The ultimate hide-and-seek champion was finally found in Abbottabad, a town in Pakistan -- ready or not, here I come! That's right, more than 9-and-a-half years after the September 11th attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden was found and, in turn, killed after a night-time helicopter raid on his million-dollar compound, where he lived with his youngest wife and other family members, including brothers and a trusted courier.
There are many details to this situation, obviously, including how U.S. forces found the compound and how he was killed. However, I find it most interesting bin Laden wasn't living in a mountain cave on the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border like we've been led to believe for years by U.S. officials, especially former President George W. Bush. I always pictured bin Laden as an unwashed rebel standing with his hands on his hips and his shoulders back, chest out in the middle of a cave surrounded by darkness and his followers, shouting orders and living life on the lam. How dramatic! We don't need no stinkin' soap!
So, with that in mind, I can't say I was surprised to learn bin Laden was living in a million-dollar compound with his youngest wife (yes, youngest as in the youngest of the others -- damn, dirty polygamist) instead of roughing it in the Middle East wilderness. Frankly, with all the power and control over his followers, he had to know he didn't need to live like a rat in a cage like they do. Just send a few over to do some suicide bombings while I sit in my palace with my young bride -- which is funny for being so American-esque even though he hated our guts (hypocrite!), except it was reported he didn't have Internet service or phones in the compound which is as basic for Americans as food and water. Sneaky sneaky. Yes, death to America, blah blah blah, now leave me!
Also, I enjoyed the mishandling of the situation. Like Sohaib Athar, a Pakistani IT technician who unknowingly live-tweeted the U.S. helicopter raid of bin Laden's compound -- @ReallyVirtual. Or Fox News making the inevitable typo only they would make when reporting the death of Osama bin Laden with "Obama bin Laden" written below (Yuck, yuck very funny a-holes) or the other newscaster who mistakenly reported President Barack Obama died. Let me get some of what you're smoking
With the news still fresh among Americans, are you surprised director and screenwriter of the "Hurt Locker," Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, are already working on their bin Laden film since it now completes the circle with such a dramatic ending? Perhaps Call of Duty Black Ops can release this mission. Wouldn't you love to sit in the comfort of your living room and blow Osama bin Laden's head off?! Duh. Yes sir!
... Not to sound totally moronic and maybe it's a bit too soon after his death, but it would be kinda cool if Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (writers of "Shaun of the Dead") wrote a screenplay about bin Laden. Stay with me on this ... perhaps his body (which was buried at sea within 24 hours of his death, a time constriction mandated by Islamic law -- was blowing his brains out mandated by Islamic law too?) is buried near some nuclear testing facility and the ooze slowly creeps into his brain and he becomes this monstrous zombie beast who, instead of hiding in a mansion, infects his followers and travels to America to lead a crazed flesh-eating overtaking.
I could go on but my biggest question is: now that America boldly dashed in and killed their target (9-and-a-half years or not, the face of terror is finally dead), is this going to change anything? I'm not gonna lie, last night when turning on the boob tube and hearing of bin Laden's death, I was shocked. I was happy. I felt a sense of pride. I gave a typical American response. Mild compared to the thousands flocking to Ground Zero to cheer for joy, but typical nonetheless. For years we've been hearing about this guy and how he was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and how much he hates us and all this and that. His figurehead provided a sense of fear for us, as in maybe he could pull off another attack. For example, say I'm going to visit D.C. this weekend, will I be safe in a city that is a great target for a terror attack? It wasn't my be-all end-all thought but I definitely consider it when taking trips to big cities, all because of September 11th.
So, obviously bin Laden's death elicited a positive response, even a sense of relief. However, before my relief set in I got a weird thought. I don't want this to come across as I think bin Laden was a good guy, he wasn't. However, this almost decade-long man-hunt gave Americans a person to hate, a scapegoat for our fear, hatred and the war in Afghanistan. We may disagree on Republican vs. Democrat, Christianity vs. every other religion, but we can all hate Osama bin Laden. With this hate, came a desire for his death. As in, if we can get bin Laden then we will be victorious and the troops can come home, end of story.
It ain't that easy (nothing is ever that easy). Here we sit Monday morning in America, filled with pride and victory but even with bin Laden dead we still have big problems. Yeah, we have a moral boost for the troops as well as the American public (Take that royal wedding! America got the most evil man in the world and all you did was put on some namby pamby wedding! Ha! We win per usual.). We got our man! But is this going to end the war?
It's like organized crime (the Mob), you wack the head guy but that doesn't mean the whole organization goes away. They get another "head guy" and the corruption continues. al Qaeda is a network of cells, not some group relying solely on one man.
Osama bin Laden, most hated man in the world, is dead. Will the troops come home? Are we done now? No. The terror will continue and now these people have more fuel for their hatred. There are other Osama bin Laden's lurking in the shadows, waiting to take center stage. Not to diminish the unmeasurable pain suffered (and still being suffered) by those who had loved ones die in the September 11th attacks, as well as the countless others who had loved ones die from bin Laden's various terror campaigns, but this isn't as simple as a murderer being put on death row and getting executed -- which, in itself, isn't simple either because even when they are executed, you probably won't have the closure you were expecting, if any closure at all. Your loved one was still taken from you. bin Laden's followers are organized and determined, with or without some old man barking orders from a million-dollar three-story mansion.
So, hooray, ding dong the witch is dead but it ain't over.
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