How Many Did Stalin Really Murder?

Source: http://www.distributedrepublic.net/archives/2006/05/01/how-many-did-stalin-really-murder

R. J. Rummel, Professor Emeritus at the Univerisity of Hawaii, estimates the true number of deaths attributable to Joseph Stalin. He is the author of Death by Government, and his website provides the evidence in detail for what he writes here. For more information on the death toll from communism, see "The Red Plague". He blogs regularly at Democratic Peace.

May Day is coming up, which used to be a day of celebration in the Soviet Union with an impressive show of weapons and infinitely long parade of soldiers. Perhaps, then, it would be appropriate to pay special attention on this day to the human cost of communism in this symbolic home of Marxism, and worldwide. This blog is on Stalin and the Soviet Union.

By far, the consensus figure for those that Joseph Stalin murdered when he ruled the Soviet Union is 20,000,000. You probably have come across this many times. Just to see how numerous this total is, look up “Stalin” and “20 million” in Google, and you will get 183,000 links. Not all settle just on the 20,000,000. Some links will make this the upper and some the lower limit in a range. Yet, virtually no one who uses this estimate has gone to the source, for if they did and knew something about Soviet history, they would realize that the 20,000,000 is a gross under estimate of what is likely the Stalin's true human toll.

The figure comes from the book by Robert Conquest, The Great Terror: Stalin’s Purge of the Thirties(Macmillan 1968). In his appendix on casualty figures, he reviews a number of estimates of those that were killed under Stalin, and calculates that the number of executions 1936 to 1938 was probably about 1,000,000; that from 1936 to 1950 about 12,000,000 died in the camps; and 3,500,000 died in the 1930-1936 collectivization. Overall, he concludes: 

Thus we get a figure of 20 million dead, which is almost certainly too low and might require an increase of 50 percent or so, as the debit balance of the Stalin regime for twenty-three years.

In all the times I've seen Conquest’s 20,000,000 reported, not once do I recall seeing his qualification attached to it.

Considering that Stalin died in 1953, note what Conquest did not include -- camp deaths after 1950, and before 1936; executions 1939-53; the vast deportation of the people of captive nations into the camps, and their deaths 1939-1953; the massive deportation within the Soviet Union of minorities 1941-1944; and their deaths; and those the Soviet Red Army and secret police executed throughout Eastern Europe after their conquest during 1944-1945 is omitted. Moreover, omitted is the deadly Ukrainian famine Stalin purposely imposed on the region and that killed 5 million in 1932-1934. So, Conquest’s estimates are spotty and incomplete.

I did a comprehensive overview of available estimates, including those by Conquest, and wrote a book,Lethal Politics, on Soviet democide to provide understanding and context for my figures. I calculate that the Communist regime, 1917-1987, murdered about 62,000,000 people, around 55,000,000 of them citizens (see Table 1.1 for a periodization of the deaths).

As for Stalin, when the holes in Conquest’s estimates are filled in, I calculate that Stalin murdered about 43,000,000 citizens and foreigners, over twice Conquest’s total. Therefore, the usual estimate of 20 million killed in Soviet democide is far off for the Soviet Union per se, and even less than half of the total Stalin alone murdered.

But, these are all statistics and hard to grasp. Compare my total of 62,000,000 for the Soviet Union and 43,000,000 for Stalin to the death from slavery of 37,000,000 during the 16th to the 19th century; or to the death of from 25,000,000 to 75,000,000 in the Black Death (bubonic plague), 1347-1351, that depopulated Europe.

Another way of looking at this is that the annual risk of a person under Soviet control being murdered by the regime was 1 out of 222. But, compare -- the annual risk of anyone in the world dying from war was 1 out of 5,556, from smoking a pack of cigarettes a day was 1 out of 278, from any cancer was 1 out of 357, or for an American to die in an auto accident was 1 out of 4,167.[1]

Now, I must ask, with perhaps an unconscious touch of outrage in my voice, why is this death by Marxism, so incredible and significant in its magnitude, unknown or unappreciated compared to the importance given slavery, cancer deaths, auto accident deaths, and so on. Especially, especially I must add again, when unlike cancer, auto accidents, and smoking, those deaths under Marxism in the Soviet Union were intentionally caused? They were murdered.

When you see again the figure of 20,000,000 deaths for Stalin or the Soviet Union, double or triple them in your mind.

