For the followers of bin Laden still living in caves in the outback of Afghanistan and highlands of Pakistan –and out of touch with your courier –Your leader has been killed.

Call it revenge extracted.  Call it justice served or call it a serving of just dessert.  No matter which –Usama (Osama if you prefer) bin Laden no longer walks this Earth.

Frankly, had the death of bin Laden happened five or six years ago –or preferably, shortly after the invasion of Iraq; the signifigance of his demise would mean far more than the moral victory most of the world deems it today.  Nonetheless, the killing of bin Laden is still a victory.

... And we duly applaud President Obama, the various intellegence agencies –and most imprortantly, the United States Military for the deliverance of 72 virgin bullets to their appropriate recipient.  Paradise –Delivered.

A victory in the War Against Terrorism?  –Absolutely!  However, Unfortunately, a small one as those perpetrating terrorism have already stated, "... we shall follow the new [leader]..." and have renewed "Calls" and "Vows of Allegience" to Al-Qaeda.

We should preface the remainder of this posting by explaining our "surfing habits" for the last few days...  Since the announcement of bin Laden's death.

When the main announcement was made via network news sources; it was fraught with misinformation –perhaps, still is.  Perhaps more to the tune of insufficient information.  Nevertheless, the need to see/learn what the Middle Eastern countries –especially Pakistan were saying and thinking... and doing; was NOT coming from U.S. news sources and what was being reported seemed somewhat "cleansed"...  Which leaves only one avenue of travel.

So, with a bit of internet-voodoo we set off to explore the foriegn forums, major foriegn news sources and a few 'hidden nooks and crannies' not generally viewed by the "Average Joe" in America who limits their "news" to something repeated on Facebook or Twitter.  Hint: For the few hearty souls that wish to REALLY explore the web-a-net of foriegn lands –We urge you to use Google's Chrome browser with the "Translate" plug-in installed; as the really "good stuff" is NOT written in English.  And, use a proxy server (or three or four) as an American [ifidels as we are called] IP address will sometimes meet with a "... You are not allowed..." message.

Portions of the remainder of this posting has been translated from either Urdu or Arabic and the translation may leave a good bit to be desired in terms of English.  Nevertheless, you'll "get the picture" and we'll attempt to clarify when/where possible.

In some cases –excerpts we will also provide links to the actual website where the text is in English and the site is safe to visit... And we encourage our readers to further expand their knowledge.

Of course, the first question –thought, when the announcement of bin Laden's death was made, was one of "... PAKISTAN..."  And that same question of "... what the hell are these guys doing with bin Laden in their back yard"... has yet to be answered.

We've stated numerous times on this website that Friendship in the Middle East is measured in Dollars.  Apparently "Friendship" does not include intelligence.  That said, we found multiple Pakistani web forums where the same thought/question was being asked by Pakistanis.  Of course, the replies were generally in the realm of "denial".  Some postings even questioning if bin Laden was really dead.

Conspiracy theories are NOT unique to the United States and we found MANY in forums located in India, Pakistan, Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.  This on May 2nd!

From the Pakistani Defense forum [1] we copied (May 2) the text of their lead article entitled:  Pakistan's Perspective: Osama Dead... which apparently has been "cleansed" from their website at this writing (01:04 5 May, 2011).  Nevertheless, the link above will take you to the Pakistani Defense website and one can "Read All About It".  Emphasized text has been placed by the W.P.

Pakistan's Perspective: Osama Dead

(05/02/2011) - President Obama today spoke to the American people confirming the death of Osama-bin-Laden.

Osama-bin-Laden was supposedly killed last week in an operation carried out by the U.S. forces in Abbottabad, close to Islamabad. The DNA tests came out today, and the identity was confirmed.

At the same time, reports were that last week a Pakistani military helicopter was crashed. It is now clear that it was actually a U.S. forces helicopter which was downed during the operation to kill Osama-bin-Laden.

