This paper analyzes, from a strictly legal perspective, the different legislative initiatives presented in the Spanish Congress of Deputies during the present legislature aimed at the regulation of End-of-life decision making. To this end, starting from the legislative reality currently in force in Spain, the paper proceeds to analyze, on the one hand, two Proposals of Law on rights and guarantees of the dignity of the person during the final process of his life and, in the other hand, the Proposal of Organic Law for the Regulation of euthanasia which, in view of the concurrent parliamentary majorities in Spain, is called to constitute the norm that regulates this field in the near future in Spain. ; El presente trabajo pretende abordar, desde una perspectiva eminentemente jurídica, una serie de iniciativas legislativas presentadas en el Congreso de los Diputados durante la presente legislatura orientadas a la regulación de la toma de decisiones al final de la vida. Con dicho fin, partiendo de la realidad legislativa actualmente vigente en España se procede a analizar, por un lado, sendas Proposiciones de Ley de derechos y garantías de la dignidad de la persona ante el proceso final de su vida (Grupo Parlamentario Popular y Grupo Parlamentario Ciudadanos) así como, por otro lado, la Proposición de Ley Orgánica de Regulación de la eutanasia (Grupo Parlamentario Socialista) que, a la vista de las mayorías parlamentarias concurrentes, está llamada a constituir la norma que regule dicha materia en el futuro próximo en España.
Article published in Palliative & Supportive Care. This research was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competiveness, Government of Spain (FFI2016-76927-P).
Healthcare professionals cannot lose sight of the fact that precariousness is a deeply human circumstance that demands unconditional respect for the dying patient. This descriptive study is a bio-legislation re ection about digni ed death in cases of diseases entailing long processes of deterioration and physical and psychological suffering. Comparative legislation and the most emblematic jurisprudence will be considered, in light of the fundamental rights involved. It is concluded that it is legitimate to respect the patient's wishes regarding his or her dying process, so long as their dignity is not violated: any conduct that leads them to death or which deliberately causes it cannot be allowed. ; El profesional de la salud no puede perder de vista que la precariedad es una circunstancia profundamente humana que exige respeto incondicionado del enfermo moribundo. El presente estudio descriptivo es una reflexión biojurídica respecto de la muerte digna en los casos de enfermedades que conllevan largos procesos de deterioro y sufrimiento físico y psíquico. Se tomará en cuenta la legislación comparada y la jurisprudencia más emblemática, a la luz de los derechos fundamentales implicados. Se concluye que es legítimo respetar la voluntad del paciente respecto de su proceso de muerte mientras no se vulnere la dignidad que le es propia: cualquier conducta que lo conduzca a la muerte o se la provoque de manera deliberada no puede permitirse. ; O profissional da saúde não pode perder de vista que a precariedade é uma circunstância profundamente humana que exige respeito incondicional ao doente moribundo. O presente estudo descritivo é uma re exão biojurídica com respeito à morte digna nos casos de doenças que implicam longos processos de deterioração e sofrimento físico e psíquico. A legislação comparada e a jurisprudência mais emblemática serão levadas em consideração à luz dos direitos fundamentais implicados. Conclui-se que é legítimo respeitar a vontade do paciente com respeito a seu processo de morte uma vez que a dignidade que lhe cabe não seja ferida: qualquer conduta que o conduza à morte ou a provoque de maneira deliberada não pode ser permitida.
During the last Spanish election campaign, some political proposals raised the possibility of developing end-of-life legislation. This text seeks to provide an overview of all relevant issues within the subject and the role that might be played by theological reflection in the public discussion regarding this topic. First, certain anthropological assumptions —related to the concept of person, their individual dignity and responsibilities based on their social status— are highlighted. Then, we recollect the uncertain nature of medical data and the inadequacy of legislation on many occasions. Finally, we point out the effort made by moral theology to rationalise and update its contributions. It would be unfair and irrational to not consider these suggestions as equally valid as those of any other philosophical approach. ; En la última campaña electoral española algunas propuestas políticas han planteado la posibilidad de legislar sobre el fin de la vida. En este trabajo se quiere dar una visión general de todas las cuestiones implicadas señalando el espacio que la reflexión teológica podría tener en el debate público. Primero, se indican unos presupuestos antropológicos relacionados con el concepto de persona, su dignidad individual y las responsabilidades que devienen de su condición social. Se recuerda la incertidumbre que encierran los datos médicos y la insuficiencia de la legislación en muchas ocasiones. Finalmente, se remarca el esfuerzo que la teología moral ha realizado en la racionalización y actualización de sus afirmaciones. Sería injusto y no racional prescindir de sus aportaciones tan válidas como las de cualquier otra opción filosófica.
