Osama is dead, in case you didn’t hear. Somehow I imagine you’ve heard. I won’t take a lot of time to say how we feel about this, because like many, we have mixed feelings. I will just write shortly tonight to say that so far there’s been no indication of insecurity or attacks in our corner of this country. My guess is that we are not in a high priority location for retaliation. Sure they will look for soft targets, but they’ll also look for targets that provide maximum press, to try to stoke their image. Also Osama is not a good name around here. Insurgents here hold to the purpose of gaining control of this land and its resources, not destroying the world. Our staff are all happy that Osama is dead. Of course, they would be happy, because by working for a foreign organization they make themselves targets for terrorists. But, the death of Osama does not seem to be a big deal for our security here, yet.
Of course I have a lot more to say, but since these two writers said it so well already, I will give you the links to their articles, and then add a few comments…
My favorite quote from the above article, “It is a tempting yet dangerous practice to look around the world for evil people and target them. That is just what Osama Bin Laden thought he was doing. We must be vigilant that we do not become what we despise.”
Now on to the next one:
The whole second half of this article is worth reading again. There are reasons that bin Laden used and Al Q will still use to attack America from any angle they can. The question is not whether we agree with their opinions/convictions, the question is- do we know our enemy? If we don’t honestly know how our country’s policies have made them so angry, how can we ever hope to understand them, let alone turn them away from their hate? And this does not even come near the hard words by a famous man, who said, “love your enemy.”
This is quite hard talk, perhaps it is much better to just kill them.
Shocking ending! Good way to show us how ludicris that idea is. I can't spell the word ludicris. It looks ludicris no matter how I try spelling it. Ludicrus. Ludicrous. Ludicros. Ludacris. Hmmm, maybe that's it. Anyway, I enjoyed those blogs.
ReplyDeleteI read that article by Paul Rushenbush this morning from T's facebook and was gripped by the same lines you quoted. Powerful statement. Introspection time!
ReplyDeleteHaven't read your second link yet but know I will spend some time soaking it in also. Thanks for sharing.