Osama bin Laden Has Been Killed

[filkertom]

Here's your news day.

So very many things can and will be and already have been said about this, especially given the irony of it occurring on the eight anniversary of George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" show. What occurs to me, though, is this:

• Now, maybe, just maybe, we can start boldly saying "enough already" and start removing ourselves from Iraq and Afghanistan and maybe even Pakistan.
• There will always be another bad guy to rise and take his place. Stop committing to permanent warfare based on chasing shadows. That's what bin Laden was able to do to us for years, and our nation has suffered for it.
• Some people are already protesting about the directive that bin Laden's remains "will be handled in accordance with Islamic tradition". Well, it only makes sense. He's already going to be a martyr to his followers; there is absolutely no reason to rile up those who otherwise would not consider him a martyr by desecrating his remains further.
• There is already a hue and cry from the Right about President Obama "politicizing" this. I do believe we've had enough precedent over the past eight years of the Republicans doing precisely the same thing. Moreover, there's already this (h/t jblaque).

Thoughts? Please keep it civil. And no unseemly gloating. This is not a cause for celebration; it's a cause for sighing with relief that this portion of a long and tragic story is over, and for moving on.

Comments

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

What's the Mark Twain quote--"I would never wish a man dead, but have read some obituaries with great pleasure."

This one?

[darthgm.livejournal.com]

"I've never killed a man, but I've read many an obituary with a great deal of satisfaction."
— Clarence Darrow

Re: This one?

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

I like the other wording better! But many things are attributed to Mark Twain that don't belong to him, so probably. ;)

[saganth.livejournal.com]

Yours is probably the best reply I have seen in this whole thread. Simple, to the point, dignified, appropriate, and distinctly lacking in all the excess cynicism so many others seem to be spouting. Can't anyone just say it's a good thing that justice has finally been done to the man responsible for an atrocity?

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)