On the death of Osama
I will never be able to hear Mussorksy's Pictures at an Exhibition again and not think of American forces finally "getting" Osama bin Laden. That is what I was listening to (give or take a movement) Sunday when American forces stormed a walled compound in Pakistan and killed the man responsible for the largest global terror network in the history of man.
It is funny in a way, while I enjoyed a Sunday afternoon with friends at the symphony a world away Americans were fighting for my freedom to listen to the music. Afterward we went to get coffee and sat near the downtown waterfalls -- while in Washington the president was briefed. By 9:30 p.m., I was asleep-- too early for the national news conference that gave the information about Bin Laden. When I awoke at six, I of course, saw the news and immediately jumped on Facebook to see what was being said. A friend in Charlotte likewise had slept soundly through as well the night because she noted this was great news to wake up to in the morning. Nice to see I had company in my non knowing. My entire feed was filled with posts talking about the event --mostly happy, some concern, some wondering what happens next.
And yes it is naive to think that this is the end of the war on terror. Bin Laden was the face of the war, but the hatred that drove him will continue to drive others. It did not start with Bin Laden nor will it end with him. But it will weaken our enemies. That needs to be underlined, put in bold print and never forgotten. America has shown it will continue to fight. It will continue to lead. America will not stand down.
Today, we should all be Americans and put aside our bickering and political differences. We need to be Americans.
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1 comments:
One quick thought: I fell asleep early last night (on the couch, as usual) and woke up around midnight. I flipped through a couple of channels before settling in to watch a little bit of the pre-recorded USC-Auburn baseball game, then picked up my phone to check in on Facebook. That's how I learned Bin Laden had been killed. I didn't learn about it from CNN or even Jon Stewart, and certainly not the networks. I learned about it on FB.
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