Global terror networks: ‘First Indian al Qaeda member is an engineer'

By Aditi Phadnis

The first Indian Muslim to be associated with global terror network al Qaeda, who was arrested in France two weeks ago, is a mechanical engineer from south India, Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram announced on Monday.

Mohammad Niaz, who hails from Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, had been “radicalised” very early in life and had been in touch with the proscribed Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi), Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi. “He joined Simi based in Tamil Nadu at the age of 21 and had been on the scanner of Indian intelligence agencies before he was arrested (in France),” he said. Simi is also allegedly allied with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the Indian government believes is responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Niaz was arrested at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on May 10 upon arrival from Algeria, where he had developed links with an al Qaeda franchise. “It is reported that Niaz has been arrested for links with the terror group that is recruiting people for jihad in the Pakistan and Afghanistan region,” Chidambaram said. “The inputs that the government has on him indicate that he is a trained activist with a militant bent of mind,” he said.

Niaz is among seven suspected terrorists held by French authorities earlier this month. But the French government has not linked them to any specific plan to carry out attacks in that country. French Interior Minister Claude Gueant described Niaz as a man with a high level of technical training.

Please click on the image to get a magnified view:

ISLAM FROM THE MOUTH OF AN EX-MUSLIM:

URL: http://www.targetofopportunity.com/islam.htm

Please click on the image 
to get a magnified view:

Islam when I understood that Islam is a sick and evil religion. The following are the Islamic message to the West.

To the infidels of the West:

The Constitution for the new Islamic Republics of EuroArabia and AmerIslamia is under construction.

We will fight the infidel to death.

• Meanwhile American laws will protect us.
• Democrats and Leftist will support us.
• N.G.O.s will legitimize us.
• C.A.I.R. will incubate us.
• The A.C.L.U. will empower us.
• Western Universities will educate us.
• Mosques will shelter us
• O.P.E.C. will finance us
• Hollywood will love us.
• Kofi Annan and most of the United Nations will cover our asses.

Our children will immigrate from Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Indonesia and even from India to the US and to the other Western countries. They will go to the West for education in full scholarship. America is paying and will continue to pay for our children's educations and their upbringing in state funded Islamic schools.

We will use your welfare system. Our children will also send money home while they are preparing for Jihad.

We will take the advantage of American kindness, gullibility, and compassion. When time comes, we will stab them in the back. We will say one thing on the camera and teach another thing to our children at home. We will give subliminal messages to our children to uphold Islam at any cost. Our children in America will always care more about Islamic Country's interest than US interest.

We will teach our children Islamic supremacy from the very childhood. We will teach them not to compromise with Infidel. Once we do that from the very early age our children won't hesitate to be martyr. We will take over the Europe first and then US will be the next. We already have a solid ground in the UK, Holland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Germany, and now in the US.

Our children will marry Caucasian in Europe and in America. We will mix with intricate fabric of the Western society but still will remember to Jihad when time comes. Who are we?

We are the "sleeper cells".

We will raise our children to be loyal to Islam and Mohammad only. Everything else is secondary.

At the time of the real fight we will hold our own children as our armor. When American or Israeli troops shoot at us the world will be watching. Imagine the news in the world "Death of Muslim babies by infidels".

We know CNN, ABC, CBS are broadcasting live. Al-Jazeera will pour gasoline on the fire. The news will spread like wildfire. "Americans killed 6 babies, 10 babies" and "Jews killed two women".

Keep your Nukes in your curio cabinets. Keep your aircraft carrier or high-tech weaponry in the showcase. You can't use them against us because of your own higher moral standard. We will take the advantage of your higher moral standard and use it against you. We won't hesitate to use our children as suicide bomber against you.

Visualize the news flash all over the world ...Muslim mother is sobbing ...crying. ...Her babies are killed by Jews and Americans, the whole world is watching live. Hundreds of millions of Muslims all around the world are boiling. They will march through Europe. We will use our women to produce more babies who will in turn be used as armor/shield. Our babies are the gift from Allah for Jihad.

West manufactures their tanks in the factory. We will manufacture our military force by natural means, by producing more babies. That is the way it is cheaper.

You infidels at this site cannot defeat us. We are 1.2 billion. We will double again. Do you have enough bullets to kill us?

