Back in 1998, Osama bin Laden, the head and ideologist of the Islamic terrorist organization Al Qaeda, was proclaimed “enemy number one” by US President Bill Clinton. The tracking and assassination of bin Laden by the Central Intelligence Agency was aimed at disrupting communication between the various branches of Al Qaeda and decentralizing their terrorist activities. The assassination of bin Laden was the target of a special intelligence operation codenamed Geronimo. Operation Geronimo, which ended in 2011, was initiated by the government and military forces of the United States and was aimed at reducing the activities of the Al Qaeda terrorist group. The ethical and legal aspects of this operation are still being discussed, which is due to the unprecedented attention of media resources to the procedure for eliminating a terrorist.
Controversy
The assassination of bin Laden is controversial from the point of view of international political ethics since it suggests that the solution to the problem of terrorism is possible not by diplomatic but precisely by militaristic means. The fight against terrorism, when viewed from a critical rather than justificatory side, may seem like a desire to dominate the international political arena. The contradiction between the principle of bringing peace and democratic freedoms and military solutions to conflicts is overcome only at the expense of a real-world threat, which was the goal of the American intelligence services. The very presentation of the news about the assassination of bin Laden was presented in a selector way, which was clearly aimed at controlling public opinion.
Although the Obama administration’s decision seems justified and legal, it cannot be said that the problem of Islamic terrorism has been completely solved in this way. In many ways, this operation was a promotional campaign in support of the president, whose ratings after the announcement of the assassination of a terrorist rose radically. Indeed, justifying the secret actions of the government becomes more difficult when viewed as part of a military expansion to increase the approval rating. However, legal reasons, primarily the perception of bin Laden as the leader of a group that poses a national threat, fully comprehend this operation, including the administration’s omissions.
Prevention of Terrorism and Benefits of Special Operations
The legalization of the Geronimo operation is a consistent step in a series of governmental reactions against terrorism. The milestone decision was taken after the tragically famous terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on September 9, 2001 (Soherwordi & Khattak, 2020). At that time, a resolution was passed, allowing US military forces to be used in Iraqi territory against the nation associated with this attack (Soherwordi & Khattak, 2020). This was the first legalization of the use of US military and intelligence capabilities to combat a threat to national security. The subsequent actions included in the execution of Geronimo’s operation can be explained if one appeals to the decrees of previous presidents before Barack Obama.
The elimination of bin Laden fits into the logic of preventing international terrorism since in fact he was the personification of Islamic terror against Western countries. It should also be considered from the point of view of the principle of conducting special operations developed and theoretically legalized by the CIA (Roy et al., 2022). Vice Admiral McRaven studied and developed the theory of special operations at the university and substantiated in his postgraduate dissertation the greater effectiveness of operations involving only a few special forces (Roy et al., 2022). Specialist units managed by professionals were able to achieve greater debugging than full-fledged military groups and detachments. This operation was planned extremely quickly, and this could only be achieved with the advice and decision-making in a fairly limited circle of professionals. The military personnel responsible for the implementation of the operation were temporarily assigned to the control of the central intelligence agency, which made it possible to achieve a more efficient implementation of the operation.
Secret Aspects of the Operation
Withholding the operation from public space and concealing its preparations from the international community seems justified in terms of the importance of its implementation. President Obama expressed doubts that cooperation with Pakistan would be full and effective, and the main fear was that the country might, on the contrary, create obstacles to the achievement of the goal. While intervention in another country, even in limited numbers, is a cause for ethical concern, an announcement to Pakistan could be the cause of scandalous publicity for the operation. The threat to the world community in the person of the leader of a terrorist organization would not have been prevented in this way. The elimination of bin Laden as the world’s number one terrorist was in theory supported by the entire international community, which also confirms the formal validity of the confidentiality of this operation.
It is also possible to look at the problem of the legitimacy of the assassination of bin Laden from the perspective of international human rights. Formally, bin Laden can be equated with international terrorists, that is, non-state actors not tied to a particular country. There is debate as to whether criminals of this magnitude fall under the international principle of legality. In peacetime, the assassination of bin Laden would fall under illegal assassination prohibited by international law. However, the killing of an individual fighting in a war no longer falls under this criterion and is legal, like the killing of generals in World War II (Rashid et al., 2018). This legality is also comprehended in the context of violation of the borders of a foreign country.
The controversy that Pakistan was not informed about this special operation is removed due to the legality of actions against individuals who cannot be stopped by other nations. In the event that countries prove unable to stop individuals threatening the American nation, the US is given the right to use force regardless of the nation’s sovereignty. Pakistan hid bin Laden for a long time, which gave reasons for distrust of the country of the Americans and undermined the possibility of dialogue even before the operation. The final argument is the assertion that the terrorist was killed in the process of attacking American forces himself. This legal link exists due to the hypothesis that bin Laden would not have surrendered without a fight and most likely had explosives hidden under his clothes (Fisher & Becker, 2019). Thus, a military strike on the leader of al Qaeda seems justified from a legal point of view. The assassination of bin Laden is an effective, albeit extremely harsh, attempt to resolve a military conflict with Asian countries.
Conclusion
The confidential decision of Obama and the secret services may shock with the speed of adoption and concealment of intentions before the implementation of the operation. However, taking into account all the legal aspects, such as the military-terrorist threat and the non-involvement of the country harboring bin Laden in his capture, the actions of the American intelligence and administration seem justified. Geronimo’s operation required confidentiality and speed of decision-making because of the immediate danger to American sovereignty. Despite controversial aspects such as America’s failure to warn Pakistan, the attack on bin Laden makes sense as an attack on a defending and attacking terrorist.
References
Fisher, D., & Becker, M. H. (2019). The heterogeneous repercussions of killing Osama bin Laden on global terrorism patterns. European Journal of Criminology, 18(3), 301–324. Web.
Rashid, M. I., Javaid, U., & Shamshad, M. (2018). Pakistan-US Relations after 9/11: Points of Divergence. A Research Journal of South Asian Studies, 33(2), 541–553. Web.
Roy, M. I., Khalid, A., Rehman, A., & Khalid, F. (2022). Operation Neptune Spear and the manhunt (Implications for Pakistan United States counter terrorism synergism 2001-2020). Journal of Political Studies 29(2), 39-50. Web.
Soherwordi, S. H. S., & Khattak, S. A. (2020). Operation Geronimo: Assassination of Osama Bin Ladin and its implications on the US-Pakistan relations, War on Terror, Pakistan and Al-Qaeda. South Asian Studies, 26(2). Web.