May 2, 2011

• VOR: Ding Dong, Osama's Dead

   I posted the following comment on two Xanga blogs last night, and thought I'd share it here on my blog, since it was "recommended"  a few times. Like everyone else in the world, I heard the news last night that Osama bin Laden, ancient and aging terrorist mastermind, was hunted down in his palatial Pakistani digs, and shot in the head by CIA operatives under orders not to capture the guy, but to snuff him out, like in a videogame. Regardless of an old Judaic law (written in stone, if memory serves) that states "thou shalt not kill" or words to that effect, there seems to be a firestorm of support for this operation, and that nasty terrorist Osama bin Laden is DEAD.

  

  (Coverage from Al Jareeza English can be found HERE.)

  For some reason, I'm just too old and jaded, I guess, I immediately thought of the Wizard of Oz, and thus I wrote this comment:

  Obama says Osama is dead. It's official.
  Hey, wait a minit. That almost rhymes.....

  Ding Dong! Osama's dead. Which terrorist? That Osama bitch!
  Ding Dong! Osama bitch is dead..
  Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
  Wake up, the Osama bitch is dead. He's gone where the bad guys go,
  Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
  Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
  Let them know
  The Osama bitch is dead!

  (Obama)
  As Leader of the Freedom City, In the County of the Land of USA, I welcome you most regally.
  (Barrister)
  But we've got to verify it legally, to see
  (Obama)
  To see?
  (Barrister)
  If he
  (Obama)
  If he?
  (Barrister)
  Is morally, ethic'lly
  (Media Pundit 1)
  Spiritually, physically
  (Media Pundit 2)
  Positively, absolutely
  (Sheep)
  Undeniably and reliably Dead
  (Coroner)
  As Coroner, not on a whim, I thoroughly examined him.
  And he's not only merely dead, he's really most sincerely dead.
  (Obama)
  Then this is a day of Independence For all the people and their descendants
  (Barrister)
  If any.
  (Obama)
  Yes, let the joyous news be spread That terrorist Osama at last is dead!

  Justice Has Been Done proclaims The Huffington Post. We Got Him proclaims The Drudge Report. Every major news outlet is reporting the news. Oh, his body was dumped at sea, er, I mean, buried at sea. I guess that's so no photos of him dead show up on the internet. The mission that ended up killing him was, in fact, a "kill mission". Capture and a showing before a war crimes tribunal was too good for the guy.

  On 9/11/2001, 10 years ago come this September, Osama bin Laden masterminded the attacks which killed over 3000 people in the U.S. But he's an old man now, and I really doubt if his assasination is going to stop any planned reprisals (if any), and in fact might begin new ones, and some reports are already speculating about that. It seems to me that the Arab Spring has in fact, stopped the momentum of terrorist groups like Al Quaeda. Bin Laden hasn't been the actual day to day leader of Al Quaeda for years anyway. The common man in the Middle East is now asserting his strength against his oprressors without having to resort to violence unless necessary. (As Muhammad (PBUH) directed by God, proclaims in the swords of the Qur'an if memory serves.) The targets of the Arab Spring are the local oprressors, not the phantoms in the "West" as imagined by groups like Al Quaeda.

  President Obama can sure use this as spin for his re-election in two years, now can't he? Good thing Sarah Palin didn't drop a house on the wicked bitch terrorist Osama instead. Now maybe we can pull out of Afghanistan, eh, Mr. President? And perhaps not send any troops into Syria or Pakistan.

  Why don't we get the rest of our guys out of the Middle East altogether, now that "justice has been done?"

  Well, the "voice of reason" tells me there will be lots of celebrations, largely symbolic in nature. From my perspective, which encompasses the world view instead of just that of  my country, killing Osama bin Laden doesn't really change anything. I wish he'd been captured and not killed outright, so he could stand trial, which is what is supposed to happen in democratic situations. Also, that old "commandment" keeps bugging me. I don't like capital punishment either.

  Every time I watch President Obama give a speech on TV he reminds me of someone's civics teacher on Parent Teacher day. I still think he's too young to be running America. But he sure knows how to one up our previous president with this "mission accomplished."

   

  Ding Dong. That terrorist Osama is dead. 

  EDIT: 12:30pm. According to the L.A. Times, early reports that the mission was kill only are incorrect. The CIA would have captured bin Laden if capture were possible. The Times report says bin Laden returned fire and died with his gun in his hand. I feel better knowing it wasn't an assasination! Xanga keeps closing down before I can post the edit, but Dick (tychecat) presents a link to a fantastic "Y Paper" in his comment below written by two Joint Chiefs of Staff which calls for a little less militaristic outlook by the U.S. in future and recommends slashing the pentagon's budget. Excellent reading. MFN/ppf

  Posted:  May 02, 2011 7:15 AM

  • 3:30 pm
  • 17 Comments