On the camera:

• We will always say, "Islam is the Religion of Peace."
• We will say, "Jihad is actually inner Jihad."
• Moderate Muslims will say there is no link between Islam and Terrorism and the West will believe it because the West is so gullible.
• Moderate Muslims all over the world will incubate Jihadist by their talk by defending Islam.
• Using the Western Legal system we will assert our Shariah Laws, slowly but surely.
• We will increase in number. We will double again.

You will be impressed when you meet a moderate Muslim personally. As your next-door neighbor, coworker, student, teacher, engineer, professionals you may even like us. You will find us well mannered, polite, humble that will make you say, "Wow, Muslims are good and peaceful people", but, we will stab you in your back when you are sleeping as we did on 911.

There will be more 911 in Europe and in America. We will say, "We do not support terrorism but America got what it deserved."

Muslims, CAIR, ISNA, MPAC and other international Islamic Organization will unite. We will partner with Leftist, ACLU, with Koffi Annan, and the UN, and if we have to then even with France. Fasten your seatbelt. The war of civilizations has just begun.

We will recite Quran and say Allah-Hu-Akbar before beheading infidels, as we have been doing it. We will video tape those and send it to all infidels to watch. They will surrender - ISLAM means surrender.

We will use your own values of kindness against you.

You are destined to lose.

Must be very depressing for you, isn't it?

Allah-Hu-Akbar as we say just before beheading.

Osama bin Laden's death has created an atmosphere of hope and change...

The young crowd at Ground Zero clearly hopes that the decade of fear inaugurated by 9/11 has come to an end

By Hari Kunzru

Some time around 10.30pm I was sitting over dinner at a friend's place on the Upper West Side. I got a new phone yesterday, and was (rudely) fooling around with it under the table. That was when I saw a tweet saying that Osama bin Laden was dead. When I told my friends, they assumed I was joking. We switched on the TV and waited for a while as broadcast news failed to tell us anything and Twitter seethed with rumours. A mansion. A drone attack. Afghanistan, Pakistan. After President Obama's speech confirmed the news, we got in a cab and headed down to Ground Zero.

I remember being there in October 2001, standing on a corner late at night, watching the jagged shards of the World Trade Center towers being dismantled under giant spotlights. I remember being there again on the anniversary of 9/11 in 2008, watching a physical fight breaking out between flag-waving mourners and placard-carrying 9/11 "truthers".

The fear of 2001 and the ugliness of 2008 were replaced tonight by an atmosphere that veered between celebration and frank relief. The crowd was mostly of college age, young enough to have grown up with the myth of Osama bin Laden. Many of them had tumbled out of downtown bars. There were a lot of black and brown faces. They waved flags and chanted "USA! USA!". They made victory signs and blew horns and sung patriotic songs. There was, surprisingly, little of the raw aggression I was expecting. More than anything it was reminiscent of the atmosphere on Obama's election night – perhaps crossed with spring break. Obama was clearly the big winner tonight. Hastily drawn signs read "Thank you Obama" and "Obama 1, Osama 0."

At one point a section of the crowd broke out into a chant lampooning Donald Trump, who has pompously strutted across the political stage this last week, before being roasted by Seth Meyers at last night's White House correspondents' dinner.

Three boys climbed a lamppost and sprayed champagne on the crowd, who cheered wildly. A few people bowed their heads or held candles, perhaps more emotionally affected by the occasion than the majority, who were just there for a party, or to capture cellphone pictures for their blogs. As I left, more people were pouring in, more news reporters were setting up to do pieces to camera, and a few smiling cops were arriving, presumably to get the guys down off the lamppost.

This night seems to mark a fleeting return to the atmosphere of 2008, the "hope" and "change" that brought Obama to power. The young crowd at Ground Zero clearly hopes that the decade of fear inaugurated by 9/11 has come to an end. Whether that hope is justified remains to be seen.

Osama was planning attacks on US railways, big cities:

Please Click on the Image to get a magnified view of the picture....

A treasure trove of materials taken from Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan indicates that Al Qaeda was mulling attacks on key US cities and railways timed to significant dates, according to US officials.

Material recovered from the raid on bin Laden's Abbottabad hideout indicated that in February 2010, Al Qaeda members discussed a plan to derail trains in the US on the 10th anniversary of the Sep 11, 2001 attacks by placing obstructions on tracks, multiple media reports said.

Other material gathered from the site also suggests that Al Qaeda was particularly interested in striking Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the CNN said.

