Pardee Center Director in the Media on Osama Bin Laden Death
Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Boston University Professor of International Relations and Geography and Environment, Prof. Adil Najam, has been in the media over the last many days as a commentator on the successful US operation to kill Al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 architect Osama Bin Laden.
On May 5, 2011, The Express Tribune published an op-ed from Prof. Adil Najam titled “Uncomfortable Silence” which argued that “There are as many opinions on what happened in Abbottabad this past Sunday as there are Pakistanis. Maybe more. But there is no sense whatsoever of where the government of Pakistan (or any of its major institutions, including the military and the ISI) stands on what happened — or stood when it was happening.” The op-ed concluded that “It is time to ask honest and tough questions of everyone. It is a necessary conversation that has long been needed; now is the time to have it.”
Earlier, on May 4, 2011, in a report on ABC News, Prof. Najam was quoted on rumors about Osama Bin Laden’s health, including speculation about his kidney disease. Also on May 4, 2011, Prof. Najam was quoted in a Boston Herald story on whether photographs of the dead body of Osama Bin Laden would be released. On the same date, Prof. Najam’s reaction to Osama Bin Laden’s death was also quoted in a news story in BU Today. In addition, Prof. Adil Najam was also interviewed on the subject in various radio and television interviews in both Pakistan and USA.