La Constitución española de 1978 reconoce en su artículo 10 la dignidad de la persona, los derechos inviolables que le son inherentes, el libre desarrollo de la personalidad, el respeto a la ley y a los derechos de los demás como fundamento del orden político y de la paz social. Las normas relativas a los derechos fundamentales y a las libertades que la Constitución reconoce se interpretarán de conformidad con la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos y los tratados y acuerdos internacionales sobre las mismas materias ratificados por España. De ahí que este valor, dignidad, sirva de base en su análisis para encuadrar lo que se conoce como muerte digna. Sobre esta premisa principalmente se plantean varias dudas con respecto a la combinación de varios de los preceptos de la Carta Magna que en su aplicación al ámbito de la salud pueden generar discrepancia. Me refiero, por un lado, al artículo 15, que pugna por la proclamación tanto del derecho a la vida como del derecho a no recibir tratos inhumanos y degradantes. Y por otro lado vemos que ese mismo artículo 15 se enfrenta a los preceptos que la Constitución dedica al derecho a la libertad personal en sus diversas variantes. ; Article 10 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 recognizes the dignity of the individual, the inviolable rights inherent in it, the free development of personality, respect for the law and the rights of others as the basis of political order and social peace. The rules relating to fundamental rights and freedoms recognized by the Constitution shall be interpreted in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international treaties and agreements on the same subjects ratified by Spain. Hence, this value of dignity serves as a basis in its analysis for framing a dignified death. On this premise, several doubts are raised regarding the combination of several of the precepts of the Magna Carta, which, in their application to the field of health, can generate discrepancies. We refer, on the one hand, to Article 15, which calls for the proclamation of both the right to life and the right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. And on the other hand, we see that this same article 15 confronts the precepts that the Constitution dedicates to the right to personal freedom in its various variants.
[L'«affaire Vincent Lambert» and the European Court of Human Rights. A brief memorandum for the future Italian legislator] Abstract non presente. Si riporta l'inizio dell'editorialeIl 5 giugno 2015 la Corte Europea dei Diritti dell'Uomo si è pronunciata a camere riunite (Grande chambre) sul cosiddetto "affaire Lambert" che ha visto contrapposti alcuni familiari di Vincent Lambert (in specie i genitori, una sorella e un fratellastro dellostesso) contro lo Stato Francese [1]. In particolare, i ricorrenti si opponevano all'interruzione dell'alimentazione e dell'idratazione artificiale di Vincent Lambert [.]
