Mohamed Bouazizi's self immolation had killed bin laden politically before the US airstrike
For Bin Laden's death sentence was signed by the thousands of youths who overthrew Mubarak, Bin Ali and liberated half of Libya from gaddafi. The fact that al qaeda played no role in these revolutions affirmed Bin Laden's irrelevance and undermined the racist stereotype that the only alternative to Arab dictators is fundamentalism.
Osama Bin Laden was not just an enemy of the US. He was also an enemy of democracy. He wanted the restoration of the caliphate i.e. absolute power by a theocracy. He was a reactionary who fought for the regression of Arab societies.
Some have compared the US bombing of Bin Laden to Dr. Frankenstein destroying his creation alluding to US support for Afghan insurgents against Soviet occupation. What is sure is that the US policy of propping up corrupt and dictatorial regimes in north africa and the middle east helped bin laden find new recruits. So did the farming out of torture which gave a free hand to the regimes to use brutality against their people with the excuse of the war on terror. No wonder Gaddafi and Assad have tried to use this excuse in the past weeks.
So did the invasion of iraq on the wrong pretext of finding weapons of mass destruction and the failure to support the popular revolution in the aftermath of the first gulf war.
And so did the failure to find a resolution which brings an end to the occupation of Palestine.
But unfortunately among the worse enemies of this prospect are Hamas who decided to isolate themselves from world opinion by proclaiming Bin Laden a 'holy warrior.' I wonder what future the unity government has after these declarations which play in to the hands of those Israelis who oppose peace.
Nessuna festa.
5 hours ago

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