We got him. Finally.
Osama bin Laden is dead.
Yesterday, after months of tracking a lead on the terrorist who was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, a special forces unit of the United States military crossed the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and engaged in a firefight with bin Laden, killing him and recovering his body.
This is big news. I was in 6th grade on September 11, 2001. I remember seeing the Twin Towers ablaze on the television set in my parents’ bedroom. I remember the moment of silence my teacher instructed us to have, and praying in vain for the safety of all those involved. I remember seeing the paper on September 12, specifically the photos of people jumping to their death rather than experiencing the collapse of the towers, with tears coming to my eyes.
Nearly 3,000 human beings died in those attacks. Both towers of the World Trade Center were hit and collapsed; the Pentagon was hit; the passengers of Flight 93 heroically crashed their airplane in the fields of Pennsylvania, an airplane likely headed for the White House.
It was a harrowing experience, the worst tragedy ever to befall the United States of America. To this day, it is hard to even speak of it.
So when I heard the news of bin Laden’s death, I wanted to join those citizens who flocked to the gates of the White House singing, “Na Na, Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)!”
President Barack Obama said it best in his speech announcing bin Laden’s death: “On nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror, justice has been done.”
Indeed, justice has been done. If anyone ever deserved a fate such as this, it would be the mass murdering, bloodthirsty, cowardly, evil Osama bin Laden.
What does this mean for the future?
Does this mean the War on Terror is over? Are our troops coming home?
President Obama made the answers to these questions quite clear: “His death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must ”” and we will ”” remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
Presumably, this means that our troops currently in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Libya are not budging. The War on Terror is not ending.
Obama is right about one thing: al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against America. But is our current foreign policy the best way to prevent those attacks?
Bin Laden was the symbolic, if not still the practical, leader of al Qaeda, and his death deals them a mighty blow. He was by far their most talented and charismatic leader. Their efforts and schemes are, if not completely shattered, severely hampered.
Did we not enter Afghanistan to exact revenge upon the evil men who, in an act of abject cowardice, brazenly attacked us nearly a decade ago?
What was it all for?
Our objectives have been met. Justice has been served. Good has triumphed over evil.
The Taliban was chased from government long ago. Iraq has long had a functioning, albeit corrupt, post-Saddam Hussein government. Osama bin Laden is now dead.
It’s time for our troops to come home.
Let them join the throngs of Americans outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue singing of the demise of bin Laden.
That would be the best way to celebrate.
Anonymous • May 2, 2011 at 10:51 pm
It’s typical American arrogance to claim that the killing of a prominent al Qaeda leader means we’ve dealt out the proper justice. We can celebrate in the streets all we want but I think we should be cautious not to fall for the lie that says we’re some sort of supremely good nation. When Mr. Petersen says “Good has triumphed over evil”, he oversimplifies, creates a false illusion and simultaneously furthers a great contradiction. I’m far from an al Qaeda sympathizer but I’m not willing to join with individuals who wish to “exact revenge upon the evil men” and then try to convince others that we are a deeply rooted Christian nation.
Anonymous • May 2, 2011 at 5:42 pm
I don’t doubt your sincerity, which I respect; but I don’t respect your perspective on the matter(s) either.
Admittedly, I felt nothing upon hearing of Osama’s death, aside from the shock that it took 10 years for the world’s most advanced military unit to finally hunt down a 50-year old on dialysis. Its a revenge killing (fine by me) that has NO IMPACT on the operations (or lack there of) of terrorism generally. The U.S. probably should have just kept quiet about it to minimize their thoughts of revenge, but it was too good of an opportunity to rile up the deluded nationalists here at home, people like yourself and Philly fans mindlessly chanting “U.S.A.” Very substantive and original.
When you cite the 3,000 people who unnecessarily died in that massacre, you fail to acknowledge many more than that die each day; the equivalent of multiple tsunamis, and many of these deaths are not from natural causes. But the vivid imagery that mass terrorism provides you — the blood, the unbelievability, the awe, the shock — is done to do just that; to consume you and to blind you. You glorify those that have been unfortunate enough to live a nasty public and sudden death, but in doing so you casually and disrespectfully neglect all the others and, in principle, you neglect the case of early death, human suffering, tragedy, heartache, which is what 9/11 ought to do for us. You can focus on those 3,000 lives in vain, but it is your — it is our — responsibility to absorb the reality of just how common these tragedies are, and “justice,” which Obama clearly knows nothing about, is what we create for ourselves. The idea that “justice was done” is so vague and has no literal meaning in this case, nor should anyone feel the mourners of 9/11 victims ought to feel “better” because this man of shadows is dead.
And saying it is the “worst tragedy ever to befall on the United States” is a bit of a stretch. Many more died in our civil war, and don’t say that that is different because it had some positive outcomes. Many nations have not had to murder each other on a grand scale to achieve basic civil rights for its citizens.
Where is your article acknowledging the plight of Alabama or any of the other people and communities who endured an unforseen death in a natural disaster. What do think is justice for them? Do you just toss that one up to God because it racks your brain too much? It is much easier for you to highlight 9/11 because there is a known perpetrator at the other end who you can chase in vain under the cloak of seeking “justice.” And killing Osama gives you an opportunity to vent this pent up nationalism you’ve had and are so proud of (in vain) since that day in September when you cried in the 6th grade.
Anonymous • May 2, 2011 at 9:33 am
I think it makes sense to stay since the a Qaeda most likely want revenge for the U.S. taking down their leader.