Brett Banter

Fittingly, the day after Independence Day, the AP released a story about one of our nation’s many unsung heroes – “the man who hunted Bin Laden”, or the chief CIA analyst for the now-famous operation. Using the alias John, the story praises him for his unfailing dedication and perseverance over a 10-year period in finding and eliminating America’s most wanted terrorist. It’s definitely refreshing to hear about hard work paying off, especially in such heroic proportions, but at the same time, is this profile really newsworthy?

John was, after all, simply doing his job, and there were entire teams of people supporting the operation along with him. Does he alone deserve credit, or does the organization as a whole deserve it, through decades of training and management that put the right people in place at the right time? Not to mention the massive security risk that comes from this story. The AP mentions the CIA’s limits on its agents and their media contact, so as to protect them from potential retaliation from adversaries. The AP agreed to comply by using the agent’s middle name as his alias, and withholding certain, but not all, biographical details. That’s still a costly 15 minutes of fame for John, when the story could have been a general agency profile that didn’t compromise anyone.

Yet at its core, this story is one of persistence out of pure love for country. In addition, what makes it most poignant is it comes from a bureaucrat. We hear every day about valorous soldiers sacrificing for our country. We rarely hear anything positive about bureaucrats. In a media environment saturated with political corruption, scandal, and failure, this story proves that there are government employees out there working selflessly and tirelessly for our security and well-being. This story does more that celebrates an unsung hero. It restores a bit of faith in an often-scrutinized system. And that’s a story we need to hear more often, despite the cost.