A Cause for Celebration?

In the hours that followed the announcement that America had successfully killed public enemy number one, I've been through quite a few emotions. While I'm no fear monger, I'm not naive to think that we can now let our guard down - probably the opposite is true for the short term at least. There is closure in this, however. I think the "U.S.A" chanting parties border on inappropriate but if you understand the context of it inside of the bigger emotional roller coaster that this country has been on for the past decade, it's understandable.

Osama Bin Laden was the man who funded the 9/11 attacks and was a sworn enemy of America but let's not forget that he was also behind bombings in Yemen that targeted American troops on their way to Somalia to take part in the international famine relief effort, an assassination attempt of President Bill Clinton, and the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.

Ending this man's life was the right thing to do. Many thousands of people have died either directly as a result of this man or because of the fight against him and his organization. The people who survive in the wake of that death and destruction deserve closure. I read a great article posted by a retired Army Ranger who came within a few thousand yards of capturing Bin Laden years ago. He described his reaction to the news:

"After Geraldo made the official announcement that bin Laden was dead, I leaned back, put my hand to my forehead, closed my eyes, and exhaled about ten years of self-doubt in one long breath. My eyes watered immediately. I stopped hearing anything Geraldo said and started seeing fallen Eagles—former Delta teammates—Brandon, Chief, Pizza, Mike, Bob, and a half dozen other operators that kitted up on one hit after another, day after day, year after year, in the nearly ten-year long hunt for bin Laden. I could see their smiles, hear their radio calls, and smell their sweat and blood.

I tried to hide the watery eyes from my wife as I thought about the nearly 3,000 innocent victims of September 11. I thought of their family members still dealing with the personal loss. I thought of the thousands of servicemen and women that have been killed or maimed since the War on Terror began with a daring Delta Force long-range helicopter raid on Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar’s compound in November 2001."

So when I celebrate Osama Bin Laden's death, know that I'm really celebrating the ever-so-slight cleansing of the gene pool, the triumph of good over evil, perseverance over cowardly patience, technology over brute force, and - through the way we respectfully buried him - I'm celebrating the fact that America treated its enemies with the standards of behavior above that of the barbarians we removed from the earth. This last part begins to finally turn the corner on the Guantanamo scandal, the torturing, and the extraordinary rendition in which America seemed to lose sight of our principles. If we continue to make the higher choices, I will continue to celebrate.