I know I’m not the first person to tell you. But I decided to be a tad more intellectual than usual today and discuss this political act that has just taken place. And to start the conversation, I’m going to post some of the reactions I’ve seen on Twitter and Facebook.
· A prince gets married, the bad guy is dead. It's a real Disney weekend here on earth. #osama #obl.
· OSAMA BIN GONE
· Without Good Photos, People will Not believe it We must see photos of bin Laden dead. High resolution images should be released at once.
· Re-writing my fav Woody Guthrie song. This land ain't your land This is land is our land So take a dirt nap So long Bin Laden
· "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
There were tons of song parodies, opinions, snippets of comedy, etc. The reaction was like a landslide in a matter of minutes of the announcement.
My reaction, quite honestly, was mixed. I was stoked that it was finally done. Bin Laden is gone. Finding him has been a part of my life in the sense that it’s been an issue for all but 13 years of my life. Terrorism has been a war that people I know have been fighting for almost my entire life.
His being shot in the head is a nationwide victory.
Victory is a good thing. No, it shouldn’t a “happy” occasion, but we should all be glad that one huge step against terrorism has been made. Sure, it’s a life. Therefore, it could be argued that it’s sacred, but honestly, he shot himself in the head by killing thousands of people. Innocent people. He knew it was coming, knew that he wasn’t going to 100% get away with it, and knew he’d be found. His declaring war on the US how he did was basically Jihad, his being responsible for it was like Kamikaze-ing.
From what I’ve read, it sounds like just apprehending him would have been acceptable, but he was armed and ready to shoot, so of course the Navy SEALs who had the hardest job to date in this war on terrorism were going to shoot him. Not only would they look like pussies for going in and just getting shot, but their lives would have been wasted – for lack of a better way of putting it. Getting tied up in the morality of how they “took” him would have just allowed the war to continue on the path it’s been on and their families never would have seen them again.
No, this doesn’t mean that large “parties” in the streets were 100% “moral.” Like Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness.” But these people who are happy that bin Laden is gone aren’t “rejoicing” that he’s dead. His death is a symbol of why they can rejoice for a new life.
In the wee hours of this morning, I was listening to TV and the interviews that took place with random people who were at the White House cheering and the people at Ground Zero who were cheering. They weren’t happy someone was dead. They were happy at what it symbolized. And had every reason to be celebrating.
One woman said that her husband was in one of the two towers when it got hit. His body was never found. She said that bin Laden’s death gave her an overwhelming feeling that she could finally move on. She likened it to a mother who had been mourning the murder of her son and the murderer finally being brought to justice.
Another woman was in the Pentagon when it was hit by a plane. She then fought in both Afghanistan and Iraq. She was wounded in Afghanistan. She felt like she could move on, like everything she had done was for a reason. That she could truly heal now.
For me, I know soldiers who have come back from fighting this war for your freedom and mine. Some of them are well adjusted, some have PTSD, some have alcohol addictions or other types of dependencies. None of them came back the same way they went.
My little brother is going to Iraq in a couple of weeks. Because of this war on terrorism. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about his feelings on this bin Laden thing, but I’m sure he knows it’s a victory and triumph for his country – which he’s going to risk his life for. His first baby is going to born while he’s fighting for your freedom.
He wrote my grandfather a letter a couple of weeks ago. Gramps has been telling him, “Never come back the way you went.” His point is that if you “go on a mission” from camp, come back a different way. The enemy may have trailed you and knows where you are and’ll get ya on your way back. The way my little brother wrote it in the letter had a more ominous meaning to me (whether he meant it or not). He’s not going to come back from Iraq the same way he went. He’s going to be a new person. It’ll be scarring and life changing. That’s almost guaranteed. He’ll see things he’s only seen in movies – but worse.
My point is kind of convoluted. I’m happy bin Laden is dead. I feel like those who were “rejoicing” in the death of one have reason to be. I don’t think people are really sitting around excited about his death – I think it’s the symbolism of death. It’s a huge step towards ending the war on terror. It’s a healing step for hundreds of thousands of Americans. So, yes, it’s something we should be deeply happy about. That isn’t to say that we need to be these horrible people who are excited about blood spilled. It’s the symbolism of what this means that is good, exciting, and worthy of being happy about.
That said, if you're on the "Don't rejoice" side, try to recognize the real reason that the rejoicing is happening. Tell someone who's been scarred by battling for your freedom that you're thankful for their part in ensuring this terrible man was brought to justice. And if you're just excited to be excited, to bear in mind that he was a person. A human like you and me, and according the news, many of his friends and families loved him. And their in mourning even if this dude was a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE man.
AGREED :)
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