Bin Laden - My Part in his Downfall.

Dear Reader,

Much has been said in the media in the last few days regarding the demise of Osama Bin Laden. Much more has come out of the mouths of just about every member of the Obama administration and politicians from across the world. So now that I choose to throw my two pennies worth in I am at least in good company.

Before I attempt to justify the claim that the title of this post suggests, it is worth just going over again some of the salient details of the operation which caught my eye and got me thinking.

So, a whole hunk of Special Forces types were tasked with taking down America's public enemy number one in his ostentatiously large and eye-wateringly visible hideout in Pakistan. This may have come as a bit of a surprise to said Special Forces types who have been chasing around largely uninhabited caves in northern Afghanistan for much of the last ten years without an iota of success.

A serious mission then. With some serious communications technology attached it appears. It emerged shortly after the initial announcement that President Obama, Michelle Obama and presumably a number of others were watching this live in a room in the White House. OMG, no pressure for the nice people in Special Forces then. And what level of interaction did the White House have with the Special Forces team involved? Could they talk to them, issue orders? This is starting to sound like a special White House only mission in Call Of Duty, possibly with Michelle pressing the wrong button when fighting with the President for the Playstation or XBox controller. Moving swiftly on...

Apparently live updates were provided by Special Forces throughout the operation. Wouldn't it be nice if that was done via Twitter? New post from SFAnon... In Bin Laden's bedroom, oh I wouldn't have chosen that color... Or, perhaps not.

So, to the point of the story. Having been dragged into London for the Royal Wedding (see previous post OMFG, It's a Royal Wedding for my thoughts on this subject), by my wife and editor Smiffy, we met with friends in the evening for a few drinkies and a bit of a chat. Whilst alternately sipping Pimms and Lager (all that was on offer, in plastic cups) in Soho Square the conversation moved onto conspiracy theories. The conversation went like this...

Smiffy: I don't think they are even looking for Bin Laden especially after what happened when Saddam Hussein was caught alive. I mean, what would they do with him? Imprisonment, trial and all the publicity that would generate? Easier to let him hide in the hills.

Me: Agreed, look at all the publicity Saddam got, hanging leaked on YouTube etc. That sort of fiasco would be counter-productive.

Alistair: Indeed, the best thing to do if they were looking for him would be to finish him quickly.

Conversation shortly moved onto other matters and all was forgotten.

Until, eight days later when I receive a text from Alistair which simply said maybe they were looking for him after all... I was in the car at the time, and as soon as I reached a destination I checked the news and there it was, Bin Laden dead. Not only dead, but rapidly disposed of with not one upload on YouTube. Slick.

Consequently, I would like to take a little credit for what has occurred. The CIA, via some satellite, (obscurely pointing at Soho) zoned into our conversation when we mentioned Bin Laden. Analysing the conversation the Obama administration clearly realised that they had been rumbled and things had to change. Better still, we had provided the appropriate method of running the operation (without the Call Of Duty type embellishments) and of dealing with the outcome.

But of course, all of the above is probably all in my mind.

So having suitably explained the outrageous claim in the title of this post, I am off to obtain a super-injunction against nobody in particular via Twitter.

More soon xxx