by Kyle Stewart
I believe we all would agree that showing up to a wedding wearing all black is insensitive to the joyous character of the event, let alone the feelings of those getting married. We might also argue that on a day like today, saying anything that does not flow with the whelming tide of American enthusiasm at the death of arguably our most visible and hated enemy is just as insensitive or maybe worse – unpatriotic. Let me be clear: we Americans have many reasons to breathe a little easier, at least for the moment. Bin Laden was by all accounts a bad person, unrepentant of his evil actions and bent on destroying life. But surveying the media since the announcement of his end, I have a few words of caution to consider before we continue the celebration:
Death should always give us pause
Regardless of who died, death should give us reason to pause and think. It is inevitable, and according to modern science, irreversible. As much as we hated Osama bin Laden (and rightly so), justice if not second chances are deeply ingrained in the fabric of the American way of life. With his death, Mr. bin Laden has neither – at least in a formal sense.
Am I thankful that one less powerful individual is roaming the globe attempting to figure out how to destroy our nation? Yes. But then ask me how, given my druthers, I would plan out his end. I can only imagine the effect that a fair trial before the world – with his crimes documented as evidence, testimony from Americans and non-Americans alike, etc. – would have on our nation’s image. Even more so if given the chance Mr. bin Laden saw his crimes for what they were and made some gesture to prevent them from being repeated.
His death doesn’t mean the end
Even though terrorism has been at the forefront of our thoughts for over a decade now, how quickly we forget that the success of terrorist organizations is not due to any one central figure. Groups such as Al Qaeda and Hezbollah are built around a cell model – pockets of operatives that essentially function independently of any single head. Killing bin Laden may weaken terrorist efforts around the world, but that would have more to do with morale than crippling Al Qaeda’s infrastructure. It may also have the opposite effect: stirring the hornet’s nest.
Bin Laden’s death doesn’t bring back dead Americans
Not a single American or foreigner killed through bin Laden’s efforts has been brought back to life by his death. Should that be a somber reminder that whatever victory was won here was won at a great cost to our nation? If that is the case, maybe it is those of us who are wearing party clothes (so to speak) who are the ones improperly dressed for the occasion, seeing in fact that we are witnessing a funeral.
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Well said Kyle
Agreed, very well said.
There’s even more to think about:
· $1 trillion + spent
· American civil liberties fundamentally eroded
· 2 undeclared, ambiguous wars, with proxy conflicts in Yemen, Pakistan and Libya.
· Nearly a million dead in Afghanistan and Iraq
· The eradication of Christianity from Iraq
· More American deaths in these conflicts than on 9/11
· No clear end goal or endgame. What does victory look like, and who gets to determine when we’ve arrived? You can wage war on “Al Qaeda,” but not on “terrorism.” Terrorism is a tactic, and tactics cannot be defeated.
· Thousands of disabled from war wounds, to say nothing of the psychological blow
· The perpetuation of a foreign policy that disregards how other nations will respond to our choices.
… all for the capture of one man, who had long ago been stripped of practical control and influence. This is purely a symbolic victory, and will not greatly effect the overall trajectory of America’s future: one of decline.
It will be fascinating to watch our government continue to jump through hoops to “sell” the public on their actions.
Kudos to Obama for not just dropping a smart bomb, but making sure the last thing Bin Laden saw was the face of a United States Navy Seal. They way it was deftly handled will help bring closure to people who lost loved ones on 9/11, never to recover their bodies. Certainty in Bin Laden’s death won’t bring them back, but knowing the source of their loss has been purged will bring the survivors an ability to start again.
thank you for what I think is a very important message.
Many of us are repulsed when we see Muslims (or others) in mobs or gathered in streets chanting “Death to America” or when they seem to be rejoicing that an American or other enemy was killed, or when they burn our flag or one of our leaders is hanged in effigy. Yes. Many of us are angered and offended and worse when we see such things. Yet here are many of our fellow Americans doing just that. It is our thirst for revenge or it makes us feel better or for whatever reason, who knows? Bin Laden made it his life’s work to kill and terrorize innocent people and as part of his twisted religious faith. He could not be reasoned with, negotiated with or invited to the table. He could only be captured and tried, or killed. According to news reports he was shot in the head and the chest at close range, whether or not he was armed or firing we don’t know. Was he too dangerous to be taken alive? Should he have been “brought to justice” before the court of world opinion, or would that have been way to provocative and risky? Maybe he, like Saddam Hussein was killed because he knew too much and would have said too much?
I can only imagine that right now, 72 virgins are waiting….and waiting…and waiting….but Bin Laden ain’t showing up. We too have to watch that some fellow Americans don’t get twisted in the same way as do fanatical Muslims, albeit with a different liturgy, headgear or rituals. It’s a dangerous world and sometimes bad guys have to be killed because there is no other way, but was there another way here? Was there another way that might have advanced our goals more than simply killing him–if indeed it was him and he was killed and he was buried? Maybe he is being tortured somewhere?? Who can we trust?
I think he should have been made to walk naked on global television and asking Allah for foregiveness while blond, Christian virgins smile and clap and throw photos of people he killed; made to clean the toilets of powerful women with his turban and then forced to parade in their French lace panties while eating pork in front of a shrine of Jesus while a panel of rabbis go “tsk, tsk, tsk” and then circumcise him…ooops, I think I might have took a bit more off………Of course that might be considered an inciting act. He deserved way more than getting dumped at sea. And come to think of it–did they need EPA permits for disposal of waste at sea?
I appreciate the way you phrased your idea “death should give us pause.” Death is terrible and though it may mean different things, it should cause us to stop and think of the enormous, mysterious nature of the life in which we are all bound.