Observations: Death of a salesman of world terror

Did we really have any other choice but to kill him? I don’t think he would have given up. I can accept that fact, but I take no joy in his death. Such elation would make me no better than a terrorist.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Mystic River Press
By David Smith, Press Writer | May 17, 2011

Osama bin Laden is dead and some of the celebrations have made me cringe. I take no joy in the death of the man, other than the fact he will no longer be plotting ways to kill us. But it’s kind of like killing a mosquito. Another one will be along soon enough.

My first visceral reaction was that I hoped his death did not come so quickly that he did not know who was firing the shot. I had visions of a Special Forces soldier standing over him and saying, “Courtesy of the red, white and blue,” before pulling the trigger. I even thought that perhaps the first bullet should just be for pain, and the next, his death.

What is the proper punishment for killing thousands of innocent men, women and children around the world? A life sentence? I think not, even though I believe I oppose the death penalty. But what’s wrong with me? It’s a moral issue about which one shouldn’t feel wishy-washy.


Bin Laden’s death in a firefight sounded like fair justice until I had a moment to reflect. Was it just a case of us becoming too much like our enemy? Will violence only beget violence? Will his death only escalate the terrorists’ plots?

The side of me that said “finally” when I heard the news of his death makes me wince and when I see others celebrating his death, it reminds me of my dark side.

Did we really have any other choice but to kill him? I don’t think he would have given up. I can accept that fact, but I take no joy in his death. Such elation would make me no better than a terrorist.

If we had taken him alive that would have caused us a great deal of pain. Who knows if any Americans would have been safe traveling abroad. How many would have been kidnapped and murdered in an attempt to free bin Laden? As a man in prison he would have become a rallying point for every terrorist in the world.

Thank goodness we dropped his body into the ocean. Burying him would have just created a beacon for a lot of crackpots.

And I don’t need to see a picture of bin Laden’s lifeless body.

There are Muslims in this country who cry that bin Laden misrepresented their religion.

The Connecticut Muslims in Meriden, Conn., and members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, held a press conference about the death of bin Laden last week.

“We completely agree with President Obama that Bin Laden was in no way a representative of Islam,” said Dr. Mahmood Qureshi, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. “On 9/11, he hijacked not just a few planes but the entire religion of a billion Muslims. Well, we are taking our faith back one meeting at a time and showing our fellow Americans that Islam instructs loyalty to country and service to humanity, not the mayhem that bin Laden preached.”

I suppose we have to take the man at his word. What choice do we have? Our country was founded on freedom of religion and individual rights. Should we judge an entire religion based on the actions of a few mobs screaming “death to America”?

So, what about the role of Pakistan in this whole mess? Those of us who labored under the assumption that bin Laden was holed up in a dank, musty cave were sorely mistaken. Should we blame Pakistan because the terrorist was hiding in their country on some estate with toilets and running water?

We need Pakistan as much as they need us. We will need their assistance if we want to pull troops out of Afghanistan, and they in turn need our aid. Pakistan has nuclear weapons and we don’t want that country to destabilize and have those weapons fall into the wrong hands. Pakistan also has one eye on India, with which it has traded fire over the years. Pakistani officials are walking a fine line keeping everyone happy.

I hope that bin Laden’s death might give some comfort to the relatives and loves ones of 9/11 victims. But there are a lot of bin Ladens out there.

It is going to be a long battle.


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