05.02.11
They threw him in the tide when he died, Clyde
Paraphrased from Rolf Harris. Seems as good a happy song as any to note the death of Osama bin Laden.
Some notes and comments, taken from the news:
“I don’t know if it will make us safer, but it definitely sends a message to terrorists worldwide,??? said Stacey Betsalel, standing in Times Square with her husband, exchanging high fives. “They will be caught and they will have to pay for their actions. You can’t mess with the United States for very long and get away with it.???
From the NY Times. Open mouth, insert foot. No, it took just under ten years. Curb the reflexive tendency toward bragging.
This really is one of those moments when there are no red states or blue states, just United States; no MoveOn progressives or Tea Party conservatives, just Americans. Triumphalism and unapologetic patriotism are in order. We got him.
From Eugene Robinson, at the Post.
Triumphalism coupled with kumbaya. Shakes head.
Prior to this missive, Gene Robinson was the guy you saw on Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Donnell or Rachel Maddow everyday, grinning and laughing his way through every bit of terrible news from the republic. “Ha-ha-ha!” — the absurdity of it all. That summarizes Gene on the tube.
From ABC news, a segment showing the blood-spattered dilapidated room where bin Laden, or someone, met his end. You have to endure a one minute commercial first, not allowing any advertising potential to go to waste, this one for skin medicine.
A dog barks repeatedly as the camera pans the room. Finally, we see medications and a roll of tape on a shelf.
Mansion? Not even by Pasadena standards. Pretty feeble and very grim if the photo of the exterior is accurate.
Some thoughts:
1. That the operation was completed inside 40 minutes without loss indicates bin Laden’s guard was neither particularly capable, fearsome or fanatical. They came, they saw, they snuffed him and destroyed a helicopter that malfunctioned. Perhaps ten years of attrition left bin Laden’s terror force as eaten by moths as the domestic non-military side of the US.
2. No one with any sense should believe Pakistan’s intelligence service didn’t know bin Laden was in Abottabad.
3. After ten years, no WMD attacks, despite bin Laden and al Qaeda’s great desire for them. His death doesn’t make the acquisition of capability more likely. Rather, even less.
4. If you’re part of the mostly inept cadre of al Qaeda men remaining, it’s going to be increasingly hard to get up in the morning to go to work. Particularly if you think about this one too much.
5. One of the reasons Pakistan was a tourist attraction for angry young Muslim men wishing to train as bombers is gone. If you’ve no hope of seeing the great leader, or of even hearing his words through a proxy before being captured or killed in operations, how enthusiastic are you going to be about going to camp now, really?
It’s just going through the motions.
6. Throwing him in the ocean for the crabs was just the right thing. Bravo for thinking of it! Bin Laden’s watery burial guarantees he won’t furnish a jihadi facsimile of the grave of Jim Morrison.
7. The President I voted for gets a genuine Mission Accomplished moment, not a fake one.
8. Violating Pakistan’s sovereignty is good.
9. Pasadena was silent last night. No car horns, no obvious drunks, no Tea Party flags outside the town center.
Made me glad to live here.