Early this week a co-worker of mine sent me the following article and I feel the need to share. You see, when I first heard that Bin Laden was killed I ran into the bathroom where Mr. Husband was taking a shower and I screamed, "Bin Laden is dead!" He couldn't believe it at first just as I couldn't either. He lost a year and a half of his life in Iraq, a year he will never get back. He came back a different person and he came back injured in many ways. It's been years since he has been home but he is still isn't able to live life as he was able to before his deployment.
With this bittersweet news everything came rushing back.
The day he told me that his unit was being deployed.
The day we married before he left.
The call from the Red Cross that he was injured.
The day he finally came home and he told me just what he went through.
I remembered everything... my family and my friends that had soldiers in their lives. How we all suffered and hurt and now... Bin Laden is dead.
BUT!
Don't think that we are jumping up and down with joy. We're worried of what may happen... what is to come.
The following article hit me hard because it's true and with everyone talking about the death and saying that the government lied and if it did happen then where is the proof? Where are the pictures? The video? If you feel this way then so be it but please take a look around you before you say anything. There may be a veteran near you, a widow beside you, a child who lost their parent in this war.
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| My Hero. My Love. My Husband. |
Osama's Death: the Emperor has no clothes, and neither does the crowd
Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 8:23am
Now, don't get me wrong -- I know that no one gives a shit about a random 26-year-old woman's opinion regarding the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. But all the celebratory news articles and the reemergence of "I love America" and "Proud to be an American" bumper stickers are beginning to piss me off. So I'm going to share my thoughts with you anyway.
What Osama's Death Doesn't Mean
1...terrorism is not "dead."
2...acts like 9/11 can't still happen again.
3...we should act like obnoxious hypocrites, as though none of America's leaders have been responsible for the deaths of millions of people all over the globe. America just does it in more indirect ways and to people who "aren't important."
4...we should celebrate like a bunch of barbarians. The death of any person should never be taken lightly, especially the death of a highly public figure with many followers; there will be both negative and positive consequences.
5...we should flood the news stations and papers 24/7 with news about Osama's death. Between Osama and the Royal Wedding, I didn't know a goddamn thing about what was going on in the world for days because few organizations were talking/writing about anything else. Between May 2 and today, the bodies of dozens Mexican men have been discovered on or near the border in mass graves. Gender-based sexual violence rages on in the Congo--more women have been raped and/or killed, since rape has become a weapon of war. In Johannesburg, a lesbian was raped to "cure" her lesbianism (termed "corrective rape"). Kenyan officials have been pleading with the United States for help in securing more condoms for their people, as news spread that a condom shortage had resulted in the reusage of condoms. After a long wait, the Associated Press reported on May 3 that an independent, international probe into ethnic bloodshed in southern Kyrgyzstan found that the military handed out weapons to Kyrgyz mobs who attacked minority Uzbeks last summer (i.e., government-sponsored violence against minorities). But all of these events are difficult to read or hear about when every news channel and news paper is focused on the details of Osama's assassination and Kate Middleton's Alexander McQueen dresses.
What Osama's Death Does Mean
1...very brave men and women put their lives on the line to carry out the dangerous orders given to them, and they successfully completed their mission. Whether one agrees with the killing of an unarmed assassin or not, we can at least acknowledge the bravery, skill, and dedication of the Navy Seals and those who assisted.
2....we've now angered some very, very determined, indigent people by assassinating their leader. I worried about the implications.
3...as a nation, by our reaction, we've showed what type of a country we are: one that celebrates death, demands and expects revenge, and fails to put current political climates and actions in context. How have we come to be in this situation today? What led to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden? Think back -- decades back. Look up Russian, Afghani, and American history (in fact, all of Middle Eastern history) and then put Osama's life and death in perspective. The fact that 9/11 happened; that the actions that led to 9/11 happened; that our nation is now degrading itself by publicly mistaking the death of another human being with justice...Tell me, what is there to celebrate in that?
If any victims of the 9/11 attacks, military personnel, and their families experience a moment of solace from his death, then at least we can be grateful for that silver lining. I cannot even imagine the pain and loss many Americans have experienced since September 11, 2001. But violence begets violence. Ignorance begets violence. Self-righteousness begets violence.
And I end with some quotes, written/spoken by those who can express my thoughts better than I:
"To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice." - Desmond Tutu
"It's just really tragic after all the horrors of the last 1,000 years we can't leave behind something as primitive as government sponsored execution." - Russ Feingold
“To me the death penalty is vengeance, and vengeance doesn't really help anyone in the healing process.” - Bud Welch, Board President, Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights. His daughter Julie was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing
"Forgiving violence does not mean condoning violence. There are only two alternatives to forgiving violence: revenge, or adopting an attitude of never-ending bitterness and anger. For too long we have treated violence with violence, and that's why it never ends." - Coretta Scott King
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