May II. 2011
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Osama’ Death a Moment for Reflection
Our prayers will
be a fitting
response
by
G eoffrey A.
B lack
The news that the
U. S. military located and killed
Osama bin Laden at his com ­
pound in Pakistan comes as the
nation prepares to com mem o­
rate the 10th anniversary of the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the
W orld Trade Center in New
York City, the Pentagon in Wash­
ington, D.C., and the downing of
United Airlines Flight 93 over
Pennsylvania.
T h ese tra g ic e v e n ts left
Americans and people through­
out the world in shock and griev­
ing the senseless loss of life re­
sulting from this intentional as­
sault planned and carried
out by al-Qaida under the
leadership of Osama bin
Laden.
From that moment there
were those in this country
who felt a need for re­
venge that could only be satis­
fied by bringing bin Laden to
justice, which in the minds of
many meant killing him. As of
to d a y , th a t g o al has been
achieved.
Yet, while many celebrate this
event and feel that it has pro­
vided the nation with a fitting
response to the horrific and bru­
tal attack on American citizens,
there are others who see no
reason to rejoice and instead
feel a deep sense of disquiet and
unease.
For the past 10 years we have
mourned the loss of those who
perished in the 9/11 attacks. We
mourn, too, the thousands around
the world - Muslims, Christians,
Jews and others — killed in nu­
merous indiscriminate attacks by
al-Qaida.
We have been made all too
aware of the cost of waging the
"war on terror" both in human
lives lost in Iraq and Afghani­
stan, and the financial toll it has
taken on our country. We la­
ment that our troops often have
returned to lackluster care for
the healing of their physical and
emotional wounds.
Few, if any of us, are without
a personal story of loss that con­
nects us to this conflict.
If nothing else, Osama bin
Laden was an enemy of the
United States and other govern­
ments around the world. His
death at the hands of our military
brings his life as an adversary to
an end, but it does not bring us
any closer to our ultimate goal -
a just peace, healing of the hu­
man spirit and reconciliation be­
tween human beings and with
God.
We know that revenge does
not lead to healing and reconcili­
ation. It does not move us any
closer to peace.
We now have an opportu­
nity to pursue a troop w ith­
draw al and end to com bat op­
erations in A fghanistan; the
continued hope o f a ju st reso­
lution to the conflict betw een
Israel and the Palestinians; en­
gaging in m eaningful relation­
ships with people of other faith
com m unities, including M u s­
lims; and to use the gained
political capital to prom ote a
just peace on many fronts.
Above all else, it is a moment
for prayerful reflection.
God promises courage in the
struggle for justice and peace.
For people of faith committed to
seeking peace with justice in our
nation and the world, turning to
God in prayer is most appropri­
ate.
I believe our prayers will be a
fitting response to the violent
death of an enemy, whose cause
still lives as a challenge and a
threat.
The Rev. Geoffrey A. Black
is the General Minister and
President o f the United Church
o f Christ.
Good Riddance to a Ruthless Mass Murderer
We have yet to
recover from bin
Laden’s blow
by
D onald K aul
I don't like to exult in the
death of people, not even
people I don't like. I think
it's bad form.
I'm making an exception in the case of
Osama bin Laden, however. From the
point o f view of a comfortable middle-
class American (which I certainly am),
he was evil incarnate — a ruthless mass
murderer who inspired the massacre of
thousands of innocent men, women, and
children without a trace of remorse. He
was our implacable enemy and I'm glad
he is dead.
To many on the other side of reality,
however — a stateless Palestinian or an
aggrieved Arab nationalist — he was a
great hero. This was no tin-pot dictator
lining his pockets with money stolen
from the Arab people, after all.
No, he was a rich kid, a billionaire's
son, who forsook the easy life to dedi­
cate him self and his fortune to return­
ing the Islam ic world to its form er
glory. His w orldview called for ac­
com plishing this by crushing Israel,
driving W estern "Crusaders" from
M uslim soil, and resurrecting an Is­
lamic caliphate that harkened back
to the M iddle Ages.
T h ere are m any s tre e t-c o rn e r
im am s in the M iddle East who want
the same things, but they don't have
what O sam a bin Laden had:
M oney, which he spent to finance
param ilitary operations and training
centers around the world.
9-11.
If the W ar on T error is really a war,
then Septem ber 11,2001 marks one o f
the m ost brilliant and successful m ili­
tary attacks in the history of warfare.
In a single stroke, an army o f less
than tw o-dozen barely trained troops,
armed mainly with box cutters, brought
the w orld's greatest m ilitary pow er to
its knees.
It w asn't m erely that the attack took
the lives of nearly 3,000 A m ericans.
Nor, astonishingly, that it utterly de­
stroyed the m ost iconic symbol o f our
capitalist system . It w asn't even that it
struck a blow at the very citadel o f our
military might.
It was that it attacked our self-
confidence and delivered a blow to our
sense o f well being from which we
have yet to recover, a decade later.
M any A m ericans now find them ­
selves insecure and nervous in the
presence o f people who look like they
might be M uslims. We allow ourselves
to be subjected to all m anner o f indig­
nities at airports in the name o f secu­
rity. We go to war without hesitation
and spill endless blood and treasure in
an attem pt to ensure it won't happen
again.
We are afraid as once we were not,
not even in the darkest days of World
War II when the Nazi monster threat­
ened us.
That was what bin Laden accom­
plished, his life's work. If he wasn't the
mastermind of the 9-11 assaults, he cer­
tainly was its animating force. And that
is why I'm glad he's dead.
Will his demise end the Global War on
Terror? I very much doubt it. But he was
the global face of terrorism and, as such,
a powerful symbol. That symbol is no
more.
Certainly, there will be retaliation. But
you can't fight a war by being afraid of
retaliation.
I was much amused by the response
of many Republican presidential candi­
dates to bin Laden's assassination. They
praised the work of our troops, of course,
but it was hard to find the name of
President Obama in their statements. It
was as though the troops had done it all
on their own, without leadership.
As much as they would have it other­
wise, Barack Obama is the president of
the United States and our commander in
chief. He deserves full marks for his
leadership. He made his Republican ri­
vals look like the pipsqueaks they are.
Just a few days before, he had taken the
air out of the "birther" movement by
releasing his long-form birth certificate,
proofing to all who respond to proof that
he's a natural-bom American.
It was a bad week for Republican
politicians. It was a good week for the
rest of us.
OtherWords columnist Donald Kaul
lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.
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