The Pakistan government has bulldozed Usama bin-Laden’s compound under cover of night. I have mixed feelings about that. Part of me fancied that I might one day visit Pakistan and take a gander at the place the world’s most wanted criminal lived for years without detection. Even so, the same impulse in a jihadist would turn the place into a shrine of sorts. I guess my problem is that the government is destroying evidence of their incompetence and, quite likely, their complicity. They are embarrassed that our Seals were able to swoop into their equivalent of West Point and extract themselves without even coming into contact with their military. But it’s also hard to believe that people in Pakistan’s intelligence service, at a minimum, didn’t know bin-Laden was there. It just strikes me as a cover-up. They must feel that way, too, since they waited until dark to begin the demolition.
They brought in at least three machines equipped with powerful crane-like arms during the afternoon and also set up floodlights that allowed them to begin work at night, said the residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of being harassed by the government.
A large team of police set up an outer cordon around the compound to keep spectators and journalists away, said an Associated Press reporter who managed to get close enough to see the demolition work under way. A ring of army soldiers set up an inner cordon and warmed themselves against the winter chill by lighting a bonfire.
The bulldozers broke through tall outer boundary walls that ringed a courtyard where one of the U.S. helicopters crashed during the operation to kill bin Laden. They then began to tear down the compound itself.
How do you feel about it?
