DETAILS, DETAILS---WHO CARES?

In the middle of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" last Sunday night, the alert bulletin flashed across the TV screen--"News Alert from the White House". "Gotcha'", I thought--Obama is getting even with Trump's audacious remarks regarding Obama's qualifications. But it was the real deal, the biggest deal of the year--Osama bin Laden was not only found, but captured and killed---details to follow. The devil may be in those details, but let him give it a rest for now. It was a rare moment of stunning news----good news, grateful news, relieving news. We had waited a long time for this, and had all but given up hope that Osama, the man who became the face of terrorism and who had changed this country overnight with the attack on 9/11, would ever be brought to justice. President Obama gave a short speech---he asked that we rejoice together and remember how it is to come together as a united country. We did and we do---but probably not for long. We are united in our ability to divide over anything at all, and this was no exception. The details coming out will give us much to opine about---but do we have to? Apparently so.

For starters, who was this man--and why did he hate us? His message was murky, but his methods were deadly. He denounced our way of life, and took it upon himself to change it. But who was he to judge and take us on as his enemy? It was always a tricky thing---what did we call this rogue muslim who had somehow managed to wage war against the most powerful country in the world? He had no army, no uniforms, no rules of engagement, and no respect for even the lives of his own followers. He was responsible for many attacks prior to 9/11, but that one got our full, stunned attention---we were in the cross hairs of this one man and his scattered "cells" who were hell bent of destroying, if not all of us, enough of our security to rattle our national phyche ,dramatically change our life style, and alter many of our freedoms. We were now not so free, and sadly watched as we sent our men and women off to fight this phantom enemy called Al Queda. Their numbers seem to multiply and morph until finally they were here among us, like a contagious disease, infecting even some of our own citizens who were wooed at the prospect of becoming a martyr for a cause they thought was worth dying for---extreme jihadists, or lost souls, doing the bidding of a man and his hatred for "infidels"---or so he proclaimed.

Like most other cult figures, Osama bin Laden was a false prophet, an arrogant, egotistical, but rich and charismatic leader who used religion as a cover and an excuse to murder and gain notoriety for his own political/religious views. In the end he was nothing but a pathetic old man, an outlaw on the run and forced to hide for the rest of his life, and finally in a "mansion", which turned out to look more like a cold, fortressed prison. He could trust no one and ultimately was betrayed by others of his "troops" who had been captured and interrogated. He died at the hands of his self made enemy, having not accomplished much but chaos ,mass murder, and a terror which did indeed change, but did not bring us to our knees. He would never accomplish his goals, but he paradoxically managed to cast a shadow upon his own Islamic religion, even as we struggled to separate it from the extreme and perverted beliefs that he touted.

The great irony is that as his quest ended to conquer the world with his version of a fringe, religious society, where freedom and democracy would no longer exist, the opposite has begun to flourish in the middle east, known now as the Arab Spring. Egypt was the largest explosion of the thirst for democracy, and other Arab countries will surely follow in her wake, as the youth in their ability to connect with freer nations will rise up and demand their freedoms. Iraq has already been unshackled from the constraints of a oppressive, despotic rule, and Afghanistan is slowly finding its way to a democracy, as we help it along. Perhaps technology and its wide spread communication effects was and is the real enemy to those who would attempt to stifle and over power whole countries with their ideologies and exclusionary religions. The light of a free people shines brighter than of those who must bow and subjugate to other mens' wishes---and that light will draw and warm the world as more and more people see it shining brightly via their television sets, their cell phones, and their computers.

Before this week is out, there will be many conflicting opinions and debates regarding the killing of Osama bin Laden. As usual we will turn ourselves inside-out arguing and debating as to whether it was right and just, or wrong and illegal. There are those who say the body should not have been given even the dignity of a Muslim ceremonial burial at sea, that the gruesome photos should be made public, that we should have co-operated more with the Pakistani government, ya-da, ya-da. But for most of us, the deed is thankfully done, the witch is dead, and hang the details.

Terrorism will no doubt live on for awhile, but we know the enemy now, and it knows we will fight back hard and long. We have toughened as a nation and perhaps in our awareness of those who would harm us, we have become less self absorbed and more resolved to spread and encourage democracy, so that others may enjoy our freedoms and not be caught in the paralyzing grip of those who would enslave them to their particular beliefs and agendas.

I was proud of President Obama the other night as he approved the plan and gave the order to finish the hunt for Osama. That couldn't have been easy and was fraught with the possibility of failure. I have always been proud of George W. Bush for leading us through one of the most tumultous, frightening times in our history . But I was most proud of our brave military men who pulled off a highly skilled military manuever and risked their lives for us all. All of them deserve our respect and gratitude for performing their most solemn duty--to keep us safe. They kept their promise, and it would seem fitting that we dispense with hair splitting details and the bickering among ourselves.

To those who wish to pick over the minutiae and find fault with the execution of the plan to capture and possibly kill upon certain orders the man who thought nothing of beheading, bombing, and burning those he hated, may I say--- get over it. Was he a criminal, deserving of a trial, or a militant combatant, who was sought and killed as any other enemy number one would be? That may be up to a higher authority than ours. Either way, his guilt was self confessed many times over, and he wasn't done with us yet, as evidenced by material from his computer files taken during the raid. This was a man who willfully chose his fate. May God have mercy on his soul--and may there not be a virgin in sight.





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