Pakistan TV Report Contradicts US Claim of Bin Laden’s Death
It seems clear to me that under intense pressure and serious threats from the US government, the Pakistani government fell in line with the US government’s claim that a commando raid had killed bin Laden, and that the TV news organization got the message to get in line also. I am confident that no news organization believes that it could confront such an important US national myth.
In my recent article, "Creating Evidence Where There Is None," about the alleged killing of Osama bin Laden by a commando team of US Seals in Abbottabad, Pakistan, I provided a link to a Pakistani National TV interview with Muhammad Bashir, who lives next door to the alleged "compound" of Osama bin Laden. I described the story that Bashir gave of the "attack" and its enormous difference from the one told by the US government. In Bashir’s account, every member of the landing party and anyone brought from the house died when the helicopter exploded on lift-off. I wrote that a qualified person could easily provide a translation of the interview, but that no American print or TV news organization had investigated Bashir’s account.
An attorney with a British Master of Laws degree in international law and diplomacy, who was born in Pakistan, provided the translation below. He writes: "I have no problem with being identified as the translator, but would prefer to remain anonymous." The translator provides these definitions and clarifications:
● "Gulley" is generally referred (in Urdu) to a sidewalk or pavement. Also for the space between two houses.
● "Kanal" is a traditional unit of land area, so that one kanal equals exactly 605 square yards or 1/8 Acre; this is equivalent to about 505. 857 square meters.
Muhammad Bashir refers to himself as "We". This is common respectable language for the self; to use the plural term instead of singular. The English language equivalent would be the "Royal, We".
Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan.
The translator: I have translated the entire text of the video. I have tried my best to keep words in a chronological order, but in some cases this is not possible, as in translation words must be replaced in reverse order to make sense! However, I have had to put a few words in brackets to clarify meaning. If you want to ask about any section—please supply time stamp and I will supply a contextual text.
Video Transcript:
welcome back!—Muhammad Bashir, Abotabad Area, Bilal Town resident, Looks like an ordinary person, but he is no ordinary person! Muhammad Bashir, lives in Abotabad's, Bilal Town Opposite Bin Laden's House. Night of 2nd May Muhammad Bashir was on the roof of his house, whereupon, the entire OBL, American operation was seen with his own eyes. Last night, when our team was in Abotabad, Bilal Town, near OBL house, Muhammad Bashir approached me and said that: |
Anyone fluent in Urdu who wishes to dispute the translation should do so.
I asked the translator if he might contact the Pakistani news organization and inquire if the reporters had further investigated Bashir’s story. He replied that he could do so, but exactly 24 hours later "for some unknown reason" the news organization started to discredit Bashir by connecting "him to his cousin, who is accused of receiving foodstuffs from the household of OBL."
Bashir’s cousin is the person who, according to the reporter (see 12: 00 time line) had a vegetable garden inside the wall of the alleged bin Laden compound. Is it likely that with a hunted and dangerous person hiding within, locals would be permitted to have vegetable gardens inside the compound? The cousin’s vegetable garden obviously had to be redefined as "receiving foodstuffs from OBL. "
The translator offers his view on the 13: 20 timeline:
"The final seconds of the video clip contain random people to generate and show some kind of sympathy with OBL in the district.
"It would be very difficult to find people in Pakistan who sympathise with OBL or the Taliban. The only people who do sympathise are the poor illiterate people who do not know about the religion and can easily be convinced of a distorted version of Islam.
Therefore, the closing part of the video contains, out of context expressions:
"1st man: Possibly, people could be happy. (Meaning it is possible that SOME people could be happy.)
2nd man: He wasn't living here, but he was a Muslim, he believed in Allah. (Meaning; he claimed to be Muslim, so he must have believed in Allah. )
"Therefore, it seems that although initially, the TV station was overjoyed with this interview, they changed their tune, twenty four hours later. (for some unknown reason.)"
Readers can arrive at their own conclusions. It seems clear to me that under intense pressure and serious threats from the US government, the Pakistani government fell in line with the US government’s claim that a commando raid had killed bin Laden, and that the TV news organization got the message to get in line also.
It is likely that the many witnesses who observed the dead from the helicopter crash have been warned to keep quiet. However, a news organization, should one be so inclined, could certainly interview Bashir and the 200 others who saw the dead bodies. A good reporter, perhaps accompanied by trained psychologists, would be able to tell if people were lying out of fear and encourage some to speak anonymously.
I am confident that no news organization believes that it could confront such an important US national myth in this way. The killing of bin Laden satisfies the emotional need for revenge and justice. In the least, a news organization that challenged the government’s story would be cut off from all government sources and be denounced by politicians and a large percentage of the US population as an anti-American terrorist-serving organization.
OBL’s death will remain one of those many "truths" that rest on nothing but the government’s word.
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Also by Paul Craig Roberts:
Creating the bin Laden Reality
Americans Are Living In 1984
Osama bin Laden’s Second Death
Is the US Driving the World Towards World War III: Osama's Alleged Compound. How Many SEALs Died?
By Larry Chin: The Growing Coverup: Osama and "The Big Lie"
AWIP: Osama Bin Laden's Son Doubts His Father Is Dead
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Paul Craig Roberts [paulcraigroberts@yahoo.com] was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand. He is the author of Supply-Side Revolution : An Insider’s Account of Policymaking in Washington; Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the Soviet Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny of Good Intentions: How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice. Click here for Peter Brimelow’s Forbes Magazine interview with Roberts about the recent epidemic of prosecutorial misconduct.
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Photo: REUTERS / Faisal Mahmood. Video: Video. Article published here: Vdare
URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2011/08/10/pakistan-tv-report-contradicts-us-claim