May 3, 2011
I want him; I want justice...and there's an old poster out west, as I recall, that said, "Wanted: Dead or Alive." - George W. Bush, Sept. 17 2001
It's been a couple of days now since I heard the news. I've read the articles and accounts, I've watched the news clips and videos. I even watched Obama's whole public address. I've discussed it at length with my parents, friends, co-workers and peers, and I've heard and considered multiple sides of the story. I believe in a man's right to live, but I also believe in justice. Every man must be held accountable for the things he's done. If you ask me, Osama Bin Laden was Adolph Hitler without the resources. He was responsible for thousands of deaths with a mind for many more, and a quick bullet was better than he deserved.
I'm glad he's dead.
On Monday afternoon (Sunday night in the states), a close friend of mine sent me a text message from the U.S. saying OBL had been killed. I thought it was a joke at first. The guy was a myth; a real life Keyser Söze. It had been so long since American forces had begun hunting him (almost 10 years) that I had assumed that maybe he was already dead or that we would never know for sure what became of him. After all that time, to finally receive confirmation that the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks had finally been tracked down and disposed of (like garbage), I was genuinely relieved. I guess I thought we'd never get him. To be honest, upon hearing the news, I immediately went online to find pictures or video, not because I wanted to see a body, but because I needed proof. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best course of action for a teacher on the network at a public school, but luckily I didn't find anything.
The national response was immediate: celebration everywhere. I thought, for one moment, that this was something that every American could agree on; in a way, unifying. I guess the detractors had to take a few moments to gather their thoughts. It didn't take long though. Instead of healing and closure, old wounds (and mouths) were just opened up again. I'm not saying that going crazy in the streets to the news of a man's death is the appropriate response, but neither is criticizing people for the way that they express themselves, or tweeting and facebooking contrary, callous remarks, just to get a reaction or make yourself sound more intelligent. However, this is the nature of humanity, especially when it comes to war. Do I want this war to end? Yes. Do I wish it hadn't taken us 10 years to find that son of a b****? Of course. I wish we had caught him on September 12th, 2001. Do I believe, over the span of these 10 years, that our government has acted according to the best interests of the United States of America and for the safety and security of her people? For the most part, I do. I'm not saying there haven't been mistakes, and things haven't all gone as planned, but I'm still proud to be an American, and anybody who's not can go to France.
Lastly, what did I do in response to the news I'd just received? Well, I was in the middle of a school day, so I took my last class out for ice cream. The kids wanted to know why. I didn't really know how to explain to them in an appropriate way that they could understand, so I just simply told them that too many bad things happen in the world without a reason, so why not some good ones every once in a while? They were okay with that. Sometimes ice cream is better than words.
So that's my 2 cents. It took me a few days to gather my thoughts about this whole thing, but I wanted to have some sort of record of my feelings at this time to look back on in the future. Most of the time I just get embarrassed when I go back and read old journal or blog entries. I don't have any answers, and this blog isn't meant to start or end any debates. This is just a public account of my time living abroad and my thoughts along the way.
"We got him." - America, May 1 2011
