America believes that Osama's air force destroyed the New York industrial towers. America alleges that more than 3,000 New Yorkians were killed. America resolved to get Osama's head. The White House believed that Osama was hiding himself somewhere in the mountainous borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. For years, America kept bombing these regions. Many times more the Afghanis and Pakistanis were killed as compared with the New Yorkian casualties. But Osama kept dodging the supreme military power of the world. Somehow, America's military spooks discovered that Osama was hiding himself in Abbottabad. On May 2, Osama's lifespan came to an end. America claimed that it had killed Osama. Pakistan's civil and military administrators were stunned. America did not take Pakistan into confidence. It acted absolutely unilaterally. American forces used Abbottabad as if it were the White House's backyard. America has declared that Osama's corpse has been flung into the sea. It is a doubtful statement. Actually, Pakistan's administration has been flung into the sea where it is finding difficult to breathe. One can't help asking oneself: "How did Osama get into Abbottabad? Did he have a passport? Did he have a visa?" Only America knows the reality. Our administration must be missing heartbeats. Floods keep hitting Pakistan occasionally. Earthquakes keep hitting Pakistan occasionally. But the disaster which Osama's assassination has inflicted upon Pakistan is absolutely unprecedented. The May 2 incident has jolted the country so horrifically that our administration is finding it difficult to survive as administration. One of the topmost administrators has offered to fling his job into the sea. Probably, our history has not experienced such a tragedy in the past. America's unilateralism in Abbottabad is the worst kind of terrorism which Pakistan has so far suffered. America's proclamation that Osama's dead body has been flung into the sea is absolutely unbelievable. America cannot afford to tell even an iota of truth about Osama's dead body. Only 'Time, i.e., May 2, knows the reality. Unfortunately, Time itself is so scared of America that it does not have the courage to provoke America's wrath by revealing the reality. Immediately after Osama's assassination, the Taliban announced to avenge Osama's assassination. As a first instalment, there were twin suicide blasts outside the F.C. Fortress. As many as 80 recruits lost their lives. Hundreds other were injured. The massive success of the first instalment must naturally be followed by a second instalment, which must be followed by a third instalment so on and on. Exactly how many instalments would be able to satiate the avengers' wrath only time knows. Osama was a huge thorn in America's huge thigh. America has crushed the thorn. Being thorn-free, the thigh must be jubilantly dancing. Unfortunately, our entire history is a history of American dollars. Almost all our rulers have loved dollars more than their motherland. America has known this weakness. It has exploited this weakness. It has kept pouring dollars into the rulers' pockets. Because of the nonstop pouring of the dollars into the rulers' pockets, the rulers' weakness for dollars has kept growing stronger and stronger. All our problems are essentially economic problems. Our politically powerful classes have been living beyond the country's economic means. We can solve our problems by living within our economic means. But we believe that only animals live within their means. We are not animals. We are Pakistanis. We must live beyond our means. Osama is gone. But America is still scared. It firmly believes that there are innumerable Osama's devotees, who are prowling about the world to avenge Osama's assassination. There is news that America has been holding secret talks with the Taliban. Let's pray that the talks result in an agreement and the world could take a comfortable breath. n The writer is an academic.