Veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in the London Review of Books, appears to have uncovered the long buried truth behind Osama bin Laden’s days in Pakistan’s Abbottabad, weeks before he was killed by the American Seal Team.
Hersh has essentially deconstructed the whole operation and stated that it was actually the Pakistani Intelligence Unit - the ISI - that aided the United States of America close in on Osama.
While the Obama Administration - Hersh says - had ordered the raid, several of their claims about the success of the operation, were false.
Hersh weaves the narrative around several questions: How had Osama chosen to live in a resort in Abbottabad, under the watch of the Pakistani military unit? Hersh then rolls out a conspiracy theory, replete with quotes from anonymous sources who have apparently backed his claims - his main source of information being a “retired official.”
What one is left with, is essentially a plot that could provide enough fodder for a blockbuster film.
Hersh’s take on the entire operation stems from the claim that the episode proved to be a huge boost for Obama who was looking at a second run for the Presidency.
Yet, journalists across the spectrum beg to differ.
Their take?
This is what conspiracy theories are meant to do. Hersh picks up on something that is out of the ordinary and builds up a ‘plausible’ argument that appears to defeat the veracity of Obama’s claims.
However, critics argue, that what it essentially lacks is solid facts.