I must admit that my next-day reaction to the news that Osama Bin Laden is dead is a great and profound apathy.
I imagine that my sentiment would be similar to having a girlfriend who broke your heart ten years ago, for whom you carried a torch for some time, call you ten years later at 10:30pm on a Sunday night to tell you she has been miserable ever since.
You would have a momentary flash of–good, it serves you right. But then you think, does this really matter anymore?
Of course, I know that the death of Bin Laden means, and should mean, a great deal more to those who lost loved ones on 9/11.
On the one hand, I know that Bin Laden declared war on the US and there is some sense of justice knowing that the war finally found him.
But yet my ambivalence remains. I find no joy in the news and even something akin to a let down. If we have captured or killed him in 2002 or 2003, I know that my sentiments would likely have been very different with a greater sense of justice. But now, ten years later, I don’t know. I feel a modicum of relief, but all the other feelings have been muted over time. Does he really matter anymore? Does this make us safer in any verifiable way? I hope so, but I don’t think so.
Anyone else?
May 2, 2011 at 4:25 pm
The overly jubilant celebrations have served to temper any satisfaction – smacks too much of how residents of some Arab nations jumped for joy when the Twin Towers collapsed.
May 2, 2011 at 4:25 pm
I agree that if it had been sooner in the GWOT, then I might be a little bit more excited about it. The thing that surprised me was the reaction I was seeing on Twitter last night. That was the subject of my blog post this morning. I was just too uncomfortable with the way people were celebrating like their team had won the Super Bowl. And some of the sentiments that were being expressed were just too over the top for me.
May 2, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Does this make us safer in any verifiable way? I hope so, but I don't think so.
Can't prove crimes that never happened.
That said, I'd say it's a deterrent, although not a great one. Quitting without him dead would be bad, obviously. Best would've been if he didn't survive a day after the attacks, but can't have everything.
His dying never would have "stopped it all"– in a way, this may be better because anyone who will ever realize it is aware that it's not just one guy out there who wants us dead.
May 2, 2011 at 4:28 pm
The overly jubilant celebrations have served to temper any satisfaction – smacks too much of how residents of some Arab nations jumped for joy when the Twin Towers collapsed.
Can we cut this out already? If we can't draw a difference between being glad that a mass murdering, plotting, bloody evil man is dead and celebrating the deaths of a bunch of innocents, we're screwed.
May 2, 2011 at 4:42 pm
agreed. not all dancing in the streets is equal.
May 2, 2011 at 4:49 pm
re: ", does this really matter anymore?"
Yes it does. He used to be the hero of the Muslims who was able to hurt the US and get away with it. Now, his mantle of invincibility is shredded – and all those wannabees out there will know that they can run, but they cannot hide nor can they outlast the US resolve. It matters specially for the present leaders out there and for the homegrown terrorists. It is not so much revenge as deterent and empowerment. We won and the forces of evil will not prevail; that is the meaning of his death.
May 2, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Can we cut this out already? If we can't draw a difference between being glad that a mass murdering, plotting, bloody evil man is dead and celebrating the deaths of a bunch of innocents, we're screwed.
These celebrations are disproportionate and exaggerated. Like Fr Erik commented on Matthew's post – it's cause for grim satisfaction, but little else.
Maybe my comparison is imperfect, but that's what crossed my mind while watching some of them last night.
May 2, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Feel the same way, Patrick. This would have felt somehow more satisfying nine years ago, but now it feels somewhat anti-climactic. But there are foreign policy experts who do believe that this will have a positive impact in at least drawing the fence-sitters towards our side. We'll see.
May 2, 2011 at 5:00 pm
If someone was breaking into my home, I would try words first (Get out, you #$%^!). If he still got in and went for one of my children, I would shoot the way I've been taught (twice to the center of mass, once to the head). Then I would gather my children around me, weeping for the horror and laughing with joy that we are alive and that an evil man is not. That's what America is doing today.
May 2, 2011 at 5:02 pm
These celebrations are disproportionate and exaggerated.
Would that be the ones in front of the white house (with pre-printed signs…)?
The one by the kids at West Point?
The ones that I assume the families of those he helped murder are having?
I pretty much automatically discount any 'impromptu' thing that has professional printing.
Those who have
1) grown up under the shadow this unspeakable cast and enrolled to do something about it
and
2) those who lost so much because of this guy,
maybe a week long celebration would be too much. But only a bit.
I cannot stand by while they are slandered as being in the same category as those who celebrate the murder of children and other innocents. Maybe you don't mean to insult them so.
May 2, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Some will say that this is a strategic victory for al-Qa'ida: We've "created" a martyr, we violated the sovereignty of another Muslim nation, now there will be retaliation, etc.
Baloney. The fact is that this is both a MASSIVE tactical and strategic victory. Now the rest of al-Qa'ida knows that Bin Hidin' was living poshly while the rest of them though he was suffering with them in some cave. No one else in the organization had the charisma and force of personality of this guy. And from an operational level, al-Qa'ida now can never doubt that the US will take the fight to them wherever they hide. This makes them dig deeper (to hide), resulting in more difficulty for them in planning and launching large successful operations. There are MANY reasons why this is a HUGE military win. (Keep in mind that al-Qa'ida has not been waiting to hit us again – they have been TRYING to hit us. The second we take the pressure off, they will plan and strike. So this operation is akin to Strategic "Suppressive Fire" that keeps their heads even further down, and it's awful hard to shoot back when you are looking at the dirt.)
