Some Thoughts on the Death of Osama Bin Laden

People gather in peace in remembrance of the victims of 9/11.  

Photo credit: www.colorlines.com "Give Peace A Chance"

Some Thoughts on the Death of Osama Bin Laden (R.I.P.)

by Dr. Whitney Howarth

Thursday, May 5, 2011

"Ten years and over 6000 US soldiers killed. Trillions of dollars wasted. Hundreds of thousands of civilians killed. Tens of thousands imprisoned. Torture as part of foreign policy. And we are supposed to celebrate the murder of one person? I am not excited. I am not happy. I remain profoundly sad." -- Matt Dalosio, from Witness Against Torture. Full article here at Truthout.org

In the last few days I've been struck by the diversity of opinions and emotions on Facebook and in the media responding to the execution of Public Enemy #1: Osama Bin Laden.

While groups of Americans rushed to chant "USA! USA!" at ground zero in NYC and some gathered in front of the White House to sing patriotic songs in joyous celebration of our 'triumph', I found myself feeling sad.  Sad because I felt that this euphoric celebration of the death of one man (even a horribly sinister and dangerous man) did not represent what or WHO I thought we were as a nation.  I posted this quote from a Chris Hedges article on my Facebook page:

"The death of Osama bin Laden gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves: What kind of nation and what kind of species do we want to be? Do we want to become a species that honors life? Do we want to become a species that embodies peace? If that is what we want, then we need to start now to examine our own hearts and actions, and begin to consciously evolve in that direction. We could start by not celebrating the killing of another."

                                                        -- https://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/05/02-2

I also asked people, friends on FB who were supporting the frenzy of elation, what they thought the rest of the world might think of us for these celebrations -- we, who have killed so many, and destroyed the lives of so many, in an effort to bring 'justice' to the families of 9/11?  To me, we reveal the darkest and most depraved aspects of our selves (and our nation-state) when we dance on the graves of our enemies.  Reveling in bloodshed makes us look like monsters.  It is nationalism at its darkest.  And this quote from Salon.com,summarized that best, so I posted that on my FB page, too:

"This is bin Laden’s lamentable victory -- he has changed America’s psyche from one that saw violence as a regrettable-if-sometimes-necessary act into one that finds orgasmic euphoria in news of bloodshed. In other words, he’s helped drag us down into his sick nihilism by making us like too many other bellicose societies in history -- the ones that aggressively cheer on killing, as long as it is the Bad Guy that is being killed." 

David Sirota, Osama and Chants from salon.com

Friends argued that they had the right to celebrate because "justice" had been done -- and "closure" had been given to the victims of Osama's terror.  I questioned if any of that was true.

According to many political analysts, 2011 Osama was irrelevant.  His death doesn't end the war on terror.  It doesn't bring back those people who died in the Twin Towers and it certainly doesn't erase the fact that we killed hundreds of thousands in Iraq in a war that was not sanctioned by the international community -- a war based on lies and deceit and hidden agendas. 

Al Qaeda lives on, it is stronger than ever -- certainly stronger than it was 10 years ago. We (Americans) are more vulnerable today than we were 10 years ago.  We are also more reviled and more misunderstood.

"The jubilation of Americans and Western leaders at the death of Osama bin Laden, though understandable, misses the point. In many ways, the figure gunned down in Pakistan was already irrelevant -- more a symbol of past dangers than a real threat for the future."  

-- Barry Lando, Huffington Post article

But perhaps the biggest issue, unresolved by those patriotic mobs cheering in the streets and waving American flags in front of the media cameras is this: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NEXT?  Is this an opportunity for peace and reconciliation or are we just going to bang the war drum harder?

One student in my class told me, yesterday, that we need to send more drones 'over there' and take out the Pakistani leaders who are not being loyal to us.  I was stunned.  Is this the answer now when we disagree with those who oppose us?  Those who betray our expectations?  Those who do not align their interests with our own?: "TAKE THEM OUT"??

Thank god not all my students feel this way.  Many were discomforted by the celebratory displays of American patriotism -- many said that they thought a sombre sense of relief and a quiet gratitude were the appropriate responses to the news.  They recognized this for what it is: a complex issue.  Many admitted they just didn't know what to think of all of this, and I appreciated that honesty.  They were, after all, only 8 years old when the towers fell.