US authorities have found that Al Qaeda appears especially interested in striking on significant dates like America's July 4 Independence Day, Christmas and the opening day of the United Nations.

As a precaution, the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday sent out an alert advising federal, state and local agencies about the new evidence of a possible rail plot.

"As one option, Al Qaeda was looking into trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track at either a valley or a bridge," said the DHS advisory.

After reviewing computer files and seized documents, American intelligence analysts have concluded that bin Laden played a direct role for years in plotting terror attacks from his Abbottabad hide-out, The New York Times said citing US officials.

The materials, along with others reviewed in the intelligence cache, have given intelligence officials a much richer picture of the Qaeda founder's leadership of the network as he tried to elude a global dragnet, it said.

"He wasn't just a figurehead," the Times cited one American official as saying. "He continued to plot and plan, to come up with ideas about targets, and to communicate those ideas to other senior Qaeda leaders."

The fact that Bin Laden was found not in Pakistan's rugged tribal areas but on the outskirts of an affluent town less than an hour's drive from the capital, Islamabad, has prompted a rethinking of the widespread notion that he had little control over the rest of Al Qaeda, the daily said.

Other gleanings from the roughly 100 pieces of computer gear seized on Sunday included possible leads on the whereabouts of other senior Al Qaeda leaders, the Washington Post reported.

While intelligence officials declined to comment on specific tips, a key congressional leader briefed on the findings suggested that the search for Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader was in a newly active phase, it said.

The task of identifying and exploiting intelligence tips has been assigned extraordinary urgency, since the raid likely alerted top Al Qaeda figures that their safe houses and plans may have been compromised, the Post said citing a US official.

Lord Krishna, the father of communism

Author: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 

Publication: Hindustan Times 

Date: June 13, 2004 

URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_822243,0015002200000086.htm

Long before Marx, Lenin and Mao, a historical figure in India fought against oppression, championed the cause of the poor, denounced religious dogma and empty ritualism, and sought to inspire a righteous and selfless attitude in society.

The basic tenets of communism say that all are equal, and exploiters and oppressors should be severely punished. The goal is to create a society free from selfishness, autocracy, aristocracy and oppression of people of any sort. The life and message of Krishna reveals that he imbibed, taught and fought for these principles 5,230 years ago. In fact, an objective analysis of the Bhagvad Gita too would reveal that Krishna was a better communist than Karl Marx. One could go so far as to describe him as the real founder of communism!

Krishna rebelled against dogmatic religious practices of those days. Even today it is well known that the entire society stopped the sacrificial puja they were doing to Indra, shifting over, on Krishna�s advice, to caring for cows (Govardhan Pooja) and honouring the knowledge of the self. He also promoted Annakoot, where there is food for everybody.

Krishna rebels against the people who are always arguing in the name of the Vedas.

Krishna has said that people who are driven by little desires, who are propitiating this deity or that, caught up in small rituals and greed, are fools (moodha).

He also says, �Those who worship many devas and perform many rituals are of lesser intelligence.�

Finally, after a detailed exposition of all aspects of life, knowledge and duty, he says, �Drop all the dharma and take refuge in me�, i.e. in the higher self. This is really a revolutionary thing. Karl Marx said: �Religion is the opium of the masses.�

But beyond religion is the quest for truth. Where does a man go further? There Krishna leads Arjuna, leads the people into that spiritual realm of experience, which is seriously lacking in communism today. The confidence that builds up in a person who knows the depth and the secrets of creation is something amazing, so beautiful � without which life is dry. So make the transition from religion to spirituality. It is what was missing in Karl Marx�s principle and which Krishna has very clearly demonstrated and given to the world in the form of Gita.

Communism cannot reject Krishna at any cost because he stands for all its principles in a much more meaningful manner. If we don�t see the reality, the truth, with an open mind, then we have merely replaced an old religion with a new religion called communism. So we have to be aware and wake up to adapt to changing times.

I wonder why the communists have not yet owned Krishna. Many times in the Gita, Krishna says, �One who sees me in everybody, one who sees oneself in everybody, is the one who sees the truth�. This is the basic principle of communism � See everyone as yourself.

He says the banana peel has a meaning as long as there is a banana inside. But when you eat the banana, then the peel has no value. Similarly religion can�t take people to the final truth, final goal � it can only go that far. But it is the spirit of self-enquiry, the scientific temper in a person, that takes one deeper. Religion stays behind and one moves into a realm of pure humanism or pure divinity � this is the hallmark of Krishna�s teaching.

