I found an article on CNN.com about the jubilation thousands of people across the country felt after hearing the news of Bin Ladens death. Its an interesting article because it looks at the reasons behind this massive sigh of relief in America. Everyone that had the misfortune of seeing the twin towers fall has seen Osama Bin Laden as the symbol of terrorism. I know it doesnt make much sense but his death, in their eyes, is America conquering terrorism when in reality the fight is not over. Osama Bin Laden has been a target of hate and fear for so long that these riots and spontaneous chants of U-S-A are Americans believing that justice has been served although it may not be the same for people who lost loved ones on September 11.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/05/04/bin.laden.911.generation.react/index.html?hpt=C2
It's difficult to say that terrorism will be curbed; moreover, it's also premature to begin thinking that act of terrorism are in ebb. The prominence and importance of Osama have eroded to a point where the contemporaneous strength and extent of his sphere of influence is debatable. It's hard to see how he's the primary leader of the terrorism perpetrated by today's muslim extremists. Hezbollah and the Hamas are two organizations that instantly come to mind as entities that wield considerably more clout. While it's possible that Osama still remains the figurehead or even the spiritual leader that he was, there's is no way he had any real influence on the targets or actions of terrorists (at least contemporaneous ones). That said, I suppose that retrospect as always is 20/20 and we pursued a man who so wronged us, and that is something to be praised. While it's clear that had he been killed 9 years ago in Torah Bora like it was supposed to have happened, then perhaps terrorism may have suffered a mortal blow. I say all of this with a sigh that we've sunk in so many billions and 10 years in pursuit of this man. I lament that all the money spent bringing him to justice could've been better allocated domestically.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Americans truly believe "terrorism" as an act is over, but they do believe that al-Qaeda has a whole will be substantially weaker. We are not naive people, so we understand that there will always be terrorists, but it's certainly relieving to see that our government is getting to the dangerous men out there who jeopardize the livelihood of billions of innocent citizens.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that we know anything about how Al-Qaeda will be. For all we know, they could have been training people to be even more intelligent and dangerous than bin Laden. I would hate to see more violence on innocent people, and if we act like everythings going to be all good, then we won't be prepared for anything. I have faith that the government is cracking down on terrorism, but I think the popular attitude should reflect rationality instead of blind celebration
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