As the nightly newscasters slur their words between Osama and Obama, I examine photos for Monday’s front-page news about U.S. forces killing the al Qaida leader. One image captures a jubilant crowd outside the White House. Another is a screen
As the nightly newscasters slur their words between Osama and Obama, I examine photos for Monday’s front-page news about U.S. forces killing the al Qaida leader.
One image captures a jubilant crowd outside the White House. Another is a screen shot of an Arab television station supposedly showing bin Laden’s bloody dead body.
Recognizing that this is a small community newspaper, I err on the side of caution and pull a pic of Obama delivering his surprise late-night address and another of the terrorist mastermind holding an assault rifle in Afghanistan.
Was “justice” served, as our president put it? A different type, rooted in the eye-for-an-eye philosophy, perhaps. What was actually accomplished in gunning this old man down?
Bin Laden’s death won’t bring back the thousands of lives he stole from so many families here and abroad. Nor will his being erased from Earth dismantle the terrorist cells designed to operate independently from him and his successors.
There may be some feelings of closure, a psychological win of sorts for the Western world, but I’m not sure what more we gained from this decade-long endeavor. One less bad guy out there.
So what do we feel? Triumphant?
On TV I watched mostly young citizens taking to the streets in celebration, uncorking Champagne bottles like it was New Year’s in New York. Yet I felt no burning desire to join them there or start a march down Rice Street waving flags here.
All I could think was why haven’t I seen activism on this scale before on other issues? The next generation has at last proven itself capable of uniting in masses of solidarity for something.
There are major matters being decided daily in Congress and in Council that impact their lives. I strain my ears, but hear nothing but excuse-riddled apathy.
To see these freshly cause-filled souls demonstrate as they did last Sunday night on into early Monday morning was as encouraging as it was frustrating for me.
We capture and kill Saddam. Nada. We finally find Osama and shoot him dead. Bingo.
Surely, some psychologist can muster up a better rationale than I, but my thinking is that we’ve been under a lot of stress the past few years. What with the recession and all, unemployment galore, gas prices soaring, natural (and not-so-natural) disasters devastating millions — and no major holidays coming up — we just needed a reason to let loose, pop some bubbly and say Cheers to the CIA and SEALS for a job well done.
With my mind unraveling from overanalyzing this mess, I’ll raise my glass and join the toast.
