Information technology consultant Sohaib Athar has one thing in common with Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Both sought refuge in the pleasant climes of Abbottabad; the only difference being that bin Laden was on the run as the world’s most wanted man and Akhtar just wanted some quiet from the madding crowd of Lahore.
And, curiously enough, it was this neo-convert to Abbottabad who unknowingly tweeted the 1 a.m. (Pakistan time) raid on the compound where bin Laden was reportedly hiding. "Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)", Athar tweeted a good eight hours before U. S. President Barack Obama announced to the world that bin Laden had been killed.
"Go away helicopter - before I take out my giant swatter," came the second tweet with a frowning smiley. "A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty," was his third tweet about what subsequently became the first reportage about an event that would get the cantonment township of Abbottabad global attention.
This triggered a series of back-and-forth middle-of-the-night tweets as three loud blasts rudely shook awake the town. Twitter-zone was abuzz with speculation of whether the blasts were caused by the helicopter being shot down. "Seems something nasty happening in Abbottabad, God save us," said one tweet.
As for Athar, the blasts had him wondering about his "moving to Abbottabad was part of being safe strategy". From his tweets, it was evident that the residents of Abbottabad conjured up all sorts of scenarios; ranging from a terror strike, a drone being gunned down to an Unidentified Flying Object visiting their town.
In the morning as the formal announcement came from White House, Athar tweeted that a taxi driver had told him of the Army cordoning off the area and conducting door-to-door searches. Minutes later came another tweet; this time based on what a sweeper had told him. "A family also died in the crash, and one of the helicopter riders got away and is now being searched for."
With TV channels giving up advertisement time to offer detailed coverage of what was being billed as the biggest story of the decade since 9/11 and life came to a standstill in Abbottabad, Athar – who runs a coffee shop – was wondering how to run his business for the day as staff was having trouble getting to his part of the city.
For this man who had sought out the quiet of Abbottabad, the lament was "guess Abbotabad is going to get as crowded as the Lahore that I left behind for some peace and quiet. *sigh*". Stating that Abbottabad "just became a sexy new spring break destination" as media crews rushed to the valley, Athar soon tweeted "Leave Abbottabad alone, Osama and Obama..." and "I need to sleep, but Osama had to pick this day to die."
Keywords: Abbottabad operation, Osama bin Laden, Osama dead, Osama killed, Barack Obama, U.S. war on terror, Abbottabad tweets
Some trees can grow from cuttings, u cut the root out but the branches fall to the ground and spring up again and you have multiple trees, killing one man does not make the world safe from terrorism and people need to understand that, in my opinion it is just getting started cause. Soon enough I think there wont just be one leader there will be multiple leaders and a struggle for power which means continuous bloodshed. If only people can see we are only here for a time why live in hate and unhappiness.
Even though OBL is dead, US and its allies' plans cannot change much. Their goal has been to set up a democratic government in Afghanistan so the common people can live in freedom and peace. The last time US 'left Afghanistan alone' (1980?) everyone complained that the US 'turned its back' on Afghanistan. Then Taliban took over with terrible consequences for Afghan citizens and the world - finally leading up to the 9/11 attack on the US (later in 2009 duplicated on Mumbai). The current expectation is that US forces may leave Afghanistan in 2012 with a local democratic government in place. Coming to Libya - the trouble there started when the locals (following the Tunisia example) wanted to overthrow the dictatorship of Kaddafi and Kaddafi responded with force the kill the rioters. This raised outrage in the international community including the Arab nations and the UN which authorized military measures to protect Libyan civilian population against Kaddafi’s military. This is why many European countries are attacking Khadafy's forces. The current turmoil in many Middle Eastern countries - Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Saudi Arabia are (or have been) all due to local citizens protesting against their dictatorial rulers, and the rulers responding with violence. The US and other countries are taking no part in these actions (except in Libya). There are strong appeals from some of these countries' citizens for US and other countries to help them to liberate them from their dictators.
Now, the Western powers can lay down the oil pipes through Afghanistan from the Caspian Seas to the Indian Ocean...
When one small terrorist dies through the hands of an even bigger terrorist, does the territory get free? No sir. This is 'consolidation'. The global market for violence has always been contested and as of now, it is the US and its allies who are attempting to impose their will.
This is the chance the current reigning supreme terrorist in the world, Mr. Obama has been waiting for and now he can wear the crown and continue bombing, butchering children, women and anyone else where ever he wants.
End of a smaller terrorist killed by a bigger terrorist.Osama was the product of American-Saudi alliance.They killed him when he was of little use to them.The Americans and the Saudis are the real terrorist misusing their powers to create choas in the world
Now Osama is dead ,can anybody ask USA and Allies when they are going to leave Afghanistan and Iraq?It was al-qaeda in Afghanistan which drew USA but what is in Libya that all old imperial powers pounding bombs? Where is UNO? Whether you accept it or not America is fighting a crusade against Islam and Muslims around the world.If it is not true then why all the leading European countries starts onslaught on Muslim countries for any reason.America may be in tussle with Libya but what about UK,Italy,France etc?
Waking up to good news hasn't been happening lately
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