The extent of Pakistani cooperation in the killing is unclear, but there is a significant cooperation by the Inter Services Intelligence Agency of Pakistan in coordination with the CIA that led to the killing of the world's most wanted terrorist.

There will be controversy over why the Pakistani forces were not used in the attack, when Pakistan had all the intelligence and information of the operation being conducted. We can assume that Pakistan decided not to use its forces in order avoid a back lash of Taliban and Al-Qaeda due to the death of Osama-bin-Laden in terms of attacks and suicide bombings.

Pakistani government in public continues to slam U.S. drone strikes, but it has secretly allowed them to conduct operations against the militants on its western borders. Without Pakistan's permission, these drone strikes simply cannot occur because Pakistan has the full capability of taking down these drones.

There are pictured evidences of U.S. drones being operated from the Pakistani soil.

Such measures of the Pakistani government only points to one thing, and that is to show to the public that it is only minimally involved in such operations and therefore get less of a backlash from the Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces in terms of the attacks.

In other postings on the same forum; readers will find a myriad of opinions Pro - Con - Indifferent and we advise our readers who dare to follow links from there, to please be knowledgable of where you are heading off to.

Not only are there curious statements directed at/about/concerning bin Laden and Pakistan in general but, if one spends enough time on the forum; the strife between India and Pakistan will become quite evident.  A bit more on that later.

Pertaining to "Misinformation":  Nobody can beat the Chinese National Press!  [2]

ISLAMABAD, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Urdu TV channel Geo News quoted Pakistani intelligence officials as saying that the world's most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden was killed in a search operation launched by the Pakistani forces after a Pakistani army helicopter was shot down in the wee hours of Monday in Abbotabad, a mountainous town located some 60 kilometers north of Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad.

At about 1:20 a.m. local time a Pakistani helicopter was shot down by unknown people in the Sikandarabad area of Abbotabad. The Pakistani forces launched a search operation in the nearby area and encountered with a group of unknown armed people. A fire exchange followed between the two sides.

When the fire exchange ended, the Pakistani forces arrested some Arab women and kids as well some other armed people who later confessed to the Pakistani forces they were with Osama Bin laden when the fire was exchanged and Bin Laden was killed in the firing.

Local media reported that after the dead body of Bin Laden was recovered, two U.S. helicopter flew to the site and carried away the dead body of Bin Laden.

Initial reports said that at least one was killed and two others were injured in the crash. At least two houses were engulfed by the huge fire caused by the crashed chopper.

Rescue team rushed to the site shortly after the crash was reported and the armed forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation there.

Sources of Xinhua said they tried to enter the area after the incident took place, but no media people were allowed inside.

"No one knows in that helicopter crash Bin Laden was killed," said the sources.

There are four other news articles at the bottom of that particular article that vary in accuracy.  The site is the English language portion of the Chinese news outlet.

Our readers must NOT take the foriegn reports/articles at "face value" but, consider that the readers of these articles are/were intended for were "Locals" and consider that news as proper and true.  Also remember the "locals" for which these reports are intended, by and large live far below the poverty level (in ALL the countries) and do not have access to the World Wide Web to make a "comparison" of lifestyles, news and real information.  This is the case for not only the Chinese news agency but ALL... ALL the foreign press reports.  And we Wonder why the United States is so misunderstood?  Hated?  To make matters worse, the 'powers that be' in the U.S., by not being a bit more forthcoming are enabling some of the misgivings.

For the most part, the major news outlets in the Middle East –Muslim Countries, have accepted and outwardly support the death of bin Laden.  However, their main question/request to President Obama is to release the actual photo(s) of bin Laden and the operation that lead to his death ("capture" as stated in some reports).  The idea of the President not releasing the photos because it "might" incite violence in/on foreign soil –is flatly wrong.  Frankly, we think it would have the exact opposite effect.

