Osama Bin Laden is dead. While we have much for which to be thankful, we should in the first instance thank our Commander-in-Chief.
Thank you Mr. President for:
...breaking your campaign pledge to close ASAP the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center,
...continuing the interrogation of the prisoners held there, or at least not forswearing the use of any actionable intelligence gathered thereby,
...eschewing your promise to capture, i.e., not to kill, Bin Laden, as the latter would only have served to enhance his status by making him a martyr in the world of Muslim terrorists,
...forgoing the restrictive, shoot-to-wound, read'em-their-rights, and get'em-a-lawyer R.O.E. (Rules of Engagement) favored by so many of those who constitute your political base, as well as the Democrat Party.
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Dear Sage,
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed a relief to have this behind us. I was sad that in his speech last night, Pres. Obama did not recognize the efforts of people in the intelligence community that preceeded him by years in the pursuit of this man. That being said, and at the risk of incurring the wrath of some conservatives (though I certainly am a conservative), I must admit that watching the celebrations in NY and DC last night over the news of Bin Laden's death left me a bit uncomfortable. It is one thing to feel a sense of relief that this chapter is behind us, but another to be euphoric over the man's death as the fulfillment of a desire for revenge. We did what had to be done to get justice for those he killed (both Christian and Muslim). For me, the acceptance and the celebration are not the same. Using violence and killing an offender like Bin Laden (I almost hate to use uppercase letters when writing his name...) was a necessary evil, but if we are exercising due caution, it should be a sober thing....perhaps not an occasion for celebration as much as relief at the use of means necessary to accomplish something that had to be done. Delighting in revenge coarsens us as a nation, where doing what was necessary but recognizing the seriousness of it does the opposite. Just my thoughts......I'm open to hearing another perspective.....
Your sensitivity in this matter is well-placed, and well-stated. However, we hope the same grace you think we should extend to Bin Laden, you'll also extend to us, that is, we who neither planned nor executed the killing of 3,000 Americans on 9/11.
ReplyDeleteHeinous acts and he deserves our utter contempt. I'm not sure it's about extending him grace.....more about preserving a sense of the seriousness of taking lives, even the lives of criminals who've committed evil acts. It's a slippery slope, finding satisfaction in killing even someone like him......that sinful nature corrupts even our best intentions. I don't know that it should change what we do, just how we justify/reflect on it!
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're saying Lavender. I too was uncomfortable with the celebration. He deserved what he got. In fact, he deserved it a long time ago! Taking a life - any life - should be a serious, sobering undertaking. And I'm sure it was by those involved. I'm proud of our Intelligence and military community. I'm also proud of America and want it always to be better than the rest!
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed, although perhaps not surprised, that in his remarks the President did not make any reference to the effort made by President Bush to capture/kill Bin Laden. It was a moment that demanded presidential magnanimity, and he couldn't bring himself to do it, other than to make some passing reference to the treatment of American muslims....
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