Yesterday, the President announced that U.S. Navy Special Operations Forces (SEALs) infiltrated the nation of Pakistan and killed the infamous terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, in a compound within sight of Pakistan's military academy.
I was completely overjoyed when I heard the news--this proves that despite the profound bitterness of loss, there can be justice done in this world for the sake of the innocent slain. Ultimately, this battle isn't about killing the man: it's about killing his ideas and letting the people of the Muslim world chart their own future--a future without his hateful influence or that of his followers.
If anything, this may prove the nail in Al Qaeda's coffin. They've been going downhill since we first invaded Afghanistan, and while there are now more terrorist organizations, they're smaller, fractious and often on the defensive. There won't be a "clean" end to this war--not like Hitler shooting himself, or the Emperor surrendering, or Sadaam being dragged out by his beard--but this victory is a powerful message and a symbol both of the rightness of our cause and of the implacability of all our people.
We shouldn't rejoice in the act of killing, but we have every right to rejoice in this important victory. In this ideological battle, a "symbolic" victory is as real as a traditional one on the battlefield--and that's exactly our armed forces just scored. Most current GW students vividly remember 9/11, and while this won't bring back those who died it meant a lot to a lot of us here.
The photos on the right side of this post were taken in front of the White House between 10:00PM and 12:00 midnight yesterday, May 1, 2011. (The ones on the left are of the statue of G-Dubs himself standing in University Yard on H Street between 20th and 21th Streets.) Other DC schools had to pay for taxis since the metro was shut down by 11:30, but at GW we just walked--and way outnumbered everyone else there in front of the White House. I went down there with a bunch of friends, and it was really something. It's hard to quantify the value of this kind of experience, but it's safe to say it's one of those only-at-GW things all of us will remember.
Adam
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Questions or comments about anything GW-related? Send them to me at ash1290@gwmail.gwu.edu.
Photos courtesy of fellow GW student Monica Parshley. Yes, that man is dressed as Spiderman.
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