Osama Bin Laden Is Dead: Now What?

Note the difference in response from civilians outside the White House, and troops in Afghanistan, as the world learns that Osama Bin Laden, mastermind of 911 is dead.

Posted by: Noël Jones


Last night I got home around 10pm and turned on the TV to a rather anxiety-provoking announcement--the press corps had been mysteriously called back to the White House without explanation, except that President Obama would soon be making a "highly unusual" announcement of national security concern. I checked the other channels--the same story was running everywhere, and without commercials. Newscasters speculated that it might be about Libya, as NATO has recently struck the home of Muammar Gaddafi's son, killing him, and three of his children. But then the word got to the press that the president's announcement would not be about Libya. What could it be? The president never makes unplanned announcements after 10pm on a Sunday night. My first thought was biological terrorism. No, no, try to think of something positive...what positive news could possibly inspire the president to do this? Maybe they finally got Bin Laden...


Moments later, the press got the word that it was indeed the killing of Bin Laden, the mastermind of 911 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, about which Obama would address the nation. It was after 11pm before he finally did, as the administration was waiting to announce until after members of Congress had been notified. But word was already spreading, and outside the White House people were gathering by the hundreds, chanting "U.S.A! U.S.A!" and singing the national anthem. People gathered at Ground Zero in New York as well, and there was an outpouring of jubilation at the news. 


I texted my brother, who is stationed at Ft. Drum: "We got Bin Laden." He called me immediately, and when I answered the phone, he asked in a very even measured tone, "Is it true." He was at home, and the TV happened to not be working. I told him that it apparently was--that we had killed him. "You mean, he's dead?" he responded. I realized for the millionth time how important--and powerful--words are. My message "We got Bin Laden" had led my brother to assume that we had
captured the man, not killed him. I put my iPhone on "speaker" and turned up the TV, and we listened together to the coverage, and finally to President Obama's announcement. My brother said, "I know some people feel like this is 'Ding dong the Witch is Dead' but I feel much more somber about it." We both wondered about what would come next. Would this be Obama's turning point in the Afghan War, when we could finally begin to draw down our troops, since finding and killing Bin Laden was our justification for being there in the first place? My brother has served two tours in Iraq, and has assumed that his next tour will be in Afghanistan. 


Or would this merely martyr Bin Laden and cause even more vengeful "blowback" in the form of terrorist attacks by extremists? It is tempting to think of Al Qaeda as a snake, and Bin Laden as the head that we have finally cut off. But unfortunately, Al Qaeda is more like a poisonous fungus, cropping up everywhere, and sending off hundreds of spores to spread on the wind each time a part of the fungus is chopped off.


I could be wrong, but I think that that is the difference in the reactions of American citizens and American troops in the photos above. Citizens think we've beheaded a snake, and it's time to party. Troops know we've chopped off part of a lethal fungus, and are quite aware of what could come next. Will they go home? Or will they be there another 10 years? At this writing, Secretary of State Clinton has just announced that the threat from Al Qaeda remains the same, and our strategy in Afghanistan will remain the same. Great.


I have a crazy idea. Why not bring them all home, to defend us against terrorism here, where it would actually happen? Let them guard our ports, borders and airports. Let them rush in after the South is ravaged by the hurricanes, oil disasters and tornados to save Americans, protect them from looting and help them rebuild? Lets have them here defending people instead of there, killing terrorists and thousands of civilians as collateral damage, forever feeding the blowback that makes people willing to die to kill us in ever-growing numbers? As long as we have tight security in airports overseas that send planes to our country, and intelligence to alert us as to nuclear danger, why shouldn't we defend ourselves here? Lets not spend another $1 trillion on "defense" contracts that should really be called "offense" contracts, when our economy is in desperate need of paying off its deficit. Let's bring our troops home, secure our borders, save the lives of our young people and save our tax money. Let's focus on ourselves and stop making new enemies.


But alas, this is a fantasy. Just days ago, we (as part of NATO) attacked the home of the family of the leader of Libya, killing his son and three grandkids, all the while claiming that we're just helping the rebels, not trying to kill Gaddafi himself. Gaddafi was in the house, but escaped, and only family members, including children were killed. How does this make us look in the eyes of the Arab world? How does this protect us from terrorism, as opposed to creating more and more anti-American anger and fresh new terrorists who want to kill us? 


How do photos of our people, jumping up and down joyfully in the streets with flags, hands in the air, chanting U.S.A., U.S.A. look any different to Arab citizens in the Middle East and Africa, than photos of their citizens jumping up and down look to us?


I said good-bye to my brother around midnight, both of us, wondering, I'm sure, as to whether this all means he will be sent to Afghanistan sooner, later or not at all. This morning his wife gave birth to his seventh child.