As for the celebrations: I am thrilled and joyful that: Justice has been served, that his plotting has stopped, that this man will do no more evil, this man will kill no more innocents, at how magnificently our forces performed, and for the strategic and tactical victory that may SAVE LIVES!! THIS IS WORTH CHEERING ABOUT!
On the big, fat, other hand….
I am deeply saddened that a man had to die and that a soul was lost for these things to happen. How much better it would have been if he did not need to die. But – he did. The Hitler analogy was excellent.
(Perhaps we should blame ourselves for our lack of prayer and faith, that we did not do all we could to convert his soul?)
I guess the question is: can we cheer about good news that has such a huge down side? I think so, but we need to do so while keeping in mind that the war is really on a different battlefield. We should be marshaling our spiritual forces as the battle intensifies. After all, if you are reading this blog – YOU have probably been called to be on the front lines in the battle against evil!
God, PLEASE, bless America (and the World)!
Jesus, I trust in you!
May 2, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Hopefully, the reaction to the news of bin Laden's death will become more reflective and the overexuberant reaction we've witnessed so far will be tempered.
But at the same time, I'd like to see those who are condemning the jubilation show a bit more understanding and compassion for why people are reacting the way they are. Especially the college-age students. Cut 'em some slack. They have grown up with bin Laden being the greatest menace the world faced (aside from George W. Bush). They've grown up with terror alerts, pat-down frisks in airports, and the horror of being children and watching the ultimate in man's inhumanity to man as those buildings came crashing down and turning living, breathing humanity into mere dust particles.
Think back to how we felt when the menace of our childhood ended as the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, and imagine how these young people feel. It's a catharsis for them to be able to experience SOME emotion over this monster other than the grief, fear, and disappointment they've experienced for the last 10 years. Let 'em have it.
May 2, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Watched it for about 2 minutes. I'm still far to excited about watching JPII's beatification.
I plan to watch middle easst news reports for the next few days. Link-TV (run by Iranian ex-pats in Lod Angeles) rebroadcasts local news reports from Arab countries. That should be interesting.
As for the flag waving, I fly the stars & stripes every day. Nothing new today. And the battle aganst jihad is ongoing, asid Islam's war on us. I will not rest until we convert them to Christianity.
May 2, 2011 at 6:10 pm
His death is symbolic… the evil mastermind of the 9/11 carnage has been brought to justice…finally.
May 2, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Foxfier – please accept my sincere apology for my inappropriate choice of celebratory comparison. In reflection, I completely understand why my comment was interpreted as slanderous and insulting – which was not my intent. I should have given more thought to my comment before leaving it, and realized I was inferring a moral equivalency that isn't remotely close. Mea culpa.
As to which celebrations I was referring to – specifically, the ones outside the White House and the one at the Ohio State University. They were over-the-top. I hadn't seen the ones at Times Square or Ground Zero. Regarding the military academies – very understandable, given the sacrifices many of their comrades-in-arms have made throughout the course of the WOT, as well as the resulting success of this mission.
I'm sorry for having upsetting you.
May 2, 2011 at 7:46 pm
LarryD-
Thank God you weren't trying to make such a comparison!
There are a LOT of folks– "Good Catholics" among them– who are directly insisting on a moral equivalence.
I'm very very VERY glad that you aren't among them!
A difference in taste for style (intended more seriously than it sounds) — especially since I'm still rolling my eyes over the pictures with professionally printed signs at a "spontaneous" rally– is totally different. *grin*
May 2, 2011 at 8:31 pm
I couldn't be happier that he is gone. They gave him a chance to surrender and he declined. I love that we flew through Pakistani air space without permission. Screw them.
May 2, 2011 at 9:07 pm
Anon 3:31: If we asked permission, what are the chances that we would have gotten him? Ans: None. He would have been tipped off – as always.
Please contact Congress and tell them to cut off foreign aid ($1B) to Pakistan and have the UN resolve to unite them back to India. Enough of this pandering to Muslim terrorists. And give India the green light to nuke them if and when necessary. That's what I would do.
May 2, 2011 at 11:04 pm
Clinton owes Osama Bin Laden an apology. Michael Schuerer (sp?) the head of the Bin Laden unit told Clinton twice, two times, that the military could capture, capture not kill, Bin Laden.
Dubya owes Bin Laden an apology too. Prior to October 2001, George Bush refused two offers from the Taliban when they said they'd turn-over Bin Bin to him if he stopped bombing the crap out of them. He refused the offers
Now, we know that Clinton used to carry a 600 lb Bible and we know that Dubya spoke directly to God so I think they's got some splainin to do
May 3, 2011 at 1:19 am
I am glad he is gone, but he is just a messenger. The message of radical islam goes on and there are plenty of more messengers.