And it's probably an unpopular one, at that. I can't help but express it though.
With the recent capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden, you'd think that I'd feel secure and feel a sense of relief or even pride. What I feel instead, is sad. Don't get me wrong...I don't feel the slightest bit sad that he's dead. That douchelord most definitely needed to get got. However, what did we accomplish? Really think about it...
President Obama said something to the effect that justice had been served. Well, maybe. But I'm not so sure. There's been this war going on for almost a decade now. There are hundreds of thousands (including 9/11 casualties, civilians caught in the middle, etc etc) that have lost their lives. We killed this one guy. Does this one guy being killed change any of that? Probably not.
I turned on the news the other night and there was a crazy mob of people waving flags and chanting "USA! USA!" outside the White House. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure that I was nauseated and horrified when I saw the terrorists doing something very similar after the fall of the Twin Towers. Sure those killed in the 9/11 attacks were innocent people. And sure, OBL definitely had it coming...but if you really think about it, are we much better? Is the violent death of a human being (no matter how badly he deserved it) ever a good thing? Probably not.
Maybe it's just me, but I feel a little bit like maybe we killed the queen in a hornet nest, swatted the nest with a fly swatter, and then realized we're stuck in a glass case with it. Good idea? Probably not. I mean, there are a lot of hornets out there.
Mahatma (Mohandas) Gandhi once said "An eye for an eye makes the world blind."
I couldn't agree more.
I guess I'll save my excitement, pride, and relief for when this whole war (and mess) is over with.
I understand your response. I'm obviously not an expert on war strategy and don't have any other good suggestions as to what should have been done with him - capture, kill, put on trial. I'm simply not sure.
ReplyDeleteBut I do know, the crowds in the street also bothered me. Even if you feel safer now that he's dead, I still think a more appropriate response is thankfulness and reverence. Cheering at someone's death (no matter who) seems uncivilized.