Obama: 1, Osama: 0

Jivan Johal
May 2, 2017
3 min read

The day the twin towers fell, America was devastated. The two towers that symbolized the immense power of the American people and its economy had been razed to the ground by foreigners from a distant land. It changed the American view on homeland security, from believing to be untouchable on a continent far away to under threat 24/7, and all of it was done by a man who once helped America.

Osama Bin Laden began his involvement with the US in the early 1980's, when the USSR invaded Afghanistan. Many of the local Afghanis picked up arms and began waging a guerrilla war against the invaders, and Bin Laden was a leader of one of these groups; Al-Qaeda. Originally from Saudi Arabia, he was from a rich family who had a construction company and made millions; he could afford an army. He began to fight the USSR in Afghanistan, and began to receive weapons and money from the US to continue his war against the invaders, and, when the USSR left, he was victorious. Another fighting faction (the factions were called mujahideen, which was the plural term for one who was engaged in jihad, or holy war), the Taliban, assumed power after the war in Afghanistan. in 1990, when the US fought Iraq (see "mission accomplished" article for more info), Bin Laden was eager to send his fighters into Iraq, and requested the US's permission to send mujahideen fighters into Iraq. The US denied him, and his hatred to the US was born. He then saw the American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia (to fight Iraq) as occupiers of Islam's holy nation (all of the important muslim holy sites were in Saudi Arabia, and Islam was born in the country prior to unification). He began working and using his vast wealth against the US, conducting a bombing of US embassies in the 90's. In 2001, he had his men carry out 9/11, and became the most wanted man in the world by America.

He hid in Afghanistan during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2002 (because the ruling Taliban refused to give him up). For years, the US searched the Afghan mountains for any sign of Bin Laden, but they were unsuccessful. They engaged with his forces in 2001 in Tora Bora, but failed to catch him, resulting in a game of cat and mouse.

While flying drones over Pakistan one day, they caught sight of a man who seemed to look quite a bit like BIn Laden. They watched the walled compound the 'shadow man' lived in, and after unsuccessful attempts to enter the compound (disguising agents as doctors, mailmen etc.), decided to fly helicopters to the site and drop troops in. They confirmed that the man was Osama, and put the plan into action.

Two blackhawk helicopters were dispatched from an Afghanistan, and flew the best of America's troops to drop into the compound under the guise of the night. The plan went sour when one of the helicopters was landing beside the wall of the compound, and a wind current pushed the helicopter into the ground, causing a crash. Some men were injured, and the compound guards were alerted, and a firefight ensued.

The troops began to move through the compound, aided by their night-vision devices, and swept the compound, killing guards as they came, and securing civilians (mainly women and children). They went to the top floor, and shot Bin Laden with one bullet to the head, killing him. The Seals then grabbed mass caches of information in the form of computers and books, and retreated to the one remaining helicopter that hadn't crashed. The Pakistani authorities became aware of the American presence, but the US troops were gone by the time the Pakistani police arrived.

Bin Laden was dead, and now America could rest. The man who had planned the worst terror attack in history was dead at the hands of the country he attacked, and now justice was done. From the day 9/11 happened, Bin Laden was seen as 'wanting to provoke America', to draw it into a war so Al-Qaeda and the Taliban could destroy the 'crusaders' who sought to 'destroy America'. 9/11 brought America to his doorstep as he wished, but is was ultimately Bin Laden who was crushed by his opponent. He was discreetly buried at sea.