Fundamentos: el alcance y los tipos de intervenciones sanitarias en el proceso de la muerte están siendo motivo de un debate social y profesional que se ha acrecentado en los últimos años. El objetivo del estudio se centró en analizar las percepciones de profesionales y familiares de pacientes que han fallecido recientemente y evaluar el grado de cumplimiento de los derechos establecidos en la legislación vigente a este respecto. Métodos: investigación cualitativa de enfoque fenomenológico hermenéutico llevada a cabo en 2019 mediante la realización y análisis de dos grupos de discusión con profesionales de salud de atención hospitalaria y atención primaria, y cuatro grupos con familiares de pacientes fallecidos recientemente, divididos por rangos de edad: 18-30 años, 31-45, 46-60 y más de 60. Resultados: el total de personas incluidas en el estudio fue de 28 participantes. Familiares y profesionales encuentran dificultades para comunicarse entre sí en el contexto de la atención sanitaria al final de la vida. Familiares y profesionales coinciden en su preferencia de fallecer en su domicilio. Existen carencias puntuales en el conocimiento sobre la terminología empleada en el final de la vida. El término 'eutanasia' es el más conocido por los familiares. Conclusiones: se han detectado carencias en el conocimiento de los derechos establecidos en la normativa relativa al proceso de la muerte, tanto en familiares de pacientes como en profesionales. Estas carencias contribuyen a incumplimientos de la normativa legal. Las dificultades comunicativas relacionadas con la muerte entre el trinomio profesionales-pacientes-familiares son el factor relacionado más relevante. ; Background: the scope and types of health interventions in the dying process are the subject of a social and professional debate that has been increasing in recent years. The objective of the study was focused on analyzing the perceptions of professionals and relatives of patients who have recently died and assessing the degree of compliance with the rights established in the current legislation on this subject. Methods: qualitative research with a hermeneutical phenomenological approach carried out in 2019 by conducting and analyzing two discussion groups with health professionals from hospital and primary care, and four groups with relatives of recently deceased patients, divided by age ranges: 18- 30 years old, 31-45, 46-60 and over 60. Results: the total number of people included in the study was 28 participants. Family members and professionals find it difficult to communicate with each other in the context of health care at the end of life. Family members and professionals agree on their preference to die at home. There are specific deficiencies in knowledge about the terminology used at the end of life. The term 'euthanasia' is the one best known by family members. Conclusions: deficiencies in knowledge of the rights established in the regulations related to the death process have been detected, both in relatives of patients and in professionals. These deficiencies contribute to breaches of legal regulations. Communication difficulties related to death bet- ween the professionals-patient-family trinomial are the most relevant related factor.
The aim of this article is to analyse the end-of-life decisions scenarios, in view of Chilean legislation and the bill on dignified death. For competent patients, the bill makes progress in recognising autonomy, although adjustments still seem necessary for the bill to have coherence with the rest of end-of-life regulation and to facilitate the expression of values and preferences. As for incompetent patients, the bill does not clarify the necessary criteria for these decisions, so some considerations may be adequate to favour advance directives and the well-being of patients. ; Este trabajo pretende revisar los escenarios acerca de decisiones del final de la vida, teniendo en consideración la legislación chilena y el proyecto de ley sobre muerte digna. En pacientes competentes, se avanzaría en el reconocimiento de la autonomía personal, no obstante ciertos ajustes parecen necesarios para dotar de mayor coherencia a la regulación y facilitar la expresión de valores y preferencias. Respecto de personas incompetentes, la regulación parece insuficiente para clarificar los criterios necesarios para estas decisiones, por lo que ciertas consideraciones pueden ser adecuadas para favorecer la voluntad anticipada y el bienestar del paciente.
The essay deals with the theme of the end of life within the Italian legal system in comparison with that of other foreign legal systems. In particular, the research addresses the issue of the precautionary tools that the civil process offers to those who ask to end their own life, in the absence of intervention by the competent authorities.
The essay focuses on the different legislative rules which allow seriously ill patients to legally receive euthanasia or assisted suicide in Europe to examine the Italian legislation currently being approved on the same matter from a comparative legal perspective. The research about such an ethical theme involving several fundamental principles, like human dignity, life and solidarity, analyses the approaches of the Belgian, Dutch, Luxembourg and Spanish legal systems. The study will shed light on the essentiality of some preventive safeguards to support patients' autonomy in consenting or refusing an end-of-life treatment, in line with the Italian Constitutional Court suggestions.