One of the other curiosities we encountered was a question of why bin Laden was buried at sea.  We did not find a single article or posting that chastised the U.S. for this action...  Apparently, most knew... even though they would not admit the fact, that no one on Earth wanted this monster buried on their soil.  Nevertheless, the act IS –ALREADY fodder for conspiracy therories.

Repercussions against the U.S.

There is –was no possible way we could visit –visit AND translate every known (and some unknown) website in the Middle East... Be they mainline Muslim based or bent on extremism.  We found far more of the former than the latter... Who called us Americans and our "Allies" everything other than children of God.  Although we were not so naive that we didn't expect that sentiment, we were surprised somewhat to find that the ire of most of the extremist sites/forums were directed toward Other Muslims!  And of course, the Jews.

Now, these people (the extremists) are not stupid; and they are "web savvy" enough to know NOT to post plans, thoughts of plans, names and locations on a website that can be infiltrated by anyone with a keyboard and a bit of techno-wizardry.  That said, there ARE ways to use modern web-technology to its fullest extent but, it takes more time than we had to devote to turning over rocks.  It only stands to reason that there are –and will be more attacks directed solely at Americans and American forces.

Another interesting direction of Middle Eastern thought, mainly in forum postings, was the difference in opinion from one generation to another.  The younger –and slightly more educated, posters had a seemingly more realistic view of not only bin Laden but "worldy affairs" in general than their elders.  Now, the authors of various postings don't put their ages for public view but, their verbiage –the vernacular of their postings lends credence that they are of the 20 to 30 something generation.

After reading several of the postings, we found some of the more militant posters seemed to be "pushing" the Muslim faith in an odd manner; with heavy references to the teachings of Allah.  Not that anyone would expect less in any Muslim country.

At any rate, we followed several links from the forums that gave us a somewhat better understanding of "where they're coming from".

And what does this have to do with bin Laden?  Honestly, not much really other than many... MANY in the Muslim countries had already begun to "discount" bin Laden's effectiveness and/or leadership and those who DID see him as their leader (sometimes obviously the elders) were trying to religiously shame (for the lack of a better word) the younger people into –back into the "flock" in lieu of statements of Al-Qaeda or Taliban ideals.

Again, we found the ire of many, if not most, of the Muslim oriented forums and other articles directed toward Other Muslims and the Jews (Israel in general) –in much harsher language than that directed to us infidels, sons of satan, dogs and a few Arabic and Urdu words that Google didn't understand!

One of the links we followed was to an English/Arabic web site that included several explanations of various concepts of the Muslim religion and we respectfully ask that our readers take the time to read the articles below with the idea that children are taught these precepts from the time they are born.  Only with your realization that these teachings are ALL that child may know; will explain the dilemma we, the U.S. are in and faced with in Iraq and Afghanistan and these are the concepts that form the opinions of the United States in almost every corner of the Middle East.

From a Kuwait website [3] that contains several "lessons" as well as an abundance of information pertaining to living a good Muslim life.  The copied article that follows the posting immediately below is from an Iranian web site that extolls the differences between Shi'ite Muslim beliefs and Sunni Muslims. (and no, we're NOT going to include a link to that site.)

Rights of the Husband over his Wife
Author: Shaykh Hany Helmy

Dear sister!

Today, we will learn how to make Allah The Almighty pleased with us, taste the sweetness of Iman (faith), get the greatest reward, and get the Gardens of Al-Firdaws Al-A'la through knowing the rights of your husband so that you may fulfill them.

1. Obedience and dutifulness to him. This means that she should fulfill all of his needs and desires as long as they are permissible and done in reasonable manner. She should not obey him if he ordered her to do something sinful for it was narrated on the authority of Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "No obedience in what is sinful. Obedience is only in what is right." [Agreed upon].

On the other hand, the husband should pay much attention and care to his wife and never burden her with what is beyond her scope. He should also observe her physical and physiological conditions and never be harsh or stiff in asking her to do something.

