How could Bin Laden have a mansion in Pakistan????

[Kaleigh]

I heard that Osama Bin Laden was a contractor and built a mansion/ fortress.... Everyone knew about it....It's like the elephant in the room.. Why was this allowed???

 

[Black Jade]

He was stinking rich, you know.
All of these people who start revolutions are. They talk like crazy about the 'people' and the'proletariat' but always have inherited wealth themselves. Did youknow Lenin lived off the proceeds of his mom's estate before redistributing everyone else's estate to the peasants in Russia? (and then collectivizing THEM against their wills and killing them off?)
Ofcourse Bin Laden had not only the hate the rich (in his case, the rich,oppressive West) aspect to his thinking but added alittle, shall we say religious bigotry to this. Pakistan, being a Muslim country with a thing against INdia (a Hindu one) and a lot of radicals prowling around there (and no, I am NOT saying that all Muslims are radicals, just that the ones who are do damage disproportionate to their numbers) probably wasn't searching for him too hard.
Anyway, he won't be enjoying the mansion anymore...

 

[Dancing Fire]

I heard that Osama Bin Laden was a contractor and built a mansion/ fortress.... Everyone knew about it....It's like the elephant in the room.. Why was this allowed???

..

 

[AGBF]

All of these people who start revolutions are. They talk like crazy about the 'people' and the 'proletariat' but always have inherited wealth themselves.

Well.... First, I object to the characterization of Osama bin Laden as some sort of "revolutionary" to be compared with the thoroughly left-wing Lenin, who was a Marxist and a communist. Bin Laden was about as right wing as as one could be without going through the wall! Fundamentalist Muslims don't exactly believe in the rights of women, for example! Second, I think it is a bit of a stretch to say that "all people" who start revolutions have inherited wealth themselves! There simply aren't enough of them! It takes a lot of people to make to make a decent revolution. There have to be too many of them for all of them to be able to have inherited wealth! Too bad. I wish everyone who fomented revolution could be wealthy, but it's statistically impossible.

Deb/AGBF

 

[Lady_Disdain]

It is very easy, actually. Remember, 3rd world countries often don't have a lot of building regulations, permits, etc. Data isn't crossed. Payments are often made in cash. He probably didn't do taxes, social securities or any of that sort of transaction that creates records. The local people either only knew the house as "the big house on the hill" or as the place you really don't talk much about.

I have seen this again and again here with drug bosses living in gorgeous houses that no official knew about. A friend was trying to sell a large, beautiful ocean front house. He gave up because his conscience wouldn't allow him to take the deals that were offered: fake names, no questions asked cash, not reporting full value, illegal off-shore money and so on. This was in Rio, not even a village. If you go to more remote villages (and if you consider bad roads and bad data infrastructure, 100 miles can be remote), it is even easier.

 

[lulu]

The really interesting question is how could the Pakistanis not be aware of it, and why do we keep giving them money?

 

[suchende]

The really interesting question is how could the Pakistanis not be aware of it, and why do we keep giving them money?

I think it would be a mistake to believe the Pakistanis have any control over/intelligence in their own country. From my understanding the power is highly fractured and focused on protecting their border with India.

As for the money, seems to me they're playing us and the Saudis off each other, selling loyalty to the high bidder.

 

[VRBeauty]

We don't have regulatory authority in Pakistan, and they don't have a Freedom of Information Act!.

 

[charbie]

You know, I was wondering the same thing, until I realized that if someone else is fronting that they are buying it, how would anyone know that OBL was actually living there? Its not like there is a roster of who al-Qaeda members are...anyone could hide him. Similarly to Anne Frank and her family hiding for years. In a 3rd world country, people wont question things the way we do.

 

[HollyS]

Well, it looked like a concrete bunker to me. Not my idea of a mansion. Of course it was known. Surely. Or else there are some really dumb people over there.