Unlike the West, where scientists were tortured and questioning of the religious scriptures was prohibited, India has always encouraged questioning and contemplation. In fact, most of the scriptures in India are in the format of questions and answers. After putting forth his opinion, Krishna tells Arjuna to independently think and question, and tells him that he has the freedom to accept or reject his opinion. He never imposes his idea. Though communism advocates rational thinking, we hear many communists do not give the freedom to people to express a different ideology.

At the same time, Krishna also inspired Arjuna to fight and not accept oppression, which again is what communists say. He advises Arjuna to fight not with anger or hatred, but with intelligence, with equanimity, with wisdom.

Another principle of communism is sharing. As a small child, Krishna would share the butter with all the boys, all the youngsters. Later he shared wealth. A salient feature of communism is work for the community and it comes down strongly on consumerism or greed.

Krishna goes on to say that one who is really wise regards all men as equal, and does not discriminate between a brahmin and an untouchable, or a learned one and someone who is not so learned.

Communists often object to the caste system, but whether you like it or not, this system has been in practice all over the world, in the form of professional clubs which exist even today.

There are ample examples of people born in one caste, but belonging to another caste by virtue of their profession. For instance, Veda Vyasa, himself born to a fisherwoman, was considered the authority on Vedas. The most astonishing fact is that among a thousand rishis, only a handful were born in the so-called upper caste.

Many people talk about communism but they lead a capitalistic life. However Krishna never did that. He never became a king, though he is called Dwarkadheesh. He remained a servant of Dwarka, of the king of Dwarka. He was an uncrowned king. He stood for the cause of the poor. He saw that oneness in everybody and so he was remembered for centuries. But nowadays it is suddenly fashionable to regard even the Ramayana and Mahabharata as epics and not as something that really happened. This is ridiculous, because just a legend cannot have such an impact over the whole continent, and even beyond. The Ramayana and Mahabharata have made such an impact on civilisation without any modern technology or modes of communication. The Sanskrit word itihasa means � �it happened like that/ it happened thus.�

To see everyone as equal is a matter of the heart, and the heart can be made to blossom only through spirituality. It is not just an intellectual concept that leads to action. It is an emotion which propels us towards action and emotion is the very nature of our spirit. So you cannot be a true communist if you don�t have that spark of love and compassion in your heart.

Modern communism negates religion but leaves you in a vacuum. Devoid of spirituality, frustration overtakes life, leading one to violence and aggression or depression and suicidal tendencies.

You cannot serve someone if you don�t see them as yourself or part of yourself. Only spirituality can bring authenticity to caring and sharing, and that is communism. What was missing in communism is the very soul, that is spirituality, of which Krishna is an expert teacher.

Now communists in Kerala needn�t feel guilty going to Guruvayoor and those in Bengal can openly celebrate Durga Pooja!

(The writer is a spiritual teacher.) 

Could the bin Laden Raid Have Revealed a Secret New Helicopter?

By MICHELE TRAVIERSO 

 Thu May 5, 2011. 

A picture of the tail rotor of the chopper that the Navy Seals' Team Six detonated revealed unfamiliar features. Reports say it could be a new, secret helicopter.

When the Team Six members reached Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad one of the choppers made a "controlled but hard landing," according to reports, probably due to higher than expected temperatures.

Temperature affects the density of the air, and low density makes it harder for the rotor to sustain the weight of the chopper, especially if it was near its maximum weight (being packed with soldiers and fuel to fly in from Afghanistan). Abbottabad is about 1200 meters above the sea level, and altitude also affects air density. 

So what machine exactly experienced the hard landing described above? Short answer: we don't know for sure. Long answer: It seems that the tail rotor visible in the picture belongs to a highly modified version of the H-60, the chopper of choice of the special forces for more than 30 years. Aviation Week doesn't beat around the bush, claiming: "A previously undisclosed, classified stealth helicopter apparently was part of the U.S. task force that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1."

Stealth technology on helicopters is not itself new, but the fact that a previously unknown machine was used in this raid is yet another proof of the degree of importance that this mission had for U.S. commanders. 

Aviation Week then goes techie and explains what we can see from that picture: "Photos disseminated via the European PressPhoto agency and attributed to an anonymous stringer show that the helicopter’s tail features stealth-configured shapes on the boom and the tail rotor hub fairings, swept stabilizers and a 'dishpan' cover over a five-or-six-blade tail rotor. It has a silver-loaded infrared suppression finish similar to that seen on V-22s."