She should also beware of disobeying him for it was narrated on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "There are two individuals whose prayer does not rise above their heads; a slave running away from his masters – until he returns to them, and a woman who disobeys her husband – until she returns (to obedience)." [Reported by Al-Albani, Authentic].

Accordingly, the wife should not disobey her husband even if she has a good religious justification such as dutifulness to her parents. Actually, He is the one who will bear the burden of sin if he prevents her from being dutiful to her parents.

Amongst the forms of obeying him are: She should not observe fasting except with his permission and never allow anyone to enter his house except with his permission for it was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "It is not permissible for a woman to fast (supererogatory fasts) without the permission of her husband when he is at home; and she should not allow anyone to enter his house except with his permission" [Reported by Al-Bukhari, Authentic].

However, if he is absent or traveling, then the cause of preventing her from fasting does not exist any longer (i.e. she is permitted to observing fasts then).

2. Serving him. There is no disagreement among scholars that a woman should serve her husband in the house. It is really a well-established custom. Also, it is a recommendable act which the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, has approved. The honorable Mothers of the Believers, may Allah be pleased with them, used to take care of the housework as well as the honorable wives of the companions, may Allah be pleased with them.

In fact, you (every female figure) have in Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, the best example. It is best to leave Imam Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, describe her (i.e. describe how she goes about in looking after her house): She was the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, and the most honorable member of his family to him. She was my wife. In fact, she turned the quern until she injured her hand, and carried the water skin until she hurt her back, and she swept the house until her clothes were filled with dust, and she lit the fire under the cooking pot until her clothes were black and she herself was hurt.

You should seek and expect your reward from Allah The Almighty. You should also not forget that you will be reward for every good action you do for him in much the same way as he will be rewarded for every penny he spends on you, and that everything you are doing is for the pleasure of Allah Exalted and Glorified be He.

3. Looking after and caring for him fully. This means to prefer him to all other people and look after his appearance as the Mothers of the Believers used to do with the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him. It was narrated that A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "I perfumed the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, with my own hands before finishing his Ihraam (Ritual state of consecration for performing Hajj or Umrah) while yet he has not performed Tawaaf-al-Ifaadah (departure of pilgrims from Arafat to Mina after completing their rituals in Arafaat). She spread her hands (while saying so.)" [Reported by Al-Bukhari, Authentic].

4. Being very grateful to your husband and avoid being ungrateful to him. It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "Allah The Almighty does not look (with mercy) at a woman who is not grateful to her husband when she cannot live without him." [Reported by Al-Albani, Authentic].

Consequently, the wife who does not show thanks to her husband, Allah The Almighty will curse her and will not look at her.

So you should be content with and grateful to your husband, for all what he does for you, according to what Allah The Almighty has decreed for him.

You have to know that ungratefulness is one of the most serious causes that make women deserves to be thrown in Hellfire. It was reported on the authority of Abdullaah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said when he told about looking at the Hellfire: "I saw that most of the inhabitants were women." The people asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Why is it so?" He, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, replied, "Because of their ungratefulness." It was asked whether they are ungrateful to Allah The Almighty. He, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said, "They are ungrateful to their companions of life (husbands) and ungrateful to good deeds. If you are benevolent to one of them throughout the life and if she sees anything (undesirable) in you, she will say, I have never had any good from you.'" [Reported by Al-Bukhari, Authentic].

5. Feeling content with the husband. This means that you have to feel satisfied with what Allah The Almighty has decreed for you and never compare him to others for humans really are full of defects and shortcomings and no one has the best perfect descriptions among humans. So you have to turn a blind eye to his negative attributes as long as it is not related to or undermine his religion. You, moreover, should think about his positive attributes so that your heart may be pleased with him.

6. Do not open the doors of worldly requests against him. This means that one shouldn't burden her husband with requests in order not to be a reason behind falling in the trap of the temptations of money, even if the conditions of her husband have changed i.e. he became poor after he was rich or he became sick after he was healthy, she should observe patience and feel contented with the decree of Allah, Exalted and Glorified be He.

