Anyway, I suspect they knew were he was for quite a while. The final conclusion was probably timed to produce the maximum political impact.
So they made sure that the Canadian politicians would have to wait an extra day before commenting on it?
Obama did what needed to be done. Yes, it will help his approval ratings, but it would be ridiculous to say this is why he did it.
From his speech, we see that the Pakistani government does not object to what happened.
Since Abbotabad is rather close to Islamabad (but still, unlike Islamabad, in the North-West Frontier province), and since Osama was found in a mansion, I presume that others involved have been killed or captured - and Pakistan will be dealing with those who colluded with Osama.
It may even be that an assassination attempt will be made on Zardari. There could even be civil war in Pakistan - but hopefully Pakistan will weather the storms ahead.
Oh yeah and the anti muslim comments all over the internet are really annoying for someone with muslim family members like me.
Think of how Obama must feel.
Seriously, though, while Obama was very correct in saying that the United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam, many in the Islamic world may have their doubts.
Of course the United States will never be at war with people because they worship on a different day of the week, read from different scriptures, or pray to God by a different name. Religion, though, tells people what is right or wrong - it influences their actions. And people who
do what
we think is wrong could run afoul of us.
Look at the blasphemy law in Pakistan, which many feel has been used to persecute the small Christian minority in Pakistan. The Coptic Christian minority in Egypt, Maronite Christians in Lebanon, minority Christians in some areas of Nigeria and Indonesia - they have faced persecution, discrimination, and violence. While history shows the United States is not about to go on a crusade to protect minorities everywhere - it has its own imperfect history - this does place some Muslim parts of the world at risk of being viewed as supportive of the same ideas as the terrorists, and it also goes far to explaining why the U.S. supports Israel - when from another point of view, it's a country built on stolen land.
But then so is the United States.
