Osama bin Laden blew up social networking last night, to an extent unseen since Michael Jackson met a similar fate. Ok perhaps its too soon to use the phrase "Osama bin Laden blew up" but I like to diffuse the moment with jokes. The best from social networking:
"Osama bin Laden (upper body injury) will not return."
http://i.imgur.com/09fM7.jpg"Don't get too excited everybody, I heard he
made horcruxes."
Anyways I got the news via text last night and was immediately shocked. The announcement came out of nowhere - in fact, I can't remember the last time I heard Osama's name in the media. Then I thought, I wonder what the scene is like at the White House and considered going. Then I was like nah. But I happened to be on H street NE and near a Capital Bikeshare station at the time, and getting to the White House was actually quite convenient. I remember when Michael Jackson died there was a spontaneous commemoration with his music playing in Times Square, and I was living 8 blocks away and didn't go. So I thought, I owe it to myself this time.
As chance would have it, I was dressed in a shirt with the New York city skyline, and so I went. From four blocks away I could hear occasional USA chants and it was already a mob scene when I arrived. The atmosphere was electric and certainly very unique, although I had been to comparable experiences before. Obama's inauguration and the Rally to Restore Sanity and sports celebrations have similar levels of elation and/or patriotism and general crowd mania. But the real difference, the fundamental reason that last night was so special lay in its spontaneity. We had no idea this was coming. I had never heard anyone ever talk about what they would do if Osama was found or killed. Never. I don't know whether people thought it was a sensitive topic or inappropriate. I think if someone had said to me a week ago, "man i hope they kill Osama" I'd say something like, "that'd be great but that's really not the main issue." But then he actually dies and we all go ecstatic. I don't think anyone could have seen this coming but the moment brought spontaneous joy and triumph to everyone I met.
Which brings me to another point: should it? It dawned on me when we were at the White House yelling and screaming that we were exulting over someone dying. You can say that it was evil dying or terrorism being vanquished, but there's something quite sadistic about the whole ordeal. There's nothing wrong with being happy though. 9/11 is, and hopefully will always be, the most significant tragedy of my lifetime and a permanent part of our national identity. Its memory is still quite painful to recall. The death of the key perpetrator, so long just a cowardly face taunting us with videos from unknown locations, brings a sense of closure and justice to the event. To be honest though, I don't think the vast majority of us really understand what his death means in terms of global security. Is he still the mastermind spending his waking moments plotting America's destruction? Will his movement die with him? Most Americans have no idea. Most Americans probably don't even know what country Osama was from, or what his ideology was, and what other terrorist activity he was responsible for. But they do know he was behind 9/11 and that is enough for them, us, to rejoice in his death.
The desire for revenge can be hard to resist. In this case, it can also be synonymous with justice. Did Osama deserve to be punished? Absolutely. Did he deserve to be killed? Probably. Were Americans cheering on the night of May 1st because justice had been served? Absolutely. Were we also cheering because we had exacted vengeance on someone we fundamentally despised? Definitely.
The bottom line is that we don't need to apologize for being happy over the demise of Osama bin Laden. The whole situation is far from ideal, but ever since the planes crashed into the towers and 4,000 people died, nothing has been ideal. Yes, when I do come to a state of serenity and ponder the whole situation, I feel sorry that many in the Arab world feel resentment towards the United States. I regret that there have been selfish state actions mandated by American leaders that have negatively impacted people in the Middle East. I regret that the images that come out of the United States can come across as irreverent, arrogant and indulgent, and similarly that the images that come out of the Arab world can be suicide bombs and terrorist hate. I'm truly sad that this whole situation led a man from a very wealthy family to launch a personal war against my country. I regret that his ideology, which seems to me completely off-based and even nonsensical, attracts plenty of followers, some of whom give their lives for this cause. And I regret that they succeeded in damaging the very fabric of our country and that this resulted in a decade of war.
But I don't regret cheering.
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