Ponencia presentada en el XIV Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería de Proyectos celebrado en Madrid, 30 de junio, 1 y 2 de julio de 2010 ; European Union, by means of Directive 2000/53/EC on end-of-life vehicles, limits the deposit of waste materials coming from vehicles in landfills. Directive 2000/53/EC provides that, by 1st January 2015, maximum 5% by weight of the vehicle will be deposited in landfills at the end of its useful life. That is, at least 95% by weight of the vehicle must be recovered. Currently, Spain recovers over 85% of vehicle weight. Almost all metallic materials are recovered. That represents approximately 75% of the vehicle. On the other hand, Spain recovers only half of plastics and composites, setting 10% of vehicle weight. If current situation doesn 't change, the increasing use of plastics and composites in the automotive sector will increase the waste deposited in landfills. To reverse this situation it is necessary to consider the end-of-life of the product during the design stage of future vehicles. This paper discusses those design methodologies that consider the end-of-life and recovery process of complex products as key design aspects. Their study will reveal relevant considerations to the vehicle design process using plastics and composites. ; La Unión Europea, a través de la Directiva 2000/53/CE relativa a los vehículos al final de su vida útil, limita el depósito de sus residuos en vertedero. La Directiva 2000/53/CE establece que, como muy tarde el 1 de enero de 2015, como máximo un 5% del peso del vehículo al final de su vida útil sea depositado en vertedero. Es decir, el 95% del peso del vehículo deberá ser recuperado. Actualmente en España se recupera más del 85% del peso del vehículo. La práctica totalidad de materiales metálicos son recuperados –aproximadamente el 75% del vehículo. Por el contrario, sólo se recupera la mitad de plásticos y composites –entorno al 10% del peso del vehículo. Si no se modifica la actual situación, la creciente utilización de plásticos y composites en el sector del automóvil supondrá un aumento de los residuos depositados envertedero. Para revertir esta situación, es necesario considerar el fin de vida del producto durante la etapa de diseño de los futuros vehículos. En este trabajo se analizan las metodologías de diseño que consideran el fin de vida y la recuperación de productos complejos como aspectos de diseño fundamentales. Su estudio permitirá establecer aquellas consideraciones útiles para el diseño de vehículos utilizando plásticos y composites.
Starting from the analysis of the decision of the Italian Constitutional Court on the "Cappato case", the essay is the occasion for a joint reflection between Italian constitutional law and comparative law on the subject of assisted suicide and euthanasia, which seems to determine the inertia of the legislators in the face of activism of the Courts, perpetually seeking a dialogue with the first. To suffer the most serious damage of these attitudes are the sick, who in this matter more than ever need certainty to the law.
Pasadas de moda las especulaciones sobre «el fin del arte» y «el fin de la historia», el entramado discursivo y conceptual que les dio forma en el debate norteamericano se vuelve evidente como parte estructural de su objeto. Su pregunta fundamental es aquella por la relación del presente con el pasado histórico y por la historicidad de esa relación. La trilogía novelística The Dancers at the End of Time (1972–1974–1976), de Michael Moorcock, simultáneamente enuncia, dramatiza y encarna esta preocupación. El autor —emblemática figura del fantasy y la ciencia ficción de la segunda mitad del siglo XX— proyecta hiperbólicamente sobre un futuro remotísimo una constelación de referencias culturales que evocan a la vez el fin de siècle decimonónico y «la posmodernidad». El conflicto se cataliza al irrumpir una mujer procedente de 1896 en la neoesteticista sociedad del Fin del Tiempo. Para comprender la propuesta y la importancia histórica de la serie, este artículo reúne en un mismo plano comparatístico la teorización implícita en este producto de genre fiction y las «ficciones teóricas» de autores como Jameson, Danto, Huyssen, Fukuyama, Sontag y Baudrillard. Particularmente se interroga sobre el impacto político–ideológico del reconocimiento de la constructibilidad de las «épocas» (pasadas y presentes) y sobre la posibilidad de una redención de la historia, entre los mitos del progreso y la decadencia. ; Long after the speculations regarding «the end of art» and «the end of history» reached their peak, the discursive and conceptual framework that shaped them in the American debate has become evident as a structural part of its own object. Its main concern is the relation between the present and the historical past and the historicity of such a relation. Michael Moorcock's novelistic trilogy The Dancers at the End of Time (1972–1974–1976) simultaneously states, dramatizes and embodies this concern. The author —one of the leading figures of fantasy and science fiction in the second half of the twentieth century— imagines a far-future scenario that hyperbolically feeds off both fin-de-siècle and «postmodern» cultural references. The sudden appearance of a woman coming from 1896 in the neo-aestheticist society of the End of Time acts as a catalyst for the dramatic conflict. In order to understand the series' qualities and its historical relevance, this papers builds a comparative framework joining the implicit theorizing in this product of genre fiction and the «theoretical fictions» of authors such as Jameson, Danto, Huyssen, Fukuyama, Sontag and Baudrillard. Above all, it examines the political and ideological impact of acknowledging the fabricated nature of «epochs» (past and present) as well as the possibility of redeeming history, between the myths of progress and decadence.
