It was a surprise to hear bin-Laden wasn’t already dead. I figured he had been given a proper burial in some cave years ago by two tons of U.S. Bunker Buster goodness. I spent two years in northern and eastern Afghanistan and somewhat figured that if we hadn’t killed him already, he could hide in those mountains forever.
His death will only raise more questions than it answers, however.
For one, bin-Laden was not killed in some damp, dark cave; he was found living in luxury inside a Pakistani masion complex less than a mile from Pakistan’s political capital, Islamabad, and just as close to the country’s military headquarters, Rawalpindi.
Only the most naive Pakistani apologist would try to argue that Pakistan officials had no knowledge of bin-Laden’s whereabouts.
That’s why the U.S. government gave the Pakistani government no warning of Sunday’s raid in which bin-laden was killed. U.S. officials correctly knew unilateral action was the only way to ensure success; if the CIA had informed the Pakistani government that they were going to raid a mansion believed to contain bin-Laden, well, let’s say we’d still be looking for him.