Last night, believing that I was getting in to bed to finally finish Season 1 of Sons of Anarchy (aka In Which Nadia Falls Head Over Heels for a Brawny Fictional Biker Hunk Named Jax) following an action packed weekend [Recommended: the new Yards Park by the Nat's stadium, Mary McLeod Bethune Council House museum (particularly if she is one of your childhood heroes), Kushi's grilled bacon wrapped asparagus skewers; Not So Recommended: Georgetown French Festival, the Dothraki sex scenes in this week's Game of Thrones episode which appear to be set in a Wigwam, mistaking "Guacamole Flavored Dip" for Guacamole at Safeway when your one task was to bring Guacamole to your friends' taco night.], I received a phone call from my sister alerting me to the fact that President Obama was about to announce the death of Osama Bin Laden.
I proceeded to watch Obama's speech, which left me unsettled, then went to bed - still oddly discontented, had a really bizarre dream where I was basically a Rambo-esque character in what might have been Morocco, and woke up this morning still feeling strange. And yes, I completely missed the celebrations which unfolded apparently blocks from my apartment.
I've been thinking about why I felt off all day in assessing this Event. Here are my observations:
1) A few friends have quoted this Mark Twain line to me in connection with Bin Laden's end, "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." If there was ever an instance where this statement should be fitting, I'd think it would be this one. Yet, I have to admit I just don't feel happiness or relief at hearing of Bin Laden's death. I certainly feel moved by the evocations of 9/11 - respectful of the loss and suffering - and I certainly hope for a sense of closure and justice for the families of victims. Further, surveying this from the gray world of international conflict and modern warfare, I don't necessarily stand opposed to such targeted killings.
Yet, I just can't find it in me to celebrate assassination - even if it's that of a mass-murderer. I am even bothered by the expressions all around me of ebullience and the not very funny Bin Laden mocking/puns and over the top celebratory statements. Is it only when we barely beat small Eastern European countries in the World Cup and in shooting down enemies that we express a sense of national unity? I'm uncomfortable with the triumphalist tone of it all (Facebook statuses today ranged from amusing to horrifying). It strikes me as barbaric to celebrate revenge and violence in this way, particularly so immediately and with so little reflection. Aren't we supposed to be evolved from the times of Roman victory parades? (or maybe I just remain a staunch Vercingetorix supporter after years of reading Asterix & Obelisk)
2) It does feel like the marker of something - I'm just not sure what. I don't think the world that woke up this morning without Osama Bin Laden is any different then the world of the last few years with him in it. It certainly felt just as hysterical. We were told that we were both safer with him dead and in greater danger. Maybe it's just the sense of the passage of time. A whole decade since 9/11.
3) In reading today's papers, it's odd to think that the various Osama obituaries, like many famous peoples', had likely been written months, if not years, in advance. There's something strange and haunting to me about that.... kinda cryptic about picturing a journalist writing away, capturing someone's life in a few pages, before it's even over, reduction to the sum of its parts.
4) This looks incredibly bad for Pakistan/American relations. I mean, "When the end came for Bin Laden, he was found not in the remote tribal areas along the Pakistani-Afghan border where he has long been presumed to be sheltered, but in a massive compound about an hour’s drive north from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. He was hiding in the medium-sized city of Abbottabad, home to a large Pakistani military base and a military academy of the Pakistani Army...The house at the end of a narrow dirt road was roughly eight times larger than other homes in the area.."
Really...? great collaboration guys. Clear intelligence sharing going on.
5) Finally, I kept wondering about the woman who is mentioned in passing in so many articles as having been a collateral