Low radar visibility was essential, for the Pakistani air force would have either scrambled its jets if an unknown threat to its airspace (and near the country's best military academy!) was detected, or fired its surface to air missiles. It's possibly more proof of the fact that Pakistan really knew nothing about the mission - or at least its first wave of attack - until it ended. 

This would explain why the Seals wasted critically precious time to blow up the mysterious helicopter and why many experts had problems identifying its remains. It's unclear what Pakistan could have made of the downed chopper, but growing ties between Pakistani and Chinese armed forces could have made the destruction of such new machine a must. China and Pakistan, over the past two decades, have developed a multi role combat aircraft called JF-17 and an advanced trainer, the JL-8.

The Navy Seals usually fly in the famed Sikorsky UH-60, popularized by the movie Black Hawk Down, in which two UH-60 were shot down in Somalia, resulting in the death of 18 men.

Black Hawk Down was a scenario, insiders say, that together with first attempt to rescue the hostages held at the U.S. embassy in 1980 in Iran, that's been evoked constantly in the planning phases leading to the May 1 raid, as examples of potentially disastrous outcomes. (Via Aviation Week).

Osama not a martyr, but a mass killer of Muslims: Clinton

Slain Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was shot dead in his hideout by Special US forces in Pakistan, was a mass killer of Muslims and not a martyr as a few people are trying to portray, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

In her remarks to the National Conference of Editorial Writers, Clinton said the State Department is now working on a narrative "that will convince people he was a murderer, not a martyr," and that bin Laden murdered more Muslims than anyone else.

"He was a mass killer of Muslims," she said. Noting that bin Laden had tremendous sway with so many impressionable people in many parts of the world, Clinton said the US is already seeing something of an effort by the Al Qaeda remnants to decide who comes next.

"Any succession crisis provides an opportunity. A lot of people say al-Zawahiri will step into it. But that's not so clear. He doesn't have the same sense of loyalty or inspiration or track record," Clinton said.

"So I think his death, his removal from the leadership, along with two very important points that need to be remembered is that Taliban did not give up Al Qaeda when President (George) Bush asked them to after 9/11, because of Mullah Omar's personal relationship with bin Laden. That's gone, so I think it opens up possibilities for dealing with the Taliban that did not exist before," she hoped.

Clinton said the effort to stop Al Qaeda and its syndicate of terror will not end with the death of bin Laden.

"In Afghanistan, we have to continue to take the fight to Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies. Perhaps now they will take seriously the work that we are doing on trying to have some reconciliation process that resolves the insurgency," she said.

Responding to questions, Clinton said there's no doubt that Al Qaeda is somewhat decentralised, but that bin Laden remained the brains behind the operation and the inspiration.

He was the person who people pledged loyalty to when they joined Al Qaeda. It wasn't to an organisation; it was to an individual," she said.

"So our message to the Taliban hasn't changed; it just has even greater resonance today. They can't wait us out, they can't defeat us; they need to come into the political process and denounce Al Qaeda and renounce violence and agree to abide by the laws and constitution of Afghanistan," Clinton said.

"We have a very close relationship with Pakistan, and it was crucial in finally leading us to bin Laden. So the work that was done over many years had many contributors, including our partners in Pakistan," Clinton said in her remarks on Monday, according to the transcripts provided by the State Department today.

"We're going to be working to bolster our partnerships even now, particularly as people are digesting this news. We're going to look for ways to put this into the context of the larger debate we're having here at home about what it takes to stay engaged in the world," she said. [From Internet]

Pakistan's mysterious silence on Osama's death

Raheel Khursheed

At about 1 am Pakistan Standard Time, Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual), tweeted: 'Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).' 

Sohaib, unwittingly, had put out the first live tweet about a super-secret US Special Forces operation that killed Osama Bin Laden.

The details of the operation slowly started to un-spool. Helicopters had circled in on the safe house in Abbotabad, three hours from Pakistan's capital Islamabad, where Osama was suspected to be hiding. 

After a 40-minute fire fight, Osama was killed; shot in the head. His burial at sea marked an end to one of the biggest and longest manhunts for a terrorist in the history of mankind.

