Before we get too carried away in our revelries over the death of the 9/11 mastermind, let us not forget who it was who created this monster and how much it as cost us to finally achieve justice. by Bill Gee
(centrist)
Monday, May 2, 2011
Like most Americans, when I heard the news last night about the death of Osama Bin Laden, I was both surprised and relieved. After all, it’s been over 9 ½ years since that terrible morning in 2001 and after years of failed attempts to capture or kill the man, we had finally done it. Perhaps this will change things for the better with radical Islamists no longer having their figurehead to lead them, but perhaps it will make things worse or things won’t change at all. Only time will tell. But for now, I wish to tip my hat to the US Special Forces who managed this successful operation to rid the world of possibly the most evil man in the world today.
So I can appreciate the feelings of elation, celebration, and profound relief felt by my fellow Americans. After all, as a resident of the Philadelphia/New York metropolitan area, I can name you at least ten personal friends or acquaintances who were hurt, killed or had loved ones hurt or killed on that fateful day.
What I cannot understand nor appreciate was the media’s coverage of the jubilant celebrations in the streets of New York and Washington DC. I also did not appreciate the manner in which the news was delivered. I realize we are already into the next election cycle, but for President Obama to deliver the news himself on National television in the “bombshell” fashion that he did, only encouraged the spontaneous celebratory reactions among the people of this country.
In other words, he “wagged the dog” and the media ate it up.
Again, don’t get me wrong, the death of Bin Laden is a great thing for the entire world, but it does more harm than good to America’s image abroad to see spontaneous street celebrations on TV. After all, how did you feel when you saw the images of celebrating Palestinians in Gaza in the wake of 9/11?
The Cost of Bin Laden
Something else we have to keep in mind is that in many ways, it was American Foreign Policy that created Bin Laden in the first place. As most of us should be aware, it was American Cold War policy that set the conditions for the ascent of his organization, despite the fact that most mainstream Arab Muslims found his views on religion and politics to be deplorable. We trained him and we armed him to fight the Soviets, and when the Soviets left Afghanistan, we abandoned him.
Only after he started blowing up US assets and killing Americans did we realize the monster we created, but by then it was already too late. In October 2001 we started the Afghan War, primarily to either capture or kill Osama Bin Laden. Nearly ten years later, (the longest prolonged conflict in American history), after the deaths of countless men, women and children and a financial cost in the trillions of dollars, we finally achieved our original objective. In addition to the Afghan War, we also need to include the cost of the Iraq War, which was primarily “justified” in 2003 by making a non-existent connection between Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden. We must also consider the “collateral damage” to our own culture as notions such as Liberty, Freedom of Expression, and Trust among neighbors has given way to a culture of Imprisonment or deportation without charge, dangerous rhetoric and the most vehement anti-immigration policy that we have seen in the last 100 years.
So again, I wish to extend my congratulations to the US Special Forces team that successfully brought to justice the man who has “the blood of thousands” on his hands. I would also wish to chastise those among us who believe that this end somehow justifies the means in which we were able to achieve this objective.
This is a day to take stock of how we came to reach this moment, not to celebrate the superiority of our American culture.
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Posted By: Natalie Schultz
Date: May 3, 2011 12:03:35 AM
If Bin Laden truly IS dead, then Americans have every RIGHT to celebrate in the streets. Who cares what anyone else thinks?
Insofar we still do have the Freedom of Speech and expression, unlike ANY other country on earth. That does make the USA "Superior."
We do not have a "Superior Culture." There is NO single "American Culture." There are Left-Wing nut-jobs and Right-Wing nut-jobs. Christians, Atheists, Pagans, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and so on. Urbanites and Country Bumpkins. Shopaholics and Spendthrifts.
What makes America "Superior" is that each and every INDIVIDUAL has the RIGHT to express him or herself with out fear of arrest or death. And that includes burning the Flag, Bible, Koran, or anything else - as long as it does not pose a fire threat to the properties of others. Personally I do not approve of book burning, even if I happen to hate such books (like The Communist Manifesto), but I would NEVER stop someone from doing so.
