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Bin Laden killing rings historic bells, raises concerns

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Like many Americans I'll likely be able to recall where I was and what I was doing the moment I heard that we had finally caught and killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. How I felt about it might not be so easy.

I know many people are ecstatic, dancing, cheering and singing in the streets. But like others who sent their thoughts Sunday night to the news shows covering the story, including one who lost family in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, it's hard for me to celebrate with joy the death of someone.

Even if that someone was a mass murderer, someone who had not only been involved in but served as the inspiration for others to engage in the killing of thousands of people around the world.

But another part of me felt that bin Laden's killing, while providing a sense of closure, might not necessarily be such a good thing.

As details of Sunday's attack unfolded I began thinking of a somewhat similar incident years ago of someone targeted by U.S. forces, Isoroku Yamamoto. Yamamoto was a Japanese Naval Marshal General, commander of the Combined Fleet in World War II and the architect behind the Pearl Harbor attack.

Pearl Harbor carried much the same feelings for Americans then as

the 9/11 attacks do today. Someone did not play by the established rules of war. Despite the fact that Yamamoto, unlike bin Laden, felt reluctance in attacking the U.S.he became associated with Japan's treachery and was targeted by American forces.

On April 19,1943, thanks to U.S. naval intelligence decoding messages regarding Yamamoto's inspection tour to boost Japanese troop morale, like bin Laden, American forces got him, ambushing and shooting down his plane over the Solomon Islands. Because Yamamoto was a successful, innovative and revered leader his death demoralized Japanese troops reeling from the loss at Guadalcanal, but it still took over two more years of vicious, bloody fighting to end the war.

I don't think bin Laden's death will demoralize his followers as much as some think. As hated as he is, was, and as much as we associate him with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, many sources say he hasn't been involved in al-Qaida logistics in awhile.

He's more figurehead than tactician. His death will likely result in his martyrdom, serving other al-Qaida leaders as a new rallying point for recruits and redoubling of efforts against the U.S.

Bin Laden built al-Qaida from an ill-trained force battling the Soviet Union in Afghanistan to an organization with worldwide reach by 2001. Since then, it's spread to 48 countries and taken other forms.

It's a multi-headed monster, and its teeth remain.

Other leaders have made the organization more sophisticated, lethal. There will be more attacks al-Qaida is patient despite our best efforts. Al-Qaida is far from finished, and as much as I would like to believe President Obama's assertion that bin Laden's killing leaves the world "a safer place," I can't.

We forget the impact bin Laden has had. It's not just the body count.

Every time we fly and pass through TSA inspection points it'sas if he is hovering nearby. Remember when you could actually look into the cockpit and watch the pilots?

Before Sept. 11,2001 our defense budget was half its current size and the mention of needing a Homeland Security Department might have struck someone as a fascist idea. Whenever we argue about our budget deficit, there's bin Laden with a sign: Two wars, almost $1 trillion in debt financed by loans from other nations.

But despite all that, there really was no other way this could end. For our own psyche, bin Laden needed to die. It's as an Associated Press story put it "a psychological triumph in a long-standing struggle."

In 1943 Americans needed to feel revenge for Pearl Harbor, and shooting down Yamamoto provide some of that. Today we need that same feeling of payback that many feel in getting bin Laden.

And like World War II, we need to show the world we have the resolve to stick with the game plan to win.



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© 2011 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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