In the past week the headlines have looked like the stuff of fairy tales: Cinderella has got her Prince, and the bad guy is dead. Am I the only one who’s uneasy about this? The reaction to Bin Laden’s assassination has been terrifying. Thousands of people gathered outside the White House with face paint and flags chanting “USA! USA!”: you’d be forgiven for thinking it was July 4th.
It’s cathartic, sure. It’s been a long time coming. Bin Laden’s evasiveness over the past decade has come to symbolise the many failings of the War on Terror, but I struggle to see how such an overt celebration of an individual’s death will do America any favours.
The failure of Al Qaeda –and indeed, any extremist Islamic group – to gain footholds in the ongoing revolutions across the Middle East was an indication that their influence was fading. This martyrdom, coupled with images of rejoicing Americans, may be the kick start global jihad needs to attract new recruits.
Embassies around the world are now on alert for retaliatory terrorist attacks, and violence in Iraq and Afghanistan is likely to flare up as it usually does in reaction to goings on in the West. UN staff were beheaded after Terry Jones finally burned a Qur’an just five weeks ago.
Saddam Hussein’s execution was not met with such jubilation. Why? Because we bothered to give him the facade of a trial first? If grainy mobile phone footage of the death of the woman used as Bin Laden’s shield emerges, I’m sure we’ll tone it down. For now, it’s too tempting to let symbolic victories overtake grim, bloody reality.
George W Bush said on Sunday that “the fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: no matter how long it takes, justice will be done.” Bin Laden’s assassination wasn’t justice, it was revenge. It is insulting to the memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and the 900,000 who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since to claim that any individual’s death is justice.
That said, Obama, who will now breeze into a second term, is right: the world is a better place without him. Bin Laden’s death may or may not to be a turning point in the War on Terror, but whatever its significance, we should think twice before using anyone’s death as a morale boost.
