I’ll try to keep this short.
I don’t think May 1, 2011 was (or will turn out to have been) a historic day for the United States of America.
I don’t believe, after the apparent euphoria subsides, that the death of Osama bin Laden will change much of anything for us, at home or in the world.
I don’t even believe justice has been done, and it raises my hackles to have heard the local news broadcasters repeatedly use that phrase tonight. (Hunting down bin Laden may have been right, for us; it may even have been necessary. But if it didn’t involve due process under some system of laws, U.S. or international, then it was not justice. It was vengeance.)
As for my fellow Americans cheering at baseball fields, in public parks, and in various comments throughout the news feed on my Facebook page, I feel a mild disgust and pity.
Most of the time, I try to be a voice of moderation on this blog. It ain’t necessarily so, is typically my refrain. Step back and take a closer look at what’s being said, what we thought was happening, what you and I were inclined to think at first glance.
And my basic message remains that tonight, but I have to make it stronger because the cheering for the death of bin Laden reminds me of nothing so much as the mindless cheering that greeted President Bush’s wrongheaded announcements that we were going to war in Afghanistan, and then Iraq. I opposed them then, and I have seen nothing since to change my opinion.
The cheering from my fellow citizens tonight suggests to me they’re nowhere near to grasping the larger contexts. International policy is not a playoff series, and neither war nor international police actions should be treated like a football match.
Rather than try to preach at length, I’ll just pose a few questions. Ask yourself if you have an answer for them, or whether you’ve seen anyone else ask – let alone answer – them in recent hours.
· Did the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq ever have anything to do with the hunt for bin Laden?
· If they did, why are so many people assuming they’ll just go on now, and not stop, the way Obama promised they would?
· Why have more than 6,000 American servicepeople and 120,000 foreign civilians died early and violent deaths over there?
· Why didn’t we capture bin Laden long before now? What is it that kept President Bush from getting that job done in eight years of supposedly trying his best?
· Just how is it that the most wanted terrorist in the world managed to camp out comfortably within the borders of one of our greatest supposed allies for the past five years?
Let me know. In the mean time I'm going back to the warm fuzzy commentaries I have been composing for this blog the past week or two.
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I would not cheer for the death/execution of anyone, even Hitler, Stalin, or Pol Pot. Capture and trial, yes. Where is the humanity and justice in simply killing someone? I suggest that when people say "justice", they are really feeling vengeance, which I believe has no place in foreign policy and world politics.
ReplyDeleteI heard on the radio this morning that some people feel the killing of Bin Laden reaffirms the strength and power of the US in the world. I submit that it would be a greater show of power and justice to have captured him and put him on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Yes, Anonymous. It never ceases to surprise me how many people associate violence with power. Too often, violence is the answer of the insecure and relatively powerless. It makes a big splash, it looks REAL COOL, but in the long run violent "solutions" tend to create more problems than they solve.
ReplyDeleteAnd wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were violent solutions that had next to nothing to do with catching Osama bin Laden, but (I predict) will turn out both to have failed in whatever mission anyone would like to suggest for them, but have created more problems for the future.
"And wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were violent solutions that had next to nothing to do with catching Osama bin Laden, but (I predict) will turn out both to have failed in whatever mission anyone would like to suggest for them, but have created more problems for the future."
ReplyDeleteUnless someone would like to suggest the mission in those two countries was to profit the military-industrial complex. In that case, the wars have been rousing successes.
David, I agree. I think that the idea of vengeance is also counter to what a lot of people hold very dear, the bible. I'm not a religious person, but more and more often I notice the people that are guilty of spreading nationalism, mistrust of people that don't share their religious beliefs, and hypocritical things (like this rampant idea of vengeance in an act that ultimately isn't going to make a bit of difference) are the people that consider themselves the most religious.
ReplyDeleteI will never cheer in the street for a death, and I find it immature and reprehensible that Bush II turned our country into a raving match of us vs them in just about every circumstance.
