Yes, it is the headline that took the world by storm: Osama bin Laden DEAD. Headline of the week. Perhaps even a headline that will grant Obama another 4 years in Office.
It has indeed been an emotional journey over the past decade for the
Osama bin Laden, son of a wealthy Saudi businessman, was a prominent figure among Jihadists who redefined Islam in the modern world, at which point Islam became synonymous with terrorism. Unjustly so, as tying any sort of radicalism to any one religion or one nation doesn't only cause an epidemic-like spread of stereotypes, but also labels millions of people as damaged goods. Bin Laden, or the shadow thereof in the past decade, was nothing but a wealthy radical who took it upon himself to shove his ideologies and beliefs down the world's throat, very much like the
When the US elite Navy SEALs killed Bin Laden, along with a number of his family members, the US did not just kill its nemesis, the reason behind it re-strategizing its entire foreign policy and security schemes, but it very much killed what Bin Laden stood for; “terrorism”. Bin Laden, for the past decade, has been in hiding, and has become nothing more than an ethereal figure which any act of violence undertaken by both parties cast the blame upon. By killing Bin Laden the US merely showed the world that it will find you even if it took a while, that it will kill you when it finds you and will refuse to bury your shot face so you won't have a shrine for your followers to visit. When two rivals do come to blows, the world does not expect less than a show of power as such. In this case, that is one point for the US/Obama, and none for Al Qaeda. The
An act of aggression as such was certainly a blow on Al Qaeda, which can and will retaliate. The
Drowned in hypocrisy and double-standardism, this world does not yet know what it is up against. That ethereal figure might be gone now, but another figure shall soon materialize because the
I actually heard about his death on the news before i went to bed, and I thought to myself " who cares? this might have meant something in 2002 and maybe provided some sense of closure or revenge or justice... or whatever the hell people were demanding before the term terrorism was expanded to encompass everyone not supporting U.S interest". Upon waking up the next day, I realized that apparently everyone did care. Particularly confusing for me were the reports that thousands paraded outside the whitehouse chanting "U.S.A", as if this moment somehow justified the past ten years of mass killing.
ReplyDeleteOne potentially positive thing is that the u.s population will start to question what the hell we are still doing gallivanting around the middle east. However, the the white house is frantically scrambling to ensure the public that we still have some vague goal yet to be accomplished. True, we were once upon a time going into afghanistan to "get the terrorist" responsible for 9/11, then we were in iraq for weapons of mass destruction, then we were there to liberate the people once we couldn't find any WMD's, and now...well... we don't really have any clear cut goals. but, hey, when you make up the rules as you go along you can arbitrarily pick any objective and say that's what wins the game.
Brilliant read Mon :-}) I really enjoyed reading your piece of mind and two Fils about Bin Laden's death.
ReplyDeleteYour analogy of this man as a shadow was spot on.
"Drowned in hypocrisy and double-standardism, this world does not yet know what it is up against. That ethereal figure might be gone now, but another figure shall soon materialize because the US and the world need someone to blame for radicalism, terrorism and all things foul."
Brilliant closing argument and a come back at the fact that the U.S choose to bury Bin Laden in the sea.
The vicious world theater of Politics is never short on puppets. I am sure they are already attaching the strings to another one in the making.
I am definitely going through all your posts ... Better late than never ;-})