Perhaps the most inspiring and powerful writing on the topic that I've read in the last few days came from a friend and former student, Seth Diemond, who wrote these words for facebook:

"I 100 percent agree that we should be incredibly proud. Ecstatic. Thrilled. Rejoicing. But I do not agree that muscle flexing (singing "we are the champions" and "gooodbyyye") is a show of pride- it is a show of insecurity. Pride is displayed by honoring your heroes, not by dancing on the body of your enemies. Pride is displayed by exporting your values, your ideals, your vision, not by taunting those with different values, different ideals, different visions. A more humbled approach to showing our pride in America would have gone a lot further in providing America with lost credibility both in the western world and the muslim world. Obama did this- during his speech announcing osama's death, he showed no elation, no taunting, no "we are the champion" mentality. He reminded us that Osama was not a leader of muslims, he was a mass murderer of muslims and he reminded us that this was a victory for the world, not just for the united states. I think much of the ridicule that the US has endured over the past decade (and going back decades longer) is a result of this "USA USA USA" mentality. Speaking just of the last decade, two unilateral wars (when the world's sympathy was with us), a "mission accomplished" declaration in Iraq, and the anti-muslim sentiment left after 911, have certainly created the brunt of that ridicule... 


... I completely agree with your criticism of the media- for one I think their filming of those celebrations will probably be used as al qaeda and the Taliban's next propaganda video against us. Fact, yes we got him and yes we are happy. Not fact- did those partying in front of the white house react appropriately? Fact- the media is responsible for turning it into a divisive issue and a potentially harmful one to our national security. Fact- because of these actions by the media, it is the duty of us to show the world that our intentions were not to taunt, but only out of pride and relief. However, what made me upset the night of obama;s announcement before the media really delved into this area was that the people celebrating were a)younger than you and i (for the most part) which would have put them in elementary school on 9/11. They were college kids looking for a party- they would have celebrated anything that had momentum behind it and that they felt strongly about. They did not consider the implications of their celebration."

Thank you Seth for your honest and careful analysis of this complicated issue.  And for reminding me that we aren't all what we see on tv.  Most of us aren't cheering and singing victory songs, must of us aren't banging on the war drums.  The media sensationalizes us, our responses and our emotions -- just like they focus only on fundamentalists foaming at the mouth in distant lands.  They want to sell papers, they want to make their corporate commercial sponsors happy.

This is probably why Fox is so successful and so rich.  News and 'entertianment' news channels don't focus their cameras on those among us who heard the news and then sat quietly and mourned the memory of those we had lost.  The cameras didn't turn to us who breathed deeply and prayed softly when we heard the news of Osama's death.  Where's the glory and the juicy headline there?

But I want us to remember this day and how we responded, all of us in our diversity and our intensity and in our silence and in our aching confusion.  I want us to recognize that the emotional intensity of those of us who didn't take to the streets to sing, dance, and shout, was just as powerful and patriotic as the emotional intensity of those that did.

Making a media spectacle of oneself doesn't prove you are an American.  Defending people who choose to laugh at violent and degrading images of Osama, doesn't make you more patriotic.  Dancing on his grave and waving a flag doesn't make you somehow more happy he's gone than I am.

But let's ask ourselves "where to now?"  What will we do with this moment and how will we honor all those who have died - all those who died at Osama's hands -- those killed by our hands -- and those murdered at the hands of other terrorists who, like some of us, revel in the bloodshed and celebrate death?

I agree with Tom Hayden in the LA Times who wrote today:

"There is no excuse for not beginning to end [the Iraq and Afghan] wars one at a time, at vast savings in lives and billions in tax dollars. This is Obama's moment of opportunity. Let the hawks in the Pentagon and the Republican Party call for endless war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama can campaign on ending two quagmires, and on breaking the momentum of the long war on terrorism that some propose."                                                        LA Times article

Enough bloodshed and horror.  Let's find a way to build bridges of reconciliation and understanding.  YES -- some of our enemies do seek to be understood.  Reconciliation may be an option since we can't fire bomb and drone attack everyone on the planet who disagrees with us.  As much as we fear the enemy and despise them, we must remember the enemy is not without humanity -- the enemy is not without valid viewpoints -- the enemy is not without justifiable motivations and insecurities.  Only by reaching out a bit beyond our own self-righteousness and jingosim -- only by reaching towards the enemy -- can we hope to achieve a compromise.  

Remember when we didn't think compromise was a weakness?  Remember a place called the middle ground, where people met, talked, and resolved to build a better future tomorrow by conceding some and cooperating?

The time has come to bring the troops home.  The time has come to talk to our enemies and to listen, also.

Then and only then, can we have justice and closure and some semblance of peace.  Then we can cheer and dance.