Introduction: General could gain some credibility if he sheds light on Laden’s dialysis
CBS, the American television channel, has reported that Osama bin Laden underwent dialysis at Rawalpindi's military hospital on the eve of 9\11.
Although this report has been dismissed as an Indian plot by Pakistani spokesman Rashid Qureshi, most Indians will be gratified to learn that their government has so much influence over the American media. Nevertheless, the fact remains that Osama's kidney condition might help unravel the mystery of his whereabouts.
That Bin Laden suffers from a kidney ailment and requires dialysis is a widely known fact. Recently, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Bin Laden must be dead since he could not have had access to a dialysis machine during the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.
After the bombing started on October 7, Al Jazeera aired a number of video tapes of the Saudi fugitive. The last one, according to the Qatar-based TV channel, was posted from Pakistan in December. From the above, it would appear that Bin Laden was alive for at least three months after 9\11 and must have been undergoing his dialysis cycle.
The Americans undoubtedly have information on the state of hospitals in Kabul, Jalalabad and Kandahar and whether they were in a position to carry out dialysis at the time of the bombings.
Since the Rawalpindi military hospital carried out the September dialysis, it should have complete data on Bin Laden's dialysis cycle and the window of dates on which he will be required to have further treatment. One hopes the Americans have all those record by now.
In any event, would it not have been rational for the Saudi terror mastermind to have shifted to Pakistan to ensure his dialysis cycle once the American bombing started? In those days, the Pakistan government had insisted on maintaining its diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime. During the last few weeks before the last Al Jazeera tape was posted, eastern Afghanistan- including the Tora Bora cave-was being heavily bombed. The tape showed a pale and sick Bin Laden. All these factors imply that the dialysis proximate to the last Al Jazeera tape of December was, in all probability, carried out in Pakistan itself.
Now Gen Musharraf says that Bin
Laden is likely to be dead for lack of access to a dialysis machine. He
will be far more credible if he gives a comprehensive account of the treatment
Bin Laden received in the Rawalpindi hospital and provides all the information
his administration has of the dialysis programme. The possibility of Bin
Laden having been continuously in Pakistan cannot be ruled out.