather that bin Laden would fall into American hands. Such an occurrence, would result in Pakistan losing the financial gifts from America needed “to fight” terrorism.
Also on the table if bin Laden was captured would have been the additional $1 billion Pakistan receives annually in non-military aid and $300 million in“separate” military assistance. So with such large amounts of money at stake, it is no wonder that corrupt and jihad-minded Pakistani officials would constantly deny for years that they knew the whereabouts of al Qaeda leader’s and smarmily challenged accusers to provide evidence to the contrary. Bin Laden was the goose laying the golden egg for Pakistan’s security establishment.
-Continued in next blog post
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