Osama bin Laden is dead, so we have been told. I couldn’t sleep when I heard the news, but not because I was celebrating. The following are my late night and early morning thoughts on the matter.
What Took So Long?
The most powerful military in the world with the most extensive intelligence services took ten years to find and kill one man. What took so long?
The Personification of Evil?
If bin Laden is the personification of evil, like we have been led to believe for the last ten years, then why did the U.S. government bother to handle his body in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition? Why wasn’t his body dragged through the streets of Manhattan like U.S. soldiers were once dragged through the streets in Somalia?
Habeas Corpus
The government is reporting that it buried the body of bin Laden at sea. Conspiracy theorists – and rightly so – are going to have a field day with this for years to come. How could the government do something so stupid as dispose of bin Laden’s body so quickly? Are we just supposed to have faith in the government when it says it had the body and positively identified it by a DNA test?
How Many More Terrorists Will Be Created?
There are countless numbers of Muslim extremists who revere bin Laden that until now have been content just to curse the United States. How many of them will now consider carrying out acts of terrorism?
God Help Us
I saw footage of crowds of young people outside the White House chanting "USA, USA." God help us. This is absolute lunacy.
One down, Forty-Nine More to Go
CIA Director Leon Panetta has said that there may be fewer than 50 al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. I guess this means that there are only forty-nine more to kill.
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace
Now that bin Laden is dead, will the war in Afghanistan be ended? Of course it won’t. Just like the war in Iraq wasn’t ended when Saddam Hussein was captured.
Why Was bin Laden Killed?
Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. troops, turned over to Iraqis, tried, sentenced to death, and hung. Why was bin Laden killed and Hussein not killed?
Was It Worth It?
Over 5,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the war on terror. Is the death of one man worth the lives of all these soldiers?
Political Capital
Combined with Obama releasing his birth certificate, the death of bin Laden is sure to increase Obama’s political capital.
Worse than Osama bin Laden?
How many more innocents have died because of the U.S. war on terror than died because of Osama bin Laden?
Restoring Our Freedoms
With bin Laden dead, does this mean that the Patriot Act can be repealed, the TSA disbanded, and all our freedoms restored that have been taken away since 9/11? You know, the freedoms our troops have supposedly been fighting for.
Mission Accomplished
George Bush prematurely announced "Mission Accomplished." If there was ever a time to declare victory in the war on terror and bring all the troops home it is now. Will Obama do it? Of course he won’t. And neither would Bush have done it.
Osama bin Laden should be a lesson to any foreigner thinking about partnering with the United States (like bin Laden did when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan): We may come back later and kill you.
May 3, 2011
Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State, The Revolution that Wasn't, and Rethinking the Good War. His latest book is The Quatercentenary of the King James Bible. Visit his website.
Copyright © 2011 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.
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