Osama Bin Ladin
1957-2011
Sunday night brought the cheering news of the death of our nemesis, Osama Bin Laden. I am unsure that it is proper to be so cheerful about the death of any person but I will allow myself this guilty pleasure. I understand that I probably should not receive the news so personally but I suspect there are many thousands of us that have. Since the hideous attacks on 9/11 we have longed to see this one of the main architects of that disaster meet his end. I hesitate to use the word justice because I don't think justice will be complete this side of eternity. We have had the other preeminent planner, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, in custody for quite some time and it appears that some of the intelligence leading us to Bin Laden was gleaned from him. I would like to say that this matter is at an end but we know it is not.
In my opinion, President Obama has shown a steely resolve in his pursuit of Bin Laden. Since his miraculous escape from our grasp at Tora Bora in 2002 this master of terror had eluded our reach. President Obama makes the third President to have pursued this man and it stands the United States in good stead to be seen to be capable of focused pursuit while fighting two wars. It speaks to the power of this country to be able to accomplish this while maintaining diplomatic relations with the country in which Bin Laden sought refuge. It may be more difficult to do that now that we have reached into the depths of that country and brazenly extracted our prey.
While it was the President who created the environment for this pursuit to gain its intelligence it was up to our Special Forces to do the dirty work. And how they performed! One of the things I first thought of when the announcement was coming forth was that our best had pulled it off. The next was the realization that we had been just a misstep away from this being the equivalent of President Carter's attempted rescue in the Iranian desert. The broad reach of history is exemplified in that recollection.
But, this time it was the Navy S.E.A.L.S. who got the call. The S.E.A.L.S. work in dark secrecy so much that often their own families do not know what continent they are on. They get no recognition for their work for fear of bringing retribution to our shores and their families. Men and women do not get to this degree of training and conditioning without giving up things the rest of us enjoy. They deserve our unflagging gratitude and the knowledge that when they are called on the cause is just.
We can bask in the reflected glory of a job well done only for a brief time then it will become necessary for us to seize the moment to engage diplomatically to assess the opportunity to bring our conflicts to a close with a political settlement. We have always known it must end this way and we may have a window of opportunity in the wake of this display of might. If so, we must seize it and it's potential to bring our armed forces home. Our stated goal was to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for Al Qaeda. If we have done that then the mission is complete. If the opportunity is not there then we must continue to try to create a favorable climate for a diplomatic solution
But for now, our nemesis is dead. Tomorrow we will return to the many things that trouble and divide our country but for now, as we were on 9/11, we are one.
In Osama Bin Laden's faith he will ascend to paradise to the acclimation of many virgins. While I seriously doubt that is his reward I can only hope, if it is, they enjoy him as much as I have.
That's my take. It feels right.
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