News Coverage
On Sunday May 2, 2011 the United States brought an end to its most hated enemy Osama Bin Laden. By now everyone knows the story and how Navy Seal team 6 breached Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Two helicopters carrying two individual Seal teams landed inside Bin Laden’s compound and swept through the two buildings top to bottom eliminating any and all resistance in their path. One of the Seal teams found Bin Laden in a room where one of his wives attacked the team and was shot in the leg while Bin Laden was shot twice, one of which hit his head killing him instantly. The Seal team then processed the compound taking Cd’s, Thumb drives and other storage devices along with Bin Laden’s remains. Photographs of Osama’s remains were taken and his remains where transferred to a Naval ship out at sea. While out at sea The President gave the order to process the body according to Islamic tradition and his body was buried at sea.
President Obama, later that Sunday night, addressed the American people, along with the rest of the world, about the demise of Osama Bin Laden. Jubilant celebration erupted all throughout the United States as Americas most wanted criminal was finally brought to justice for his crimes. Once again Bin Laden united the nation though not in sadness as before but relief and nationalistic pride. Crowds of people celebrated outside the White House in Washington D.C. as well as alongside where the Twin Towers used to stand in New York. The celebrations ran throughout the night and into the early morning hours. Throughout the celebrations the “National Anthem” and “God Bless America” spontaneously erupted through the crowds of people. Finally the Leader of al-Qaeda, the Mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist plots that killed 3000 American citizens and has caused mass chaos and death all around the globe has been brought to justice.
In the days following Bin Laden’s death, many people have expressed confusion and in some cases disappointment with the haste in which Osama’s body was buried. Many have voiced their disapproval over the burial at sea as well as the Muslim burial rights he was allowed to receive. President Obama has also refused to release the photos of Bin Laden’s body. Obama has stated that the photos are gruesome and not something people need to see. According to the DOD (Department of Defense) one of the photos shows a gaping hole from left to right eye where the killing shot hit. The media has reported that people are mixed on the issue of showing the photos to the public. The release of Saddam Hussein’s postmortem photos during the Bush Administration has been sighted as a reason to release the photos of Bin Laden’s pictures. The Presidents response to such reasoning is to point out that the photos of Saddam were not gruesome and inappropriate for the general public.
As with most Americans I was relieved to learn that Osama Bin Laden had finally been brought to justice for his crimes against the United States and the world. President Obama, along with our military men and women should all be commended on getting the job done nearly 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. The President should be given credit for renewing the focus on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border where most experts believed that Bin Laden was located. Unlike President Bush, who took his focus off al-Qaeda and began the extremely unpopular war in Iraq, President Obama once again began to focus on disrupting al-Qaeda and through that renewed mission statement, Osama Bin Laden was destroyed.
Now as relieved as I was to hear about the demise of Osama Bin Laden, the manner in which this country as a whole celebrated was a little disturbing. While I understand that many, if not most people saw nothing wrong in celebrating Bin Laden’s death, the way in which we celebrated another human beings death (no matter how evil he was) reminded me of how Muslims in Iraq or Afghanistan celebrate the death of American soldiers. I believe that when the American public views video of Muslims in other countries dancing and celebrating the deaths of some of our soldiers it upsets us on a deep level not only because we believe our soldiers are over there to help those people but because Americans see ourselves as a more civilized people and wouldn’t flood the streets to celebrate death.
Maybe it is just me but I believe as a civilized people we should hold ourselves to a higher standard than people we call terrorists. I know people believe the actions of Muslims dancing on downed U.S. military helicopters and dead soldier are different than people celebrating the death of an evil mastermind. At first I was inclined to agree with that statement, however when people showed their disappointment at Bin Laden being given Muslim burial rights and being buried out at sea I began to see the other side. Some in the media and in public have even stated that they wished his body was brought back to the United States and presented to the public. Others have said they didn’t think Bin Laden deserved to have his religious rights given to him in death and should have been given no special rights. I understand the feelings that cause people to become so hateful towards an enemy, however it is our compassion and respect for humanity and other people’s beliefs that make us better than the people that we fight. If we lose the moral high ground and become unreasonable, uncompromising and uncaring about humanity then we lose the right to believe we have a more civilized society than anyone else.
Another reaction or lack thereof that was disappointing to me was that of the American Muslim community. Other than the victims of the 9/11 attacks the Muslim community should be more relieved than any group of people. Bin Laden has been a primary force in causing fear of the Muslim community and Islam itself. Osama has perverted the religion of Islam turning it into a recruiting and training tool for disillusioned young Muslims in order to gain power for himself and his organization. The Muslim community, instead of showing approval of Bin Laden’s death has remained mostly silent or has been in disbelief. While this reaction is somewhat understandable in the Middle East and elsewhere overseas the lack of reaction in the American Muslim community is a little disgraceful. Sadly the lack of disapproval towards Muslim extremist and or terrorist attacks has always been a problem in American Muslim community. In the media the Muslim community almost always remains silent about their extremist counterparts and although silence is not approval of the terrorist actions, it is not disapproval either. I would like to see the Muslim community stand up and celebrate not the death of Bin Laden but the end of Bin Laden’s perversions of Islam.
