So Osama Bin Laden is dead...what does this mean?
Yes, this is a victory in some sense. It will boost the morale of soldiers in combat around the world. It may provide some solace to people who lost loved ones on 9/11. And it will certainly boost President Obama’s re-election chances in 2012.
I won't argue - there IS some reason to celebrate in America today - we DID get him. Bin Laden is officially dead, and his myth is under strain.
But taking a step back from the party for a moment - and reflecting on the costs to our nation of George Bush's wars - and the dangers still lingering as a result of our so-called “War on Terror” and all our blunders in the Middle East - we need to regard this event in history not as a victorious moment - but instead as a teaching moment.
From this point on - we ALL need to promise that this will never happen again. Never again will we let a President of the United States distort a crime into an act of war. Never again - will we let a President of the United States engage in war without a Congressional declaration of war as the Constitution requires.
As a result of George W. Bush's obsession with being a Superhero - the United States of America has launched 2 full-scale war efforts in the Middle East. We've initiated countless secret war efforts in Yemen - Pakistan - and parts of Africa. Filled the sky above the Middle-East with an arsenal of unmanned deadly drones. Retro-fitted Guantanamo Bay to house hundreds of “suspected terrorists”. Cut the ribbon on covert prison facilities around the world - mostly to outsource our torture operations. Constructed the biggest domestic spying apparatus in the history of our nation. And revamped how we all fly in planes around the country.
By the way, I was at the White House Correspondent's Dinner Saturday night. No Chertoff Porno Scanners, and I didn't have to take off my shoes to be in the same room with Barack and Michelle Obama. But to get on an airplane?.
And trillions upon trillions of dollars have been spent to do all of these things, from the very real wars to the very phony security theatre in our airports. And we think we're safer today because one guy couldn’t ignite his shoe a few years back - another guy couldn’t ignite his underwear - and a third guy couldn’t light off a couple propane tanks and fireworks in Times Square.
Given how frequently terrorist acts happen around the world, we’ve been very, very lucky that our nation has only been hit a dozen or so times since 9/11.
And all of those were home-grown terrorists, mostly heavy consumers of right-wing TV and radio, Christian religious extremists driven to murder by their own fanatacism, or crazy people who can easily buy an automatic weapon and a few thirty-shot clips.
But in terms of international terrorism - it’s pretty clear we aren’t at all safer than before 9/11 - despite the fact that we haven’t actually suffered another attack of that sort.
Unfortunately, because of Bush's wars, more people around the world support the idea of killing Americans than ever before. But the most troubling thing about this decade long saga is that Osama Bin Laden ran around free long enough to see his vision succeed.
Since the primary purpose of terrorism is not to see how many people you can kill - but instead to see what kind of radical changes you can elicit from your enemy in response - and then how you can use those radical changes to convince more people to join your cause - I’d hate to say it - but I think Osama Bin Laden has won at least the first round.
Our nation is vastly different than we were ten years ago, more reflective of the Bush-Cheney worldview - small and frightened and angry. And, as a result, the jihadist industry is booming - no pun intended.
Yeah - Bin Laden is dead - but sadly - he was the least of the problems facing America.
To confront the rest of the problem and to finally close the book on this lost decade - there's one thing we need to do right now.
If we want to make sure that America snatches victory from the clenched hands of Bin Laden's dead body that's now somewhere in the depths of the North Arabian Sea - there's only one option left on the table.
And that, Mr. President, is to end the so-called "War on Terror" for good, bring our troops home, and tell the Pentagon - instead of the teachers of Pennsylvania - that they have to organize a bake sale to raise money to continue their operations.
That's The Big Picture.
