After the recent death of Osama Bin Laden, many crowds have gathered in the U.S, and chanted “USA! USA!”. At baseball games, or at the White House, in Tweets, on Facebook, and on college campuses, people have found the death of Osama Bin Laden to be a reason to celebrate. Talking with some people about this, I have found that this jubilant chanting is not welcomed by everyone.
I have heard from some that “we should be remembering those who have passed because of this man, not celebrating his death” and that “it is kind of sad that it takes someone to die for our country to unite like this”. It seems very unlikely that the death of Osama Bin Laden will lead to the downfall of terrorism, but the death of the figure head of Al-Qaeda does bring a symbolic sense of closure to Americans. Some of the older people I talked to about this believe it is “a generational thing” and that the youth “does not understand the importance of this issue and they should not be chanting and celebrating. It is, after all, not some sporting event. ”. I believe that although it may be a little strange to celebrate another human’s death, it is not a bad thing to celebrate. Americans are united in the celebration of the death of the symbolic head of a terrorist group that killed many Americans, and brought sorrow to countless others. Although he got away from us for almost a decade, we finally got closure, and although we never had the satisfaction of a trial, it was a relief to many Americans that a man who wished for the America's demise was punished for his wrongdoings. Something seems very right about finally being able to punish this man. Although we will never get back those we lost, it is just that Osama Bin Laden was killed. What do you think of celebrating his death? Is it right of us to celebrate the death of any man?
Trev, great post! I personally could never "celebrate" over a death. In our class, I remember someone responded to the question, "How does Osama's death make you feel?" Someone responded: Joyful. I was honestly shocked, and partially appalled. I agree with you, Trevor, that his death brings us closure over a horrific moment in our history...but his death should not make people happy, or therefore, celebration should not ensue. Sure this figure head is now dead, and we may believe we now have the "upper hand" as a nation. That in it self, is a reason to unite and stay strong in the war on terror. But celebrate? Whats the point. It seems wrong to me, I still don't understand why people are celebrating. In fact, I do NOT think its the people who lost close friends or family during 9/11 who are on the streets screaming "USA, USA!" Then who is?
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