In America there's people dancing on the streets in joy that Osama bin Laden is dead, people spontaneously singing the Star Spangeld banner, shouting out USA! and waving flags. Kids who should not know hate waving signs.
Here, I sat in front of my computer and raised my eyebrows. The most I spoke was a comment to my girlfriend - Hey babe. They reckon they shot Bin Laden. Why am I feeling like an arse? I'm not excited at all. I don't think it's a milestone in any way other than to take away the known element - the focus of a name - and bring back in to play the core of terrorism: that the perpetrators are faceless. At least with a figurehead those who felt the need to hate had somewhere to point that hate. Those who felt the need to fear had someone to blame for that fear. Now what?
Just because the guy who was the face of Al Quaeda to the media is dead do we think it's over? Even if Al quaeda itself were to proclaimed eradicated it would not be over. There will always be terrorism in some form because it is a very strong capacity in humans to be terrified.
I can't get excited about it at all.
I can't even decide on which of my ideas I support the best. I'm just not passionate about it at all.
Do I go with theory one: That Obama is coming up for re-election and needs some form of victory to justify that troops are still kicking around away from home? Piss off Pakistan so it can stay in the media for a while? Get some pictures of blood stained trashed rooms together (miraculously no blood on the walls, just the floors... even though there were claims of head shots)? Get some party pictures of everybody in the situation room like they're about to watch a football game. Then dump the body over the side of a boat and say it's out of respect?
Or do I go with theory two? Al Quaeda needs a new face. Bin Laden has been at it for ten years and it's time to give the guys someone new to respect. They'll be taking over from someone who was taken out by the very people they despise - a great motivator to start something new. It'll shut the Americans up for a while, too, because they feel they've made a victory. There'll be more pressure to take the forces back home.
Or theory number three: That it wasn't Osama at all. Just a dude with a beard made to look like him and that he's planted his own death.
Too many theories. Not enough desire to believe them. So I'm settled with this for the moment:
A dude is dead. The Americans are happy because they shot him. It apparently avenges the thousands of deaths associated with the twin towers plane attacks.
4 comments:
Nicely considered, Vic.
I'm ashamed to say I'm a little happier about it than you, but then I was twenty seconds away from getting a bomb up my ass on the London underground.
Now the Americans have "got their man" let's see if they have the sense to withdraw from all the countries they are fucking up and cease giving people reasons to commit terrorist acts.
Er … or not.
...Or not. Exactly.
I just think the whole damn response was badly handled. For ten years.
Guh. I was appalled at the shouting and dancing and rejoicing. What about all the people we killed looking for the guy?? Way more than those who died in the original attack ten years ago. I just want to know what other important news is being obscured by this big story. I always feel like a big news story means they're hiding something from us...
...nice peace sign jacket, kiddo.
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