US President Barack Obama confirmed the news in a public address, sharing broad details of the operation. He said he authorised the hit on Sunday, after determining last week that the US had enough actionable intelligence to launch a targeted operation.

Questions remain, particularly on Pakistan's role in the killing. 

Given that the operation was conducted in what has been described as a custom-built terrorist safe house, the nature of involvement of the Pakistani Military-Intelligence comes into question. The house is barely 100 meters from Pakistan's premier Military Academy at Kakul - Army chief Ashfaq Kayani visited it just ten days ago. 

The Pakistani government's rather late and woolly statement that the Operation was "intelligence driven" and was "conducted by US forces in accordance with declared policy of US" did not answer the questions directly.

One Pakistani analyst told an Indian news channel that an "intense game of chess was being played since 9/11" and this had culminated in Osama's death in Abbotabad. 

The Pakistani link in the operation isn't exactly clear. There is little doubt however that the Army and the ISI were involved in some way. Since the operation was carried out in a garrison town using helicopters that would definitely show up on Pakistani radars, it becomes all the more difficult to believe that the Pakistani government wasn't in the know.

President Obama acknowledged Pakistan's role in the operation. "It's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding," Obama said. 

The Pakistani government's distancing itself from the strike could then be a strategic decision to avoid local extremist blowback. Perhaps a direct application of the lessons learnt by the Pakistani Military-Intelligence complex from Islamabad's Lal Masjid siege in July 2007. The fall out of that assault, codenamed Operation Sunrise, resulted in a surge in suicide attacks that claimed thousands of lives within Pakistan. 

Understandable then that by avoiding credit for Osama's death, the Pakistani government is actually denying the extremists a rallying point domestically. Inside Pakistan and elsewhere, the fear of revenge attacks by Al-Qaeda and Taliban is very real.

Even as the fall-out from the death of America's most wanted is analysed, the kill vastly improves Obama's re-election chances. The death of the Al-Qaeda founder also provides the US President with an opportunity to reassess  American presence in the Af-Pak region through a strictly "need-based paradigm".

For domestic consumption, the war on terror has actually been won. We could see a troop pull out from Afghanistan and the American involvement in the area limited to minimal on ground presence and continued drone strikes.

Amid a deluge of news and analysis still coming in on Osama's death and what it means in the larger geo-political context, the only question that might remain unanswered forever is why and in return for what did the ISI give Osama up.

Osama's dead body: Taliban vows to avenge Osama's death; Zardari on hit-list

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban today warned that they would target Pakistan and the US to avenge the killing of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden by US special forces in a raid near the garrison city of Abbottabad. 

In an audio message issued to the Pakistani media from an undisclosed location, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan confirmed the death of bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, and said his group would take revenge for his killing. 

"We will avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden. Pakistan is now the first target of the Taliban and the US the second," said Ahsan, who spoke in Pashto. 

He warned that Pakistan's leaders were on the Taliban's hit list. 

In telephone calls to journalists in northwest Pakistan shortly after the US announced the killing of bin Laden yesterday, Ahsan warned that top Pakistani leaders, including President Asif Ali Zardari, and the Pakistan Army would be the "first targets" of his group. 

Ahsan also said in his audio message that the US should not be jubilant about killing bin Laden as American authorities took 10 years to find the al-Qaeda chief. 

"We killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (in 2007). After three months of planning, we sent a suicide bomber to kill her... We completed our objective in three months while the US was trailing Osama bin Laden for 10 years," he said. 

US officials have often said that the Pakistani Taliban, led by Hakimullah Mehsud, has close ties to al-Qaeda. 

Both groups have safe havens in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, the American administration has said.

Was burying bin Laden at sea a mistake?

Amid the justified celebrations over the killing of Osama bin Laden, an awkward question is starting to rear its head: Did U.S. policymakers err in burying the al Qaeda leader at sea?

Already, the decision has provoked criticism from some Islamic scholars, who say a maritime burial isn't in keeping with Muslim law. And there are signs that the move could help fuel skepticism, especially among President Obama's critics, about whether bin Laden was really killed at all.

The Pentagon has said the body was treated in accordance with traditional Islamic procedures--including washing the corpse--before it was placed in the waters of the northern Arabian Sea.

U.S. officials have said they wanted to avoid the al Qaeda leader's grave site becoming a shrine for his followers. They've also said it would have been difficult to find a foreign country willing to accept bin Laden's remains, especially in so short a time: Islamic tradition and practice call for the body of the deceased to be buried within 24 hours of death.

