They found him in the military garrison town on Abbottabad — which is less than 30 miles away from the national capital of Islamabad and Pakistan military headquarters in Rawalpindi. Abbottabad is home to the Pakistan Military Academy, it is also the headquarters of up to three regiments of the Pakistan Army and serving and retired Army officers make up to 70% of Abbottabad’s populace. Is there really any doubt that the Pakistan establishment protected Osama bin Laden?

If some doubts still linger, look at his hideout. A vast mansion, well protected with fortified high walls. Not some dingy cave in the mountains, but right there at the heart of the Pakistan Army. That makes it virtually impossible for Osama bin Laden to have survived without a support system.

Now the question arises — motive. Why would the Pakistan Army and Military Establishment risk so much to protect the world’s most wanted man? There would have to be very tangible and seductive reasons for Asfaq Kayani and Shuja Pasha. And there were:

• Money — Pre 9/11, Pakistan was in a mess, sanctioned by all with a dying economy. Post 9/11, the U.S. poured in billions and billions of dollars. Of course none of this money reached the average Pakistani but it did make the Generals and political leaders very rich as they sucked away U.S. aid into their private bank accounts. Obviously extending the U.S. War on Terror by safe-housing Osama bin Laden and supporting the Taliban bodes well for the bank accounts of the corrupt Pakistani leadership.
• Jihadi Tendencies — Ever since the days of General Zia Ul Haq, jehadism and extremism in the Pakistan Army and society overall has been constantly growing. It is entirely conceivable that the leadership in Pakistan pretends to be a U.S. ally but secretly supports Osama bin Laden and other Islamic extremist groups.