Monday
May022011
Super Villian defeated! What now?
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 1:21PM Victory Friends and Neighbors!
Osama Bin Laden is dead. What does that mean for the world? One less super villain terrorist is out there causing problems. This does not mean that the war is over. Nor does it mean we are completely safe. It simply means that one of myriad enemies is gone. Several questions bother our heroes today.
- Will his forces return to avenge his death?
- Will we see a troop reduction in the Middle East?
- Will this prove our heroes in the armed services are doing the right thing in the war?
- Will the rest of the world backlash against the US due to the tactics used to take him out?
- Will America rest on its laurels now that the face of terrorism has been defeated?
- Will we become so apologetic that we feel bad for fighting back?
- Will we be prepared for the next threat?
- Do we have a right to be proud of this event?
- Does his death matter in the grand scheme of things?
- Do paranoid conspiracy theorists have anything of value to add?
I offer these questions for you, Friends and Neighbors, to discuss and debate. While I have my theories, only the Oracles know for sure what will come of this. Let us know what you think at tales2astonish.info or at our facebook page. We look forward to your thoughts.
Be Excellent to Each Other,
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=)
~BAT
Reader Comments (2)
OK, I'll be first to lay out my thoughts for others to dissect. :) My initial reaction amounted to "Take THAT, forces of evil!" In my head, I heard Maya Angelou telling Countee Cullen, "Herein lies my Christian lack. When I'm struck, I WILL strike back." My mind quickly shot to Ezekial 18:23. Celebrating another's demise with drunken partying in the streets hardly looks like a Christian nation. And isn't that what extremists would have us believe... that this was a case of good vs. evil? Christianity vs. Islam? Or Islam vs. Christianity, depending on which side of the divide one stands? Was it worth the innocent lives lost, on both sides, to get to one man? Is it worth the lives that WILL be lost? Because, quite frankly, killing the leaders of a revolution didn't stop the Civil Rights movement, or the Suffrage movement. Those deaths were catalysts. Those deaths ignited a fire within its ranks to keep fighting. To us, he was a madman. To them, he was a visionary.
1. They will try, but the success remains to be seen.
2. Yes, as we are already in the process of further drawing down the troops in Iraq (kind of a trick answer, I know, but there you have it).
3. More prescient: Are our leaders who set policy and issue orders to our heros going to take the appropriate steps to ensure said heros can effectively apply our military power to the desired end.
4. Some of the world (the dregs of society) will most certainly rage about the death, but who cares about them, they weren't and will not be on our side anyway.
5. Not this week, but I'd say the probability is high that with bin Laden dead, support for sustained action will slip as time goes on.
6. We just observed Islamic funeral rights in disposing the body of a man who we've spent the last 10 years saying doesn't represent true Islam. So... Yes.
7. No. We never have been truly "prepared" for the "next threat" at any point in our history. Next time will be no different. We are a reactive people by nature.
8. Yes. A man who headed an organization that attacked innocent civilians while hiding behind them because of our own reluctance to incur collateral damage has been killed, and will no longer use those human shields as protection while striking at other civilians.
9. No. He was but the most prominent head of a many headed beast. The nature of their organization allows it to survive without a central leader.
10. No. But when has that ever stopped a conspiracy theorist?