As I watched the never-ending television coverage last night I was not surprised as much by the reaction of the crowds in Washington and Ground Zero, but more about the smugness of Obama as he tried to take complete and total credit for an action that was put into place a decade ago when he was just a state senator in Illinois. It was George W. Bush who declared Osama Bin Laden "public enemy number one" and it was George W. Bush who vowed to bring him to justice. The fact that justice was served on Obama's watch is simply based on time factors, not on Obama's effort.
ReplyDeleteRoseanne, I predict that not only will we never see an explanation of why it took almost ten years for "George W. Bush's" program to succeed, but that it simply is not true that Bush, Obama, or U.S. forces were on the job all that time.
ReplyDeletePakistan is supposedly an ally of the U.S. and has been all along. But if bin Laden has been hiding in Pakistan -- or at best, on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan for most of that time and only recently moved to a mansion a hundred miles into the interior of Pakistan -- then why did it take this long to get him? One has to wonder whether Bush didn't really care all that much about getting bin Laden, because the longer he was on the loose (and not apparently causing all that much terrorist trouble anywhere else), he served a very useful purpose in providing someone for insecure and fearful Americans (Democrat and Republican) to hate, and therefore keep them complacent about huge defense spending that impoverished our own country, the deaths of thousands upon thousands of innocent foreign citizens, and the sacrifice of thousands of young Americans.
I don't feel either Obama OR Bush has anything to be proud of in this matter. It took how many billions of dollars, the lives of thousands of fine young soldiers, and years of war to catch one guy? That doesn't sound like a terrific demonstration of strength to me. Did it take this long because too many people in power didn't particularly care whether it happened at all, perhaps?
The thing that bothers me most about this news story is that we were told last night that the president was going to speak at 10:30pm but he did not come on until almost midnight. I was watching The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC and Donald Trump was about to fire someone when NBC broke into the show for the president to speak. This was at 10:40pm. Again, the president did not even go on TV until almost midnight. NBC could have easily aired the ending of The Celebrity Apprentice so that everyone could see who Trump fired, but they didn't. They let news reporters talk back and forth for an hour! Also, the reporter on NBC told us that Osama was dead before the president had a chance to go on TV and tell us himself. Now if I already heard it from the reporter, why did I have to hear it again from the president? I don't think anything had changed from the time Osama died. He's certainly not coming back! From last night and today I have learned all about Osama's mansion, the Navy SEALS who shot him, the helicopter that broke down, the town Osama was hiding out, BUT I STILL DON'T KNOW WHO GOT FIRED ON THE CELEBRITY APPRENTICE!
ReplyDeleteI admit when I first saw CNN show a small gathering of American citizens outside the White House singing "God Bless America" I found it touching. However, as the night progressed and crowds began cheering, singing "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye", and generally acting as if they were at a carnival, my feelings turned to disgust. It's always uncomfortable to watch people act utterly inappropriate in public, but when they are being televised during a major news event it becomes worse. I couldn't help but remember something as I watched them jumping and laughing and cheering. On September 11, 2001 news footage showed Palestinians acting in the exact same manner as the Americans that were rejoicing at the White House, Times Square, Ground Zero, and other locations. The difference is that last night the Americans were cheering the death of Osama bin Laden. On September 11, the Palestinians were cheering the deaths of those killed in the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and on Flight 93. When cheers are for the death of human beings, is either side right?
ReplyDelete"As for my fellow Americans cheering at baseball fields, in public parks, and in various comments throughout the news feed on my Facebook page, I feel a mild disgust and pity."
ReplyDeleteI wasn't one of the many people cheering Osama's death and frankly I was rather conflicted in my feelings toward what happened. But disgust and pity? Get over yourself.
I'm reminded of a proverb, from where it originated (or where I even heard it) I cannot recall, (forgive the paraphrasing):
"small people never learn indifference; they either envy or pity."
That's one of the dumbest aphorisms I've heard yet, Jake.
ReplyDeleteI'd be genuinely curious to know the source; a quick Google search turns up nothing by "Anonymous" as the attribution.
If you're not a rabid Buddhist (so to speak), I can't imagine why you'd regard indifference as a virtue, let alone a goal. Obviously, the cheering Americans in this instance don't qualify as indifferent.
Envy and pity may not be ideal emotions, but they are human, and they can lead to positive action in the world.