So now one more person is dead. After the World Trade Center, Pentagon & United flight 93, plane hijacking that went down in Shanksville, PA, a decade of 2 wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, countless death, destruction & ruination, we have "accomplished the mission" they claimed to have set out to do-- avenge the terrorist attacks. Senseless wars, Iraq unrelated to the 911 incident, and Afghanisitan, where Bin Laden had been living, but was long gone.
I am appalled by the jubilant chanting of "USA" in the streets.
Excerpt:
"Americans spilled into the streets for spontaneous celebrations after news spread that Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, had been assassinated. Is it morally wrong to celebrate the assassination of bin Laden in such a festive, patriotic way? ‘This is disgusting. We shouldn’t be celebrating the death of anybody.’ It felt gross.”
No one we interviewed for this story denied the importance of bin Laden’s death; the heroism of the American soldiers; the importance of serving justice.
But religious leaders of different faiths say no one should rejoice in the death of a person, even a hated enemy.
Emad El-Din Shahin, a professor of religion at the University of Notre Dame, says the Quran also teaches reverence for every life, even the most repugnant ones.
The Prophet Mohammad was sitting by a road one day when a funeral procession came by. The prophet stood up out of respect, says Shahin.
“The people with him told him, ‘But he’s not a Muslim.’
“The Prophet Mohammad said, ‘Isn’t it a human soul?’”
Shahin says most Muslims reject the notion that bin Laden was a Muslim leader.
“Bin Laden did not represent Islam or Muslims,” Shahin says. “He was an aberration. Most of the teachings and practices of al Qaeda were condemned by the majority of Muslim scholars and populations.”
“Certainly Osama bin Laden, who lived by the sword, received the world’s form of justice,”. “But do we really think that violence, even a ‘justified’ act of violence, has the capacity to heal the wounds inflicted by violence - or to end the cycle of violence?”
Some leaders say that dancing on bin Laden’s grave is wrong from an ethical point of view as well.
“Killing someone should never be a cause for celebration or joy,” says Rick Halperin, past chairman of the board of directors of Amnesty International USA.
“We as a nation are repulsed when we see Muslims dancing over the death of
Americans. Why would we think our reaction would not be seen as disgusting behavior to them?”*
Americans. Why would we think our reaction would not be seen as disgusting behavior to them?”*
Do any of us really think there are no more madmen in the world to step up into the "leadership" role of al Qaeda , or perpetuate senseless acts of violence?
If not al Qaeda, then the Taliban, or some other group.
More people have died in the revenge phase, then in the initial attack. Have we had enough killing?
Have we achieved full retaliation?
The only silver lining I can see about this situation is if the US had the sense to pull out of both wars now.
Declare this wretched mess Mission Accomplished, and get out of Afghanistan & Iraq.
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3 comments:
i've heard the arguments, but i don't see anything wrong with celebrating the death of bin laden. it's not just about revenge being sweet, though i can understand that sentiment. it's a matter of getting rid of someone who was a cancer on the world, and the end to the evil that he can inflict. will others take his place? of course. however, along with getting rid of bin laden, the special troops got hard drives and computers and other things that will put a crimp in any of al qaeda's future plans. it's nice to imagine a world where peace breaks out all over, but that's not the reality. that said, i think we should declare victory and start pulling out of afghanistan. there's little we can do there.
I think we're spread too thin right now to even consider it. On top of that the american people will not be fond of another war.
Nonnie~ al Qaeda is now vowing revenge.
I suppose one could argue that of the over 1 million who died in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks, OBL should have been one of deceased.
He certainly was a cancer in civilization.
But the resulting killing spree, even more deadly than the initial attacks, can hardly be justified.
I realize we will not all be joining in a chorus of Kumbya, but I think Gandhi had it right
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
The initial attacks killed 3000 people, we went to Iraq & killed over 1 million people, plus 4400 of our own soldiers doing so, and Iraq was not even involved in the attacks-- and we STILL have a military presence there, plus Afghanistan.
Our country has spiraled out of control in this revenge mode, more of our own troops have died than in the initial attacks.
It is senseless. Not only has it cost so many innocent lives, but it brought this country to it's knees in bankruptcy. The element of common sense is absent in the justification of continued wars.
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