Abbotabad Commission findings

Daily Times

The Abbottabad Commission report was leaked by Al Jazeera on Monday. The controversial circumstances surrounding the assassination of Osama bin Laden warranted an inquiry due to which the Abbottabad Commission under Justice Javed Iqbal was set up. The commission submitted its findings to the previous People’s Party government under former Prime Minster Raja Pervez Ashraf in January. However, the report was swept under the carpet perhaps because the previous government was reaching the end of its tenure and it did not want to open up a new Pandora’s box. Also, revealing this report would have brought the role of Pakistan’s army and intelligence agencies under scrutiny and the previous government possibly wanted to avoid confrontation with the military. However, as fate would have it, the report has been leaked anyway. The report calls for an apology from individuals wielding authority, alluding to the leadership of military and civilian institutions who failed to play their part on May 2, 2011, a day on which Pakistan suffered immense humiliation. Due to the proximity of the compound Osama bin Laden was living in to the Pakistan Military Academy, there has been speculation over Pakistan’s possible role in harbouring the world’s most wanted man. On the other hand, there also has been speculation over the ease with which American Navy SEALs entered Pakistan’s airspace, raided the compound in which bin Laden was residing, caused a raucous in Abbottabad and left within three hours without being challenged by Pakistan’s military. An explanation was long needed to clarify what happened on the day bin Laden was killed and the Abbottabad Commission report begins to answer some questions at least. The report reveals that the reason behind bin Laden’s nine year long stay in Pakistan going unnoticed and the secret US raid on his compound was sheer ‘incompetence at all levels of government’. It cites a few incidents in which bin Laden could have been easily captured but was not due to the ineptness of security officials. One such incident was when a car in which bin Laden was travelling was stopped for overspeeding by a police officer but bin Laden, whose face wasn’t clearly visible as he was wearing a cowboy hat, escaped unnoticed as his driver quickly resolved the issue by paying off the officer. The report is particularly critical of the Pakistan’s premier spy agency, the ISI. It was revealed that the ISI acted unprofessionally, lacked commitment to fight extremism and also obstructed civilian spy outfits from carrying out their duties. The raid was seen as a huge intelligence failure. According to the report, ISI had abandoned its efforts in bin Laden’s manhunt as early as 2005 when it felt that the US’s interest in the matter had faded. Also, non-civilian spy intelligence agencies under the military refused to share intelligence with civilian agencies such as the FIA and the IB. The chief of FIA upon being questioned about the US raid on bin Laden’s compound by the Commission said that he wasn’t even aware of the mandate of his agency, let alone of any intelligence he might have regarding bin Laden. The IB also did not have a clue about the incident as its intelligence was based mainly on media reports. The fact that the Abbottabad Commission report was ignored by the previous government and similarly not brought into the limelight by the new government shows that our political leadership has not learnt from the past. The Hamoodur Rahman Commission report, which shed light on the 1971 debacle due to which Pakistan lost its eastern wing, was also conveniently brushed aside. Its findings, if implemented, could have saved us from repeating the same mistakes vis-a-vis Balochistan, which continue to date. The previous government should have discussed the findings of the report in parliament upon its submission. Also, the findings of the report should have been used for learning from intelligence lapses and lack of coordination between agencies due to which Pakistan had to suffer humiliation and its image was further tarnished. Most importantly, the individuals responsible for this national tragedy should have been held accountable. The leaking of this report may be a blessing in disguise for the nation as it has provided the civilian and political leadership with an opportunity to reflect on what happened on May 2, 2011.