Beware of being enslaved by the vanities of the worldly life for it was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "Doomed is the slave of the dinar, doomed is the slave of the dirham, doomed is the slave of fine cloth and doomed is the slave of velvet. If he is given something he is pleased and if he is denied, he is angry. Doomed is he! If he is pierced by a thorn, may he never be able to remove it." [Reported by Al-Albani, Authentic].

7. Safeguarding his possessions. This means that she should handle his money in the best way and never spend it lavishly for it was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "The best women who mounted camels the righteous among the women of Quraish. They are the kindest women to their children in their childhood and the more careful women of the property of their husbands." [Agreed upon].

8. Adornment for the Husband. The righteous wise woman is the one who is keen on adorn herself for her husband in the best way and with what can pleases him. She may wear the best clothes within the limits he can afford. It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him was asked "Who is the best of women?" whereupon he (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) answered: "The one who pleases (her husband) when he looks at her, obeys him when he gives a command, and does not go against his wishes regarding her person or property by doing anything of which he disapproves." [Reported by Al-Albani with a good chain of transmission].

9. Welcoming the husband warmly and biding him farewell affectionately. This means that she should be keen on being the first one to welcome and greet him happily and with a beautiful smile when he comes back home. Also, she should do the same whenever he goes out, bid him a fond farewell with an affectionate smile and pray for his success.

10. Listening to him attentively. The Husband needs a warm heart to which he can refuge and to someone who can listen to his problems. So the wife should listen to him and warm his chest with the words that can calm and keep him peaceful.

Actually, there some etiquettes of dialogue that should be observed so that the dialogue may be beneficial.

So the wife should listen attentively to her husband and pay much attention to his speech. As it hurts her if he comes back from his work and goes to sleep directly, it also hurts him if she is heedless to his speech.

Do not interrupt him and wait until your husband finishes his conversation. Just let him open his heart and reveal his feelings to you.

Do not issue judgments while you are listening to him. You should be responsible for your own words and when you want to express your opinion, so do it but avoid enjoining and giving orders to him.

Try to use the constructive request style during dialogue. This can be done by using some words like I think, I hope and so on. However, the imperative style really hurts him.

11. Avoid engaging in the matters that are related to men. This means that you should not sow the seeds of differences and disagreements between him and his relatives and brothers for if he becomes undutiful to his relatives, surely you bear the burden sin of that.

12. Do not disclose his secrets. Wife should keep the secrets of her husband, for disclosing them hurts him badly for if he did not find safety and peace with his wife, where could he find them then?

13. Seeking the convenient time to ask for your needs. This means that the pious wife seek the most appropriate time to ask for her needs or speaking in the important matters.

14. Showing respect and looking after his family. This means that one should help her husband to be dutiful to his parents and relatives. She, moreover, should enhance her relationship with his mother in particular for she really has suffered a lot in raising him up and has a great right over him. She also should be keen on visiting his female relatives and being kind with them.

Moreover, you should avoid being a reason for creating problems between him and his relatives and do not interfere between them especially if some problems already exist. It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "The most beloved among you to me is those who are best in attitude and humble, who get along with others and others get along with them, and the most hateful among you to me are those who commit Namimah (tale-bearing), make trouble between the loved ones, and accuse people of vices they are innocent of." [Reported by Al-Albani, Good by the virtue of another hadith].

Actually, this is the difficult test for every married and unmarried sister. They should know such rights of the husband well.

Beware of disobeying and annoying your husband for it was narrated on the authority of Mu'adh Ibn Jabal that the Prophet, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, said: "No woman offends her husband in this world but his wife among the Hoor Al-'iyn (maidens of paradise) says, Do not offend him, may Allah kill you, for he is only with you for a short time and soon he will leave you and come to us." [Al-Albani deemed it Authentic].

