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Ed Doctor That Helped US Find bin Laden Jailed

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Pakistani authorities have sentenced a doctor accused of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden to 33 years in jail on charges of treason, officials said, a move almost certain to further strain ties between Washington and Islamabad.

Shakil Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign, in which he collected DNA samples, that is believed to have helped the American intelligence agency track down Mr. Bin Laden in a Pakistani town.
[...]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...lping-us-find-osama-bin-laden/article2440833/
 
Was it the Osama thing, or "running a fake vaccination campaign" that got him arrested. I can see why the fake campaign might have pissed the authorities off. Sounds like a fair cop as far as that is concerned. But Osama richly deserved death, if anyone ever did.
 
Was it the Osama thing, or "running a fake vaccination campaign" that got him arrested. I can see why the fake campaign might have pissed the authorities off. Sounds like a fair cop as far as that is concerned. But Osama richly deserved death, if anyone ever did.
It said 'treason'.

I'm guessing that even in Pakistan, that has a component of helping 'the enemy'.

So either they have something on him helping India, or they consider themselves at war with some other country... I wonder who?
 
The origianal thread title was "Doctor Who Helped US Find bin Laden Jailed"; titled edited, Doctor Who posts moved to AAH.
Posted By: Locknar
 
It said 'treason'.

I'm guessing that even in Pakistan, that has a component of helping 'the enemy'.

So either they have something on him helping India, or they consider themselves at war with some other country... I wonder who?
A good point about the treason element, although the laws of treason in the UK contain all sorts of oddities. But what could possibly make Pakistan believe that it was at war?
 
He did assist a foreign power that used military units on their soil. No matter how you view it, and even if it was to get bin Laden, the US operation was technically an act of war, and by any international standard Pakistan would've been in the right on declaring war on the USA.

Doing so, of course, would've been stupid of Pakistan. But that doesn't change any of the facts.
 
The sentence was handed down under tribal laws, which unlike the national penal code, do not carry the death penalty for treason.

Is anyone familiar enough with Pakistani law to figure out why they used tribal laws for this?
 
He did assist a foreign power that used military units on their soil. No matter how you view it, and even if it was to get bin Laden, the US operation was technically an act of war, and by any international standard Pakistan would've been in the right on declaring war on the USA.

Doing so, of course, would've been stupid of Pakistan. But that doesn't change any of the facts.

I think the issue is less if they have the right to do it, but that in doing it what it says about the relationship between Pakistan and the US.
 
This is just another nother leak among the many coming out of Obama Administration officials. Among the abundance of leaks coming from the administration to tout their success getting UBL, was a seemngly insignificant one, that dna played a role in locating him.

The Pakis, listening closely, then were able to home in on the medical community around the compound, and arrested a large number of medical personnel in and around Abatabad, and finally, through questioning, they were able to find the guy who helped us, doctor Shakil Afridi.

Afridi was never able to actually get DNA samples for the purported reason of screening for Hepatitis, but he did get inside the compound and from the information he provided us we were able to establish that Osama was living there in a very secure situation.

A very large psychological component in the international implications of this is that if you engage in aiding the US, your life is in the hands of venal and selfserving politicians.
 
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He did assist a foreign power that used military units on their soil. No matter how you view it, and even if it was to get bin Laden, the US operation was technically an act of war, and by any international standard Pakistan would've been in the right on declaring war on the USA.

Doing so, of course, would've been stupid of Pakistan. But that doesn't change any of the facts.

You are right, but I disagree with that outlook. It was an act of war against Al Queda and not Pakistan. Considering where Bin Laden was, the US had to be going on the assumption he was being protected by at least someone on the inside (I now don't believe that to be true).... That should be perfectly understood by Pakistan. They should know that there is a large strain of anti western or terrorist sympathizing members within they're government and tha the US had to act the way they did. THey must understand that. This doctor is a national hero.

The US NEEDS to tighten the screws...... In fact so does every decent country in the free world. Canada, UK, France...... India..... Everyone. This should be a nonpartisan unified act by everyone. Pakistan should be cut off from any bit of foreign aid they get. This is completely and utterly unacceptable.
 
He did assist a foreign power that used military units on their soil. No matter how you view it, and even if it was to get bin Laden, the US operation was technically an act of war, and by any international standard Pakistan would've been in the right on declaring war on the USA.

Doing so, of course, would've been stupid of Pakistan. But that doesn't change any of the facts.
US forces have been operating in Pakistan under the invitation of the Pakistani government as far as I know, and has been operating there for months, if not years, aiding the Pakistani government against these terrorists, insurgents of what ever you want to call them. The US has not invaded Pakistan either.

That somehow the US did not share the operational procedures of these US military units for this particular operation does not inherently make it an act of war. Seeing how the ISI has been infiltrated by the Taliban/Al-Qaida/etc., this sharing by the US was a logical choice.

If there's something missing here where you are basing your facts off of, please share them.
 
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You are right, but I disagree with that outlook. It was an act of war against Al Queda and not Pakistan....
Al Qaida already issued their official fatwa and declaration of war against the Americans back in 1996 and have committed to several large unprovoked attacks against Americans targets, first one that I know of was the WTC back in 1993. So both on American and foreign soil.

AFAIK, acts of war don't just go on and on. They are usually declared once, and are seperated by ceasefires, treaties, etc.
 
Man, the list of countries to nuke just keeps getting longer.

North Korea
Iran
*Pakistan*

Any others?

I don't see anyone talking about nuking these countries. Could you provide evidence please?
 
Breaking News:

"A United States physician, George Meldrick, received a 30 year sentence today for treason. Meldrick was instrumental in locating terrorist organization Mujahadeen e-Khalq's leader Aqi Talib, who had planned the assassination of 14 Iranian civilians. The Iranian Quds began searching for Talib four years ago, and Meldrick became an operational asset last year. He instituted a fake HIV screening program in high-risk Detroit, where Talib was suspected in hiding. None of the people who received their "screenings" received valid results. Lawsuits are pending by several others who have tested positive for HIV, having been exposed by carriers who had received negative results on the "screenings".

Though the program didn't directly lead to the whereabouts of Talib, Quds special forces located and killed him six months ago. Iranian state media trumpeted the operation, also mentioning that a local HIV screening program aided them.

Initial Iranian statements express outrage over the sentence for Meldrick, and accuse the United States of giving Talib safe harbor.

Many in Iran have long been wary of the advocacy for Mujahadeen e-Khalq by high ranking Congresspeople and other former politicians. They also point to the lack of prosecutions or convictions for this advocacy of a Foreign Terrorist Organization, despite this clearly being against US law."
 
If the US government was in cahoots with the people planning on murdering Iranian people, you might have a point.

As that is not the case, you don't.
 

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