But several Muslim authorities said today that the sea burial in fact violated Muslim tradition--and warned that it could help trigger calls for revenge from militant Muslims.

The sea burial "runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs," Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, told the AP.

And Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, echoed that view. "If the family does not want him, it's really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that's it."

He added: "Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances," he added. "This is not one of them."

And Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's Abu Hanifa mosque declared: "It is not acceptable, and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea," adding that the action "might provoke some Muslims."

But the religious verdict may not be quite that open and shut. Imam Shamsi Ali, of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, told The Lookout that in emergency circumstances, any Islamic law can be overlooked. "For example, you're not allowed to eat pork," he said, but added that if you were starving to death, it would be considered acceptable. Ali said that because the United States appears to have been unable to find a country to take bin Laden's body within 24 hours, this might have qualified as such an emergency.

Islamic practices aside, the decision is already triggering conspiracy theories that cast doubt on whether bin Laden is truly dead--even though DNA testing is said to have confirmed with virtual certainty that the al Qaeda leader was indeed killed. An assertion by Pakistan's Taliban that bin Laden is still living was picked up on several users of the conservative website FreeRepublic.com. In addition, one writer on the Andrew Breitbart website Big Peace called for bin Laden's body to be"digitally scanned" so that Americans could verify his death for themselves. On Twitter, Emily Miller, an editor at the conservative Washington Times, demanded a photo of the body as "proof."

Skepticism could only increase in some quarters if the Obama administration declines to release photos of bin Laden's body.  No decision has yet been made on that question, according to White House counter-terror adviser John Brennan, who said this afternoon that doing so could jeopardize future operations.

Islamic scholars criticize bin Laden's sea burial

Cairo: Muslim clerics said on Monday that Osama bin Laden's burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets.

Although there appears to be some room for debate over the burial -as with many issues within the faith -a wide range of senior Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.

Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.

Bin Laden's burial at sea "runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs," said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.

A radical cleric in Lebanon, Omar Bakri Mohammed, said, "The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration."

A U.S. official said the burial decision was made after concluding that it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. There was also speculation about worry that a grave site could have become a rallying point for militants.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters.

President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial, and the Pentagon later said the body was placed into the waters of the northern Arabian Sea after adhering to traditional Islamic procedures -including washing the corpse -aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

But the Lebanese cleric Mohammed called it a "strategic mistake" that was bound to stoke rage.

In Washington, CIA director Leon Panetta warned that "terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge" the killing of the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Bin Laden is dead," Panetta wrote in a memo to CIA staff. "Al-Qaida is not."

According to Islamic teachings, the highest honor to be bestowed on the dead is giving the deceased a swift burial, preferably before sunset. Those who die while traveling at sea can have their bodies committed to the bottom of the ocean if they are far off the coast, according to Islamic tradition.

"They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam," Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, said about bin Laden's burial. "If the family does not want him, it's really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that's it."

"Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances," he added. "This is not one of them."

But Mohammed Qudah, a professor of Islamic law at the University of Jordan, said burying the Saudi-born bin Laden at sea was not forbidden if there was nobody to receive the body and provide a Muslim burial.

"The land and the sea belong to God, who is able to protect and raise the dead at the end of times for Judgment Day," he said. "It's neither true nor correct to claim that there was nobody in the Muslim world ready to receive bin Laden's body."

Clerics in Iraq, where an offshoot of al-Qaida is blamed for the death of thousands of people since 2003, also criticized the U.S. action. One said it only benefited fish.

"If a man dies on a ship that is a long distance from land, then the dead man should be buried at the sea," said Shiite cleric Ibrahim al-Jabari. "But if he dies on land, then he should be buried in the ground, not to be thrown into the sea. Otherwise, this would be only inviting fish to a banquet." 

The Islamic tradition of a quick burial was the subject of intense debate in Iraq in 2003 when U.S. forces embalmed the bodies of Saddam Hussein's two sons after they were killed in a firefight. Their bodies were later shown to media. 

"What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims," said another Islamic scholar from Iraq, Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque. "It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country or land to bury him." 

Prominent Egyptian Islamic analyst and lawyer Montasser el-Zayat said bin Laden's sea burial was designed to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine. But an option was an unmarked grave. 

"They don't want to see him become a symbol, but he is already a symbol in people's hearts."