Why did the news of Osama Bin Laden's killing leave me feeling uneasy?
Maybe because it was followed by pictures showing lots of rampant celebration - sound-bites depicting almost gleeish and giddy joy at his demise, maybe it was also the fuzziness almost from the start from the almighty American self appointed vigilante nation of how it 'went down'.
And before you shout out at my stance let me explain. I'm in no way defending or condoning any of his reported actions. Terrorism isn't something I think of as a necessary evil, my liberal stance doesn't stretch to the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent people - no matter what race or faith they happen to be.
What I find distasteful is some of the reactions that followed; I'm honestly at a loss to come up with anybody past or living that would cause me to jump for joy on hearing of their death - yes they may be evil personified and yes they absolutely need to be held accountable and punished for their actions but celebrating the death of anybody, no matter how evil, surely makes us as heartless and ruthless and as indiscriminate and bigoted in our actions as them!
I'm also very uncomfortable with America;, having finally found him why did they not take him captive? Surely as the 'civilised society', always taking the moral high ground, this was the only acceptable and more importantly, the only legal path they should have taken. Instead he was neutralised in in what they felt was a justifiable killing, even though he wasn't armed and posed no direct threat to any of the military undertaking the exercise - how can any unarmed person be classed as a viable target? Why weren't we given the opportunity to see him face trial?
I'm not sure I'm making myself totally clear - please understand, I'm not saying that he didn't deserve justice - but here's the thing - he wasn't given any justice. He's dead - and dead means there are no functioning glands; there is no emotion, thought, regret, fear, loss - he has totally escaped punishment, meanwhile our actions have made us look as savage as the very terrorists we say are a threat to our civilised and free society.
And again (sorry this really has upset me and I'm finding it hard to express my feelings without them being easily misunderstood)- when we see our enemy rejoicing at the death of one of ours we call them animals, we call them fanatics, we call them extremists. So why is it acceptable to jump and sing and celebrate so vocally and not call or judge ourselves inhuman when the roles are reversed?
What I find distasteful is some of the reactions that followed; I'm honestly at a loss to come up with anybody past or living that would cause me to jump for joy on hearing of their death - yes they may be evil personified and yes they absolutely need to be held accountable and punished for their actions but celebrating the death of anybody, no matter how evil, surely makes us as heartless and ruthless and as indiscriminate and bigoted in our actions as them!
I'm also very uncomfortable with America;, having finally found him why did they not take him captive? Surely as the 'civilised society', always taking the moral high ground, this was the only acceptable and more importantly, the only legal path they should have taken. Instead he was neutralised in in what they felt was a justifiable killing, even though he wasn't armed and posed no direct threat to any of the military undertaking the exercise - how can any unarmed person be classed as a viable target? Why weren't we given the opportunity to see him face trial?
I'm not sure I'm making myself totally clear - please understand, I'm not saying that he didn't deserve justice - but here's the thing - he wasn't given any justice. He's dead - and dead means there are no functioning glands; there is no emotion, thought, regret, fear, loss - he has totally escaped punishment, meanwhile our actions have made us look as savage as the very terrorists we say are a threat to our civilised and free society.
And again (sorry this really has upset me and I'm finding it hard to express my feelings without them being easily misunderstood)- when we see our enemy rejoicing at the death of one of ours we call them animals, we call them fanatics, we call them extremists. So why is it acceptable to jump and sing and celebrate so vocally and not call or judge ourselves inhuman when the roles are reversed?
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