epw fog of conspiracy theories

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DISCUSSION july 9, 2011 vol xlvi no 28 EPW Economic & Political Weekly 72 Fo g of Conspiracy Theories S Arun Mohan T here are many things that Anand T eltumbde got r ight about the reac- tion to Osama bin Laden’s killing, both in India and abroad in his analysis (“Imperial Justice and Indian Frenzy”, 4 June 2011). Unfortunately, those articu- lations were consumed by a regrettable digression the author himself made, seemingly to establish t hat the 9/11 attacks  were a grand il lusion forged by the United States military-industrial complex. Ill-con- ceived as the suggestion was – and this response is in no way a defence of 9/11 conspiracy theories – the manner in  which it has been projected as the focal point of Teltumbde’s analysis is sympto- matic of the neo-liberal’s reluctance to share responsibility for condoning a patently illegal act. Mainstream opinion not only forgave this extrajudicial killing, but also revelled in the euphoria it generated. Too conscien- tiously the US people celebrated the murder of a deadly terrorist to appreciate the blatant outing of established international norms in the process. Far too alluring had been the prospect of such “surgical strikes” to pause and consider the perils of unilateral aggression. Egged on by the media, people  were calling for t he heads of the outlawed, fascinated with the unmistakably imperial arrogance of the sheriff in town. Far-fetched Claims Conspiracy theories, as with those con- cerning 9/11, have often been conceived to promote an agenda. Teltumbde depicted the blood lust of the media and its audi- ence after bin Laden’s departure with ac- curacy, but needlessly ventured beyond his brief to take recourse in conspiracies. It then becomes easier to discredit the piece in toto than absorb a few uncomfort- able truths. Why bin Laden was not brought before the law and why few people chose to con- tend the narrative of “justice” fashioned by President Barack Obama is hardly a mystery. The Abbottabad raid smacked of American high-handedness that went far beyond the violation of Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty. Bin Laden’s killing  was denitive proof that the US felt capable of avoiding the rigours of due process, and yet manage to sell its nobili- ty to the world. If Teltumbde tried too hard to exoner- ate bin Laden from the responsibility for the 11 September attacks, his observations of America’s difculty in proving the same  were not too far from the mark. Ofcials in the past decade have often held up “smoking gun” tapes that purport to show bin Laden vouching for his involvement in 9/11. These tapes do seem authentic, and circumstantial evidence certainly corro- borates them. But within the connes of a courtroom, the proof and onus to estab- lish such complicity goes beyond record- ings obtained from secondary sources. Successive US administrations have only been too familiar with this problem – it is for the same reason the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ( FBI ) “most wanted list ”, to date, does not include the 9/11 attacks in the list of purported crimes held against bin Laden. While conspiracy theorists have used this factoid to weave fancy sto- ries, it is sufciently clear Washington considered these legal tribulations to be best circumvented, than confronted. Teltumbde’s documentation of the shoddy US explanation for the Abbottabad raid is not incorrect either. That bin Laden was unarmed while he was shot from close distance by Navy Seals is now settled. But such revelation was only pro- gressive, winding down from a series of contradictory “ofcial” statements. If bin Laden “resisted the assault” according to initial accounts, he had “two rearms  within reach” as understood later (Landler and Mazzetti 2011).  Eventually, it turned out the dreaded terrorist was spotted in “the doorway of his room” while “retreat- ing” (Miller 2011). It is beyond a shadow of doubt that the raid on bin Laden’s compound in  Abbottabad was a “kill only” mission. If the ostensible reason was security of the personnel involved in the operation, the fact remains that a captured bin Laden  would have proven to be a bigger head- ache than a dead one. The legal complica- tions that may have arisen – not altogeth- er dissimilar to the ones faced in closing down Guantanamo Bay – would probably have taken the sheen off his capture. Driven to desperation, and aided by in- solence, the US showed callous disregard for accepted principles of domestic and international law. Despite the tight corner that it was drawn into, the Obama administration still pulled off a public relations coup, thanks to the media’s readiness to cling on to any morsel of information that came its way . The of- cial discourse of “justice” and “deserving punishment” was bought hook, line and sinker, right down to the chest-thumping announcement of probable future attacks. Teltumbde highlights this wholehearted acceptance of unapologetic aggression, romanticised by a frenetic Indian media to suit the local context. Blind Swipe In arriv ing at this conclusion, Teltumbde’ s analysis takes a blind swipe at American imperialis m through the fog of conspiracy theories. To deny Al Qaida’s involvement in perpetrating the attacks on American soil would be a grave insult to the memory of the thousands who perished on that day. Leaning on conspiracy theories to support such an argument does not bode  well for the integrity of the analysi s either. Greater responsibility lies with a journal of the standing and repute as EPW to ensure that analyses are based on cogent reason- ing and not vague speculation. S Arun Mohan ([email protected] ) is a lawyer. References Landler, Mark and Mark Mazzetti (2011): “Account Tells of One-Sided Battle in Bin Laden Raid”, The  New York Times, 4 May. Miller, Greg (2011) : “CIA Spied on bi n Laden from Sa fe House”, The Washington Post, 6 May.

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