The Assassination of Bin Laden
Preparations for Operation Geronimo, or the assassination of Bin Laden, began as early as 2007 with the discovery of a courier associated with the key player of Al-Qaeda. At the end of 2010, officials were able to identify a compound linked with the courier (Marks, 2018). The peculiarities in the security of this infrastructure made it the suspected location of Bin Laden. The mission, named Operation Neptune Spear at its formation, began on the 2nd of May in 2011 in a small town outside Islamabad, Abbottabad. The operation began with a helicopter landing on top of the compound, and Bin Laden was soon identified and killed. Another four people were killed during the occurrence, and items such as laptops, hard drives, and storage devices were collected for intelligence investigation.
Overall, the operation was completed within a forty-minute timeframe and deemed a success. The collected materials allowed the U.S. military to gain insight into the operations of Al-Qaeda, and the elimination of Bin Laden has been interpreted as beneficial by many due to his role within the terrorist organization. Immediately after the event became public knowledge, and in the current day, the assassination has influenced a number of political relationships between the U.S. and other nations. Pakistan was particularly affected as the operation occurred within the country as well as due to a number of other factors.
Implications for U.S.-Pakistan Relations
In order to understand the implications of the operation on U.S.-Pakistan relations, it is essential to analyze the engagements of the two nations prior to the assassination. While the countries were allies in the 1980s, as the 21st century began, the relationship became more strained and divergent in goals and approaches (U.S. Department of State, 2021). Prior to the 9/11 attacks, discussion of officials from both countries had severe disagreements concerning the Taliban, another terrorist organization. While the U.S. saw the Taliban as an immediate threat, Pakistan did not. However, when the attacks occurred, the dynamic displayed a notable shift, with the U.S. going to war in Afghanistan and Pakistan supporting them through geographical proximity.
The 2011 assassination occurred on Pakistan land without informing any Pakistani officials. As such, the situation became known to state authorities only after the operation had occurred. Despite this, cooperation continued, such as negotiation talks between Pakistan, the U.S., and the Taliban. Certain disagreements continued to manifest, such as those concerning the U.S. decision to train Afghan military forces to oppose the Taliban, of which Pakistan did not approve. The relations between the two nations can be summarized by cooperative counter-terrorism as a foundational ambition. In spite of some of the disagreements and controversial actions by the U.S., the relationship is still beneficial to both nations.
War on Terror
The ‘war on terror has no exact definition but directly refers to military efforts by the U.S. in fighting global terrorism after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. As such, all efforts associated with the war on terror exist in order to combat and extinguish acts of terrorism throughout the world. While such military actions have increased over the years, with the presence of the U.S. military in such conflict-affected areas being especially prominent, the effectiveness of the war on terror is arguable. Currently, terrorist organizations continue to emerge or even grow stronger and more numerous, even in areas in which the U.S. has held a military advantage.
While both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have been toppled or reduced to an ineffective state, jihadism as a practice or ideology continues to affect countries. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the number of currently active terrorist organizations is as high as 67, a drastic increase that was last seen in the 1980s (Jones et al., 2021). A primary example of a more recently active group includes the Islamic State organization or IS. The IS was directly hostile to Al-Qaeda and noticed a substantial growth and acquisition of power as the aforementioned group became diminished. A number of factors allow ideologies such as jihadism to rise in power, including war, poverty, corruption, or social chaos. The efforts of the war on terror campaign were largely implemented to oppose active and hostile organizations but did little to eliminate the driving factors that can contribute to the formation of new groups. As such, the effectiveness of the U.S.-led war on terror is incomplete and cannot be currently defined as an undeniable success.
Al-Qaeda
While Al-Qaeda has never been able to repeat an attack as severe as the 9/11 terrorist act on the U.S., the organization continues to cause harm to innocent groups and individuals. Twin suicide bombings in Kabul as recently as 2021 establish that though the groups may notice a fluctuation, or even a struggle, in power, their influence and threat continue to affect the lives of Afghan citizens (Hubbard et al., 2021). Additionally, Al-Qaeda and other organizations continue to garner more members and attention even from outside Afghanistan. Due to this, Al-Qaeda remains a prevalent threat amidst an even larger issue of a rapidly growing pool of terrorist organizations.
References
Hubbard, B., Schmitt, E., & Rosenberg, M. (2021). After decades of war, ISIS and Al Qaeda can still wreak havoc. The New York Times. Web.
Jones, S. G., Doxsee, C., Hwang, G., & Thompson, J. (2021). The military, police, and the rise of terrorism in the United States. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Web.
Marks, J. (2018). How SEAL Team Six took out Osama bin Laden. History. Web.
U.S. Department of State. (2021). U.S. relations with Pakistan. Web.