Several newspapers in Asia, including Chinese and Japanese organizations, have reported that the two leaders of Al-Queda—Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden—were executed by the Taliban on October 16th. It’s a rumor but it’s a significant rumor and, incidentally, far less nonsensical than most of the obscure and incomplete reports coming out of the region.
To properly assess the execution rumor, looking at the sources is a good place to start. The political motives of China may be to end the Afghan contingency or make the US look like unrelenting aggressors to serve domestic ends. The same news coming out of Japan, however, does not serve the expressed wishes of the government and military to engage in combat activity beyond homeland defense exercises with the US.
For over 50 years, Japan has lived with a pacifistic Constitution. Early in the “war on terror”, Japan began to rethink the stringent prohibitions placed on their military in regards to overseas offensive combat. While China has a state run media, Japan does not. For a story that would give cause to ending the Afghan bombing, Japanese media would need to simply believe their sources. Certainly, Japanese media showed caution before running essentially the same story from the Chinese media. A premature death for bin Laden does not serve the interest of the Japanese military and therefore, gives the story credibility.
Probably the chief objection to Cyberista running an editorial on a rumor like this is that nobody has seen any 6’4” body bags sent to the US with and Afghan return address. Such stories are rubbish and should be summarily ignored. We have no proof.
And that objection would be right in a perfect world. However, recently, a man named Abdul Haq was reportedly executed around the same time. Knowing that virtually nobody knew who Abdul Haq was, the media reported it as fact. Haq is dead. The sources said so. Nobody demanded that they would not believe Haq was dead until they could smack his cold, blue bald head. That would be absolute nonsense. Interestingly, it is not nonsense to refuse to accept the execution of Osama and Omar unless we have their dead bodies in front of us.
The timeline of October 16th fits. Osama hasn’t said anything in awhile. His media censorship goes only as far as video and his quotes are fair game. Is he silent because of a responsible, caring and patriotic media or is he silent because he’s dead?
Could the Taliban have really done the expedient choice of executing internationally wanted terrorist suspects to secure their own power? Islam notwithstanding, those with any degree of power don’t give it up out of brotherhood or any deity.
There are also reports that nearly 10000 Pakistani volunteers are being turned away by the Taliban. According to the US media and government, the Taliban are being bombed into the center of the Earth. With that level of intensity, how do they turn away 10000 armed volunteers ready to accept all orders from them? Can they really afford to do that?
Either the Taliban has a legendary vacuum where their collective intelligence should be or they have already cut a deal with the US to keep their autocratic theocracy.
It is unreasonable to assume that the Japanese media is any more corrupt, inept or stupid than the US media. What is amazing is that with all the rumors and ignorance reported by the US media 24 hours a day, they won’t entertain the possibility that Osama and his lieutenants succumbed to the self-interest of the Taliban via a bullet to the head.