The problem with America is not our "Culture," it is our GOVERNMENT! The problem is that our Government no longer represents We, The People, but rather its own self interests. Power Corrupts!
Yes, it is true that our Foreign Policy created Bin Laden. The destructive teaming up of Right-Wing and Left-Wing War-Mongers in our Government has turned America the Constitutional Republic into America the Imperialist Empire over the past 100 years. That is a VERY BAD thing for Americans and the rest of the world as well.
Although in Bin Laden's case we literally DID "create" him, I don't for one second believe that there would be no Muslim Fundamentalist nut-jobs, anymore than ending our post-WWII Israeli Policy would lead to the demise of Zionist nut-jobs (both Chistian and Jewish).
I just wish ALL interventionist foreign policy would end, totally and completely, once and for all!
As long as Power Corrupts, and it ALWAYS will, then politicians will always look out for their own self-interest, and We, the People will be pit against each other like Political Footballs. The ONLY solution to this problem, as far as I can see, is TERM LIMITS. Until that happens we will continue to spin around in this vicious cycles of wars, bailouts, subsidies to Corporate interests, burdensome regulations that destroy true American Enterprise and stupid laws that kill and bankrupt innocent Americans. And Debt and Taxes will keep rising UP, UP, UP - until the next Revolution of, by and FOR the PEOPLE.
As for immigration, we DO NOT have an "Anti-Immigration" policy. We have a BROKEN immigration policy!
Ironically, we have the WORST immigration policy on earth! Most countries defend their borders - as EVERY country MUST - to defend their Citizens from criminals, diseases and terrorists. Yet, after thorough screenings the majority of countries actually allow responsible immigrants to enter (and spend way less doing so).
Our current immigration policy is the complete OPPOSITE of RATIONAL! Instead of defending our borders from criminals, diseases, terrorists and drug cartels (a problem which could EASILY be solved by allowing hard-working American farmers to legally grow and sell to adults over age 21), we let all those problems in and then the system becomes over-loaded, so HARD-WORKING immigrants who follow the law and wait in line NEVER GET IN!
And ALL Americans pay the price. Businesses are short of skilled workers, Wefare costs skyrocket, healthcare costs skyrocket, education costs and therefore property taxes skyrocket. And then the Federal Government has the GALL to punish INNOCENT American children and parents by MANDATING vaccines for diseases that NEVER existed in the Western World until now (Hepatitis B - now mandated at BIRTH - a disease only found in Third World countries - the side effects are disabling and killing innocent children). Nevermind the general problems with over-population - natural resources are limited, and in our over-consuming, gas-guzzling society immigrants with high fecundity only add to our problems and land, gas and utility costs must necessarily go up. This makes the "American Dream" a near impossibility for those of us whose Grandparents waited over 7 YEARS to LEGALLY emmigrate here (and literally learned English on the boat).
BTW: My cousin also died on 9/11 - he worked for Canter Fitzgerald. He had 3 kids under age 10. My dad knew lots of people who died as well (he used to work at Canter).
(Note: Most, perhaps ALL of Europe outlaws ANY mention or reading / writing about Nazis, Hitler, Mein Kampf or criticism of Jews (and Muslims in many countries). Denmark and a few other Scandinavian countries may be the exceptions, but I don't know the specific laws there. Denmark is definitely the most free country after the USA as far as Freedom of Speech. Germany - FORGET IT! Homeschooling was banned under Merkel - I completely gave up ALL hope at that point :( Denmark closed its borders after it was totally consumed by the costs of welfare, the rampant criminality and threats of terrorism (they also reformed their get paid to never work welfare system). Sweden has literally gone to hell due to fully open borders - crime has skyrocketed beyond belief (and it is illegal to call criminals Arabs even when they are - policemen have been fired for doing so) and all the immigrants get paid to never work and just have lots of kids = Super High taxes for the Swedes.)
