Instant Karma Is Gonna Get Ya

When I first got word of the death of Osama Bin Laden late Sunday night, there was an initial rush of shock, followed by a strange sense of relief and even pleasure.  After ten years in hiding, the world's most famous fugitive was dead and certainly met a fate that he deserved.  It was instantly easy to see how this event had the opportunity to bring a necessary amount of closure to a very dark decade for America.  Bin Laden's death would also be a welcome tonic to help soothe the wounds of a decade of fierce opposition to Al Qaeda, the Taliban and terrorism of any stripe across the world.  In other words, there were reasons to see the death of such a heinous man, guilty of so much death and destruction through a lens of hope and even an odd sort of happiness.  Sadly, what has also happened in the day since the new first broke is a surge of flag waving, jingoism, patriotic cajoling and chants of USA! USA!

Much of what has been shown of the jubilant celebrations is an outpouring of relief over the end of an era and the glee of a horrible man brought to justice.  But it is vitally important to remember how it looks to the rest of the world.  An angry and violent Al Qaeda supporter in Saudi Arabia burning a US flag in the fall of 2001 to celebrate the 9/11 attacks looks an awful lot like the jingoists out to celebrate the death of another human being last night because that death means a validation of their chosen way of life.  Part of the call for democracy in the Middle East during the recent "Arab Spring" has been to work to see that this region of the world can have an open discourse of ideas and free debate without debasing itself in patriotic flag-waving and hate mongering.  If we as Americans support that movement of Arab freedom we should be ashamed of ourselves for the horrible example we are setting by publicly celebrating the death of another human being - even if that human being is Osama Bin Laden

Justice has been served and I for one hope that this is also a huge blow to the Al Qaeda network, but this is not a military maneuver that will make us any safer as a nation.  In fact, it will imperil us further.  The act was just and it was right, but it will not be easy.  As our government awaits reprisals for Bin Laden's death, and they will almost certainly come, we must also remain vigilant in remembering that the more we gloat of our victory here, the more we will be seen as occupiers and oppressors.  It is our responsibility to act with a sense of dignity and class because the topic demands it - and more importantly because that is the right thing to do.  The death of Bin Laden is so important to us a nation because it is a direct connection to one of our nation's most catastrophic days of loss.  Let us not further defame that loss by wildly celebrating a sombre occasion.