SO WAS it her anxiety about what she was seeing on the screen or was it just a common or garden springtime allergy? By now, we have all seen that infamous “situation room” photograph in which President Obama sits “attentively” in the corner and in which secretary of state Hilary Clinton has her right hand over her mouth in a gesture that might imply shock, horror or worse as the raid on bin Laden’s compound unfolds.
In Rome yesterday for a meeting of the Libya contact group, Ms Clinton also dispelled some of the more fanciful theories about a photo that by mid-Wednesday had generated more than 1.7 million views on the Flickr website.
It turns out that it was nothing more dramatic than an allergic cough, after all: “Those were 38 of the most intense minutes. I have no idea what any of us were looking at at that particular millisecond when the picture was taken . . . I am somewhat sheepishly concerned that it was my preventing one of my early spring allergic coughs. So it may have no great meaning whatsoever,” said Mrs Clinton yesterday.
Lest anyone fail to get the message, the US secretary of state was unapologetic about the killing of Osama bin Laden, saying: “It [the killing of bin Laden] sent an unmistakable message about the strength and the resolve of the international community to stand against extremism and those who perpetuate it. I think our resolve is even stronger after bin Laden’s death because we know it will have an impact on those who are on the battlefield in Afghanistan.”
She also expressed the hope that killing of bin Laden may encourage al-Qaeda sympathisers and other militants to give up violence and rejoin Afghan society.
Furthermore, the secretary of state confirmed US plans to begin withdrawing American forces in Afghanistan from July, even though she conceded that the battle against terrorism was far from over, adding: “Let us not forget that the battle to stop al- Qaeda and its affiliates does not end with one death.”