I'm not one of these conspiracy theorists that have already popped up in the last few hours - the idealist in me wants to believe that a national government, run by The Leader Of The Free World, would not have a televised address to the nation unless that were certain of what they were saying. The realist in me, however, is afraid that by successfully killing such a man - and then celebrating it so fervently - the Western world ( namely the US and its allies ) risk revenge attacks by Bin Laden's extremist followers.
The mother in me feels that fear keenly, because she remembers the teenage girl who was traumatised by images of people leaping from burning buildings, and by soundbites of people leaving last goodbyes for their loved ones....
Chills down my spine again. I had pushed out the images and sounds I heard that day on TV. These people are kidding themselves if they think that this is over ...
ReplyDeleteThe emotions that come with this are slightly confusing. Watching this happen almost 10 years ago was surreal. Although I wasn't in New York, time seemed to literally stand still everywhere while we stood, mouths agape in horror, as our television screens filled with smoke and death. Someone had attacked us. It was terrifying.
ReplyDeleteNow he's dead, which brings a sense of relief. It also makes me scared. He was an extremist. Who's to say he hasn't been training hundreds exactly like him who are ready to strike us harder than before because we took their leader. He was in hiding for 10 years, so it's entirely possible that he spent those years getting his replacements ready to fight.
I have to admit that I find all of the celebrations over his death naive, rather premature and somewhat distasteful. His followers are still active, his second in command is sure to want to retaliate quickly and they will feel that they have something to avenge. Though the thought of attacks has always been scary, I have to admit that I feel more worried now. Frightening times ahead...
ReplyDeleteI saw something on the news a couple of hours ago that said they were 99 % sure it was Osama they had killed. Wow, how reassuring, eh?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, yeah, I'm quite uneasy about the whole thing. For one thing, I can't quite believe that it's taken them ten years to catch the man who was most wanted in the world. How is that even possible??? And yeah, the scenes of celebration make me slightly uncomfortable too . . . but then, as someone on the news pointed out, remember the people in the world who were celebrating when 3000 people were killed on 9/11? That put it a wee bit in perspective for me. But still... I think the celebrations need to be a little bit toned down, because OBL may have been the catalyst for the Al Quaeda movement, but there's way too many believers of it spread out over the globe for it to disappear just because the catalyst is gone.
I guess time will tell huh? I hate to think whats coming though.
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