--
I may be a Vegetarian, but I'll fight to the Death your Right to eat Meat!
Posted By: Natalie Schultz
Date: May 3, 2011 01:46:42 AM
Just to clarify, I DO respect the US Military. I do not question for one second that they would kill Bin Laden. In fact, I'd kill the guy myself if I had the chance. In fact, if they were ordered NOT to kill him, that would be an extremely difficult task.
I actually feel BAD for the military, IF the story is true. If I was on that ship and forced to treat that MONSTER with any form of respect I'd be hurling over the side of the boat at best, more likely ripping the body to shreds.
For this, Obama deserves ZERO RESPECT. To put our dedicated troops through years of miserable warfare and casualties and then ORDER THEM to treat the perpetrator with such UNDUE respect is DISGUSTING!
This act is nothing more than political pandering in an (almost) election year. Worse than that, it's politically stupid! What American with a BRAIN actually thinks that destroying the evidence of Bin Laden's death is a good idea? What American would willingly submit our troops to the TORTURE of washing his body, wrapping it in linen and then PRAYING a MUSLIM prayer over it? None that I know of.
Whew! And I thought the Republicans might have a tough election ahead! Thankfully no telepromter can overcome this fiasco!
You've certainly had a lot to say! Just to clarify, the point of my article is that I feel as though celebrating in the streets following a political ******ination is in poor taste, especially given the cost in money and lives that brought us to this point. It should be a sober reminder that monsters are rarely born, they are created, and when we are partly to blame for the creation of a monster, we should be grieving for ourselves and for those we've loved and lost as a result of the mistakes we've made.
I have no desire to get into a debate over whether the American culture is "superior" to any other. The point of the sentence was highlight the irrationality of nationalistic pride, which is only one step away from mob mentality.
The problem with America is our government - no argument there. If you read my other columns you'll see where I get into some pretty scary specifics.
My issue with Immigration is the trend towards criminalizing it. The reason why this concerns me is that because poor Mexicans are an easily identifiable minority group with no rights they become an easy scapegoat for government-sponsored propaganda that seeks to marginalize and dehumanize, and that's just a short walk away from a police state. Ironically, we continue to enjoy the cheap food prices produced by this near-slave workforce, yet when we need someone to blame for increased crime and the drain on social services, we willingly raid their homes, break up their families and imprison them for giving us cheap food.
Insofar that our expression of Freedom of Speech is not perceived as a threat to "National Security", we have it. If the government feels that what you are saying is a threat to that security...
Case in point - Following the 9/11 Terror Attacks and susequently the decision to go to war with Iraq in 2003, journalists in almost every media outlet found their journalistic freedoms extremely limited. It was only after WMD's were found to not be in Iraq did journalists finally start to come out of the woodwork to start asking the hard questions of the Bush Administration. It wasn't until 2005-2006 that criticizm of the war finally made it to the mainstream, and that was only because the President had already lost control of the war on both fronts, and his scare tactics were starting not to work so well. In addition, the growth of political discussion blogs on the Internet has made the Government's job of "controlling the message" that much more challenging.
Today, the government is having a much harder time controlling the social media network, which is why the time is finally ripe for the People of this country to start taking back our government. We shouldn't wait for the government to develop new ways of tracking us and controlling what we say on the Internet. It's only a matter of time before they do. Already they can track your movements via your Smartphone and EasyP***, they can track which websites you visit via your IP address, and they have access to the Internet "kill switch" should social media get too far out of hand. (They used it in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria and Lybia, and guess who gave them that technology?)
Posted By: ThoughtFodder
Date: May 5, 2011 09:55:38 AM
@Natalie:
You should seriously consider writing articles for Nolan Chart. While not quite bulletproof, your responses were very entertaining to read, definitely more than many of the articles on this site.