The article below is from an Iranian web site -explaing the differences between Shi'ite Muslim beliefs and Sunni Muslims...  Which will better put the ongoing Middle Eastern strife in perspecive.  The article below may be difficult to read –in terms of the way it is structured.  However, it should be sufficient to get the point across.

What is the belief of the Raafidhah in relation to Sunni Muslims

The belief of the Raafidhah in relation to the Sunni Muslims is that the blood of a Sunni Muslim is lawful to shed and their wealth is lawful for them to acquire forcefully.

As-Sadooq mentioned in al-E'lal a narration that traces back to Abu Dawood b. Farqad that he said that Abu Abdullah said to him, 'What do you say about the Naasibi (ie Sunni Muslim)?' he said: 'His blood is lawful for us to shed. If you can kill him by pushing a wall over so that he is crushed or by drowning him in a sea, so that no witnesses are there, then do so! ' I then asked him about his wealth and he said: 'Take it if you can.' [1]

The Raafidhah claim that their newborn children are pure unlike any other child, for they are impure. Hashim al-Bahrani states in his exegesis 'Al-Burhan' that Maitham b. Yahya reported that Ja'far b. Muhammad said: 'No newborn is born except that a devil is in his company. Once the devil knows that the newborn is a Shi'ite the newborn would be protected from that devil. If he is not a Shi'ite the devil will put his finger in the child's anus and that child will become a hermaphrodite, and a natural sinner at which point the baby will cry upon exiting the womb of his mother. '

The Raafidhah claim that all people are children of fornication except themselves! Al-Kulaini in his booki 'Ar-Rodah minal Kafi' mentioned a narration on the authority of Abu Hamza that Abu Ja'far said: 'I said: "Some of our companions swear at the chaste people from amongst those who do not believe as we believe. ' He said to me: 'It is better for one to stop this, and he then said: "By Allah O Abu Hamzah, all people are children of whores except for our Shi'ites."' [2]

The Shi'ites believe that the disbelief of the Sunni Muslims is greater and worse than the disbelief of the Christians and Jews. According to them the Christians and Jews are 'original' disbelievers and the Sunni Muslims are apostates, and apostasy is worse than disbelief; that is why they have helped and continuously help Christians and Jews against the Sunni Muslims.

It is mentioned in the book Wasaa'il ash-She'at that al-Fudail b. Yasar said: 'I asked Abu Ja'far about a Shi'ite woman and whether I should marry her to a Nasibi? He said: 'No, for the Naasibi is a Kaafir (non-believer).' [3]

The Naasibi is one who hates Ali b. Abi Talib. The Shi'ites call the Sunni Muslims Nawasib, because the Sunni Muslims state that Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman were rightful caliphs before Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. In any case this was affirmed during the Messenger of Allah's time. The proof for this is in the Hadeeth of Ibn Umar: 'We were comparing people during the Messenger of Allah's time, and we would choose Abu Bakr, then Umar then Uthman.' (Bukhari)

At-Tabrani added in al-Kabir: 'The Prophet would know that we did this, and he would not reject to what we did.'

Ibn Asaakir said: 'We used to favor Abu Bakr then Umar, then Uthman and then Ali.'

It is narrated in the Musnad that Ali b. Abi Talib said: 'The best of people in the Ummah after the Prophet of Allah are Abu Bakr and Umar, and if you wish I will tell you the third.' Imam adh-Dhahabi said that this narration was Mutawaatir (ie unanimously narrated).

And to this end we come, with the hopes our readers have come to the realization that the ideals of Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda do and will live on and now our "War on Terrorism" has become a religious conflict that cannot be won.  To think we, as Americans can change, by force, the ideals of centuries of religious tenets is a naive thought that now must face realism.

With the superficial victory claimed by the killing of Osama bin Laden we should use the Pakistani corridor that the United States has bought and paid for; one last time –to expiditiously remove our troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.  Then use the resources we may afford to engage the younger generation of the Middle East in an effort to show them in a truthful manner that no human being has the right –percieved as a God given right by only a few, to control the every thought and action of another human being.