I’ve been living outside of the United States for the last four months, so my view of recent American politics and related occurrences is a bit more removed than average for an American citizen. When I woke up to the news of Osama’s death, I turned on the television to see what was being reported. The first thing I saw was footage of people crowding the streets around the White House, cheering, dancing, waving American flags, etc., and my first reaction was to be a bit embarrassed.
It seemed a little barbaric to me, sort of like the crowds who might cheer at public beheadings in medieval times. Osama bin Laden was certainly a cancerous cell within the body of the human race, and I think it’s fair to feel a sense of relief about his demise, but jubilation? What exactly are we being jubilant about?
After I had thought about things for a few hours, I just felt sad about the whole thing. It’s sad that he ordered the deaths of thousands of people, it’s sad that America spent trillions of dollars and lost thousands of soldiers attempting to “bring Osama to justice”, and it’s sad that bin Laden’s entire existence ended with him at the bottom of the ocean.
Despite what Obama says, I don’t believe that the world is a safer place today than it was before Osama was taken down. This isn’t a Hollywood film where America busts in, kills the bad guy, and everything is peaceful again. In this situation, Americans saw themselves as “the good guys”, and Osama was their villain. The reality we live in is infinitely more complex. Governments around the world are still engaging in behaviors that cause violence, and, until that changes, there will be a never-ending chain of people just as bad as Osama, bent on ending lives to accomplish their goals.
We still have a lot of work to do if we truly want to bring peace to this planet. When Americans can convince their government to spend more money on education than on the military, that will be a day to be jubilant in the streets.
“Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence, you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. … Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.