The Death of Osama bin Laden
Ladies and gentlemen, we got him! Lately I have been pretty hard on our President, but I have to say that he deserves a good deal of credit for this and for other huge victories in the “war on terror.”
Still, it would have been much better had we captured Osama bin Laden alive and put him on trial in New York City. That would show not just the power of the American military and the American Intelligence capabilities, but also the power of the American justice system. It would show that we are a nation of laws and a country of justice. As it is, we just killed him. There was revenge, but no justice.
To be fair, I don’t think Obama’s escalation of the war in Afghanistan had much to do with yesterday’s victory. Bin Laden had already left Afghanistan and the fighting in that nation did not produce the intelligence that led to his death. Escalating the war in Afghanistan was a mistake.
However, President Obama should get credit for a great many things in relation to our “war on terror” and the death of bin Laden. His Cairo speech was instrumental in inspiring people to hunger for freedom and democracy. It incited revolutions throughout the Middle East and continues to incite more revolutions. Just last week, we helped Libya move one step closer to democracy by once again dropping a bomb down Gaddafi’s chimney.
President Obama also pushed for greater Intelligence in the search for terrorists and for bin Laden. Instead of sending a shit load of troops where there were few terrorists, he sent a shit load of CIA agents into the field and tracked down bin Laden, acted slowly and carefully and then sent a small team of Navy Seals in there to get him.
Also, when Obama announced that we killed Osama bin Laden, he talked about how bin Laden was an enemy to Muslim people and how all peace loving people should be happy about this victory. He used this as a moment to win the hearts and minds of those who with a nudge in the wrong direction could become our enemy. In effect, he nudged them toward our side.
Personally, I think we should make this a war against Islam… and Christianity and attack the theological underpinnings of religion. The way I see it, this might be a harder fight in the short term, but an extremely valuable one in the long term. Of course we can’t do that because 80% of our own nation would be “offended.” Note just how many times President Obama mentioned “God” in his short speech last night. The days of acknowledging non-believers are long over.
Related articles
- Morning Read: Osama Bin Laden (observer.com)
- White House: Osama Bin Laden is Dead (benzinga.com)
- BREAKING: Osama bin Laden is Dead (tedfreeway.wordpress.com)
- Bin Laden compound on fire (wdsi.wordpress.com)