The article analyzes the content and the consequences of the recent order n. 207/2018 of the Constitutional Court, which has been pronounced on the constitutional review of the criminal provision about "assisted suicide" (art. 580 Criminal Code), as requested by the Court of Assize in the "Cappato's case. In that order, the Court have affirmed the compelling interest of the State in protecting the life of the human person against interventions by third parties in helping one to suicide, under the constitutional personalist principle (art. 2 Const.). At the same time, the Court has recognized a new right of the competent patient, who is dependent from life-saving medical treatments, to ask the physicians for obtaining death with a lethal substance, after the refusal of the life-sustaining machines, in order to avoid a slow dying-process considered against his dignity (art. 3 and 32 Const.). A right that has to be implemented by the Parliament in the next months (and the article discuss what will happen if the Parliament will not intervene) and that may also be extended to the patients irreversibly unconscious, who have refused life-prolonging treatments in a living will.
"If there was ever a doubt about just how American Mr. Obama is, Sunday's raid eliminates it better than any long-form birth certificate. This was his finest hour." Bret Stephens, the Wall Street Journal Late at night on Sunday May 1st President Obama announced to the nation that Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed by a US Navy Special Operations team. The Navy SEAL team Six, as it is known here, landed two helicopters inside a walled three-story compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where years of painstakingly gathered intelligence had led authorities to believe there was a high chance the Al Qaeda leader may be hiding. This may well have been the largest, most successful intelligence operation in US history; the President acted boldly and decisively and for that he received accolades from both sides of the political divide. Coming as it did just a month after the President launched his re-election campaign, this victory immediately boosted his approval rate by eleven points, according to surveys.Even if the strategic defeat of Al Qaeda has not yet been accomplished, this was a huge milestone and the closing of a chapter that started ten years ago when the hunt for Osama Bin Laden was launched by the Bush administration. Last week's operation resulted in the largest trove of data ever found on Al Qaeda, including information on immediate threats being planned, location and structure of its leadership, and scores of data that will help piece together a deeper understanding of their long-term tactics, techniques and procedures.Disposing of such a reviled figure who, for over ten years had ordered the killing of innocent civilians around the world, is undoubtedly a great blow both symbolic and real, to Al Qaeda, a decentralized movement whose members are tied together mainly by feelings, emotions and mythology. But does it sound the death knell for the organization? What are its short and long term implications? Al Qaeda has proven to be quite resilient, but is it still spreading and growing? More importantly, how relevant is it in the face of the Arab Spring moving throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa?All these questions need to be pondered carefully, since they have deep implications for US foreign policy in the region, for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for its difficult and troubled relation with Pakistan. This unexpected win will lead to a comprehensive reassessment of US military presence in the area, its strategies of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, and its alliance with Pakistan.American reaction to Osama Bin Laden's death was one of noisy, overt celebration in New York and DC, and of relief and jubilation in the rest of the country. It was indeed the reverse of the deep shock, terror and bereavement of 9-11, but both instances had one common denominator: there was a sense of collective emotion, of a long-forgotten and now recovered national unity. However, this did not last long as incipient criticism and second-guessing started 24 hours later over Bin Laden's burial at sea and the decision by the administration not to show pictures of his death. It came from both sides of the ideological spectrum and, in some cases, it was bolstered by strong arguments. For example Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law professor, considered the burial at sea a "willful destruction of evidence that may arise suspicions that there was something to hide." Others used the occasion to stir up doubts and demanded pictures to certify Bin Laden's death, but then again, these are not to be taken seriously sine they were the same groups that had to be shown a long version of the President's birth certificate as evidence he was American. A second criticism coming mainly from some Neo-conservatives, was the administration's failure to recognize publicly that the intelligence gathering that led to the finding and killing of Bin Laden was a vindication of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" (read: water boarding) used by the Bush administration in foreign detention centers and at Guantánamo, which Obama had consistently and very publicly condemned during the 2008 campaign and into his years in office.To the first, members of the administration responded that the point was to dispose of his body in a respectful manner, not because he deserved it but to deny a source of friction with other Muslims and to deprive his followers with a shrine and an opportunity to exploit him as an iconic martyr. A similar argument was used to explain the decision not to release the pictures: the President wants to avoid ostentatious displays of triumphalism that may come back to haunt him. His sobriety and restraint further reinforce the boldness of his decision and his steadfast determination to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" Al Qaeda and not be distracted from his goal by premature claims of "mission accomplished".To the second claim, the White House responded that the success of the operation is far from a vindication of such unconstitutional techniques, since it was the result of the hard work of professionals over time and across two administrations, who integrated thousands of small pieces of intelligence gathering coming from human and technological sources into one gigantic puzzle, and that no one single piece led the US to Bin Laden. It took all the resources only the US can muster, from military bases to networks of human intelligence, to electronic eavesdropping, to specially trained forces, to locate and kill one hidden individual in a foreign country, and then match his DNA in an aircraft carrier before disposing of the corpse. But it also took a courageous American president to make such a risky call, namely, authorizing a covert operation deep into Pakistani territory based on circumstantial evidence at best, and without alerting the Pakistani authorities about it. Fortunately, wide recognition was given to the President's courage and many on the Right called it "Obama's Finest Hour". Both former President Bush and his prickly vice-president Cheney congratulated Obama and gave him full credit.A more productive conversation that has already started in academic and diplomatic circles is how relevant Bin Laden's death is for the Arab world. If he had died eight years ago, says one French scholar, he would have instantaneously become a martyr in the Arab street, an icon of anti-Western sentiment. However, in 2011, he had receded into the back of the consciousness of young Arabs for several reasons. First, because he had been in hiding for so long that his presence in the media had been noticeably diminished: out of sight, out of mind. Time spent out of the limelight erases mystiques and cools down emotions. Secondly because many saw him as the culprit for bringing the United States into Iraq and Afghanistan, which in turn gave an excuse for authoritarian regimes in the region to become even more repressive and extend their time in power. In Iraq, local Sunnis blame Al Qaeda for bringing the Shiites to power and expanding the influence of Iran in their country. Also, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda had increasingly lost the allegiance of many Muslims around the world for their indiscriminate bombings of hospitals, mosques and shrines and the killings of non-combatant Muslims in Baghdad, Basra and Amman (even if many were Shiite, the slaughter of innocent women and children caused revulsion in these populations).More importantly, the wave of pluralistic revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa has rendered Al Qaeda irrelevant. There is an emerging sense of strong national identities, whereby the masses are thinking of themselves first as Egyptians, Tunisians or Libyans, with ethnicity and religion taking a secondary role. Indeed, Nasser's Pan-Arabism died the 1960sm, and the dream of a Caliphate "extending Islamic rule from Indonesia to Spain", which Bin Laden proposed as Al Qaeda's ultimate goal is no longer an interesting proposition to the extremely young populations of the region, many of whom have access to the new social media in the Internet, and who crave freedom and modernity more than anything else. The "Arab Spring" may spell the end of Al Qaeda's political aspirations for the region: the Turkish model of a secular, modern state with an overwhelmingly Islamic population and a pluralistic party system is far more appealing than the pan-Islamic caliphate of the Prophet's era. In the words of Professor Fouad Ajami, "It is risky to say, but Arabs appear to have wearied of violence…It was Bin Laden's deserved fate to be struck down when an entirely different Arab world was struggling to be born."Time and treasure spent in a ten-year war have also changed perspectives in America, especially for the younger generations. There is an on-going unofficial revision of the Bush doctrine of invading whole countries "that harbor, train or fund terrorists" in favor of narrower, more focused actions against the terrorists themselves. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll on the American military as far as recruitment and resources. The main concern of voters is the American economy, especially unemployment and the ever-expanding national debt. A hundred and forty thousand American and NATO troops are involved in counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan, with no endgame in sight. Killings of Americans by despondent Afghan soldiers and other groups whose "hearts and minds" the US is supposed to win, occupy the headlines daily. Counter-terrorism increasingly seems to be a much more appealing and productive strategy. Expressing this widely-held sentiment, Senator Kerry recently declared: "There is no possible victory to be had in Afghanistan".Even though President Obama called it a war of necessity and has invested deeply in it, this is no longer a popular war: two-thirds of the American electorate is against it. Therefore, there will be pressure on President Obama to accelerate the phased withdrawal from Afghanistan, and complete it before the set deadline of 2014. He is a rational decision-maker who does not easily cave under pressure, but the 2012 election is likely to enter into his calculations. As a champion of counter-terrorism and opposing counter-insurgency from early on, Vice-president Biden might still be vindicated in his wisdom. When Obama opted for the surge in Afghanistan two years ago, he overruled Biden and sided with the military. Will he change his mind and speed up the withdrawal now? The killing of Bin Laden certainly gives him an opening to change his initial timetable. "Al Qaeda is no longer there, and the Taliban must be beaten by Afghans themselves", says Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council of Foreign Relations.Finally, the fact that Pakistan has proved to be an unreliable partner in the war against terrorism is also putting pressure on the President to review his Afghan policy. The alliance is frayed; Pakistan is giving sanctuary to violent militants of all sorts, and another high Al Qaeda operative now in American custody, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, was also found in Pakistan (Rawalpindi). Indeed, by the rationale of the Bush doctrine, the US should be invading Pakistan next. The White House says they have no evidence that there was any "foreknowledge" by the Pakistani leadership that Bin Laden was holed up in a one-million-dollar compound, in a military town, only 30 miles away from Islamabad. Pakistan will conduct its "own investigation" and will have to prove itself a worthy ally, for example, by sharing information gleaned from Bin Laden's three wives and several children now held under Pakistani custody. On the other hand, veteran security experts retort, more terrorists have been arrested by the Pakistani authorities since 2001 than anywhere else in the world. In this case, was it incompetence or complicity? Pakistan is a very complex country, where the military are an autonomous force above civilian rule, and they also control the Intelligence Services (ISI). It is a house divided against itself. It harbors numerous militant groups, and goes after some but not others. It hedges its bets this way so as not to lose influence and power in the region, for example by supporting the Taliban and Haqqani networks fighting to seize power in Afghanistan, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba organization against India in Kashmir. Pakistan's foreign and national security policy is built around its obsession with India, its most vilified enemy and against which it has fought several wars. It is clear now that ISI gave sophisticated support to the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2009. Pakistan needs a friendly government in Afghanistan so that it can maintain its "strategic depth" vis à vis India. Armed with over a hundred nuclear weapons and with some control over this wide array of militant groups, Pakistan is pivotal in the stability of South Asia. Those are the two main reasons why the US-Pakistani relationship survived after the Cold War ended. Because of the weakness and corruption of civilian governments, past and present, the US has preferred to engage with the military, who control the nuclear arsenal, and has made them the recipient of most US aid (indeed, by the end of this year alone the Pakistani military will have received $3 billion from the US). But this may be about to change if Pakistan rejects the US request to be in charge of the internal investigation on whether Bin Laden was given sanctuary, and if so, by whom.Now that its main leader has been killed, and in spite of its virtual irrelevance, Al Qaeda is likely to undergo an internal struggle to determine its future. The mystique of its international role has already somewhat dissipated and the different groups in the network are shifting their focus to their national agendas. Indeed, this has already been the case in Egypt, where after days of ominous silence on the Tahrir Square Revolution, Al Qaeda's second in command, Egyptian-born Al-Zwahiri injected himself in the process by supporting the leader of an Islamist party that wants post-Mubarak Egypt to adopt Sharia law. But his attempt did not resonate with the young revolutionaries, most of which want a pluralistic society and are much more concerned with jobs and government accountability than with religious utopia. However, revolutions are just the beginning of a long process, transition periods are by definition unstable, and post-revolutionary regimes have historically been highjacked by extremists. So one can only be cautiously optimistic about what will come next, but it appears as if the Middle East and the Arab world are moving on and beginning to spell the end of Al Qaeda's aspirations. Bin Laden's demise is the appropriate end of this chapter in the region's history.Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Geography Director, ODU Model United Nations Program Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
