Reflections of a Progressive on the Death of Osama bin Laden

Posted on May 3, 2011 in Terrorism Violence War

Here is my ideal for handling a terrorist like [[Osama bin Laden]]: the Navy [[SEALS]] capture him. He is brought back to the United States for trial in the Great State of New York. It is televised (though no one is allowed to be in the courtroom except the necessary officers of the court ((All lawyers are considered to be officers of the court.)) which include the prosecution and his defense attorneys.) He is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is locked up in solitary confinement for the rest of his days with only a Quran, a Bible, and a prayer rug. No one is allowed to interview him or see him. He eats and sleeps in the cell. He is forgotten and when he dies, he barely rates a mention on the obituary page.

Of course, that didn’t happen. The SEALS tracked him down and shot him. President Obama came forward and calmly announced that he was dead. Then left the East Room. That was that.

I would have liked to have seen this play out differently. But our armed forces are not trained to take prisoners in such situations. This deficiency should be corrected for future missions. We are engaged in developing all kinds of technology for the better killing of people, so why not develop better ones for capturing them, for neutralizing hostile fire without eliminating the combatants? This is a dream I have. I think war is a horrible thing and it does horrible things to the people who engage in and to the people who cheer it on. Pamela Gerloff writes in Psychology Today:

The death of Osama bin Laden gives us an opportunity to ask ourselves: What kind of nation and what kind of species do we want to be? Do we want to become a species that honors life? Do we want to become a species that embodies peace? If that is what we want, then we need to start now to examine our own hearts and actions, and begin to consciously evolve in that direction. We could start by not celebrating the killing of another.

It is hard not to think that some of the impulse to celebrate “justice being done” may also contain a certain pleasure in revenge–not just “closure” but “getting even.” The world is not safer with Osama bin Laden’s violent demise (threat levels are going up, not down), so no cause for celebration there; evil has not been finally removed from the Earth, so no reason for jubilation on that count. The War on Terror goes on, so there is no closure in that regard. The truth is that “celebrating justice” when one person is killed–as happens regularly in the gang wars of American cities–only incites further desire for revenge, which, from “the other side’s” viewpoint, is usually called “justice.”

The days following bin Laden’s death have been filled with partisan squabbling. The Democrats drum it into the Republicans that it was one of their own who finally got things together and tracked down the evil man. Republican lovers of waterboarding want to take credit for it even though the evidence shows that torture delayed the revelation of the name of bin Laden’s courier and the location of his compound. Progressives want to hang yet another albatross around the president’s neck for shooting the unarmed terrorist.

But Obama is staying cool. The hard work of his intelligence officers and the SEALS yielded this conquest. The victory is all his and the people who did their jobs at his command. But he is not gloating, he is not dancing in the streets. He has returned to other pressing matters. That is an example we all should follow whether we agree with the particulars or not.

Many Native American peoples used to have special ceremonies to decompress their warriors so that they could resume lives of peace. I think we could stand a bit of that transition now. Bin Laden is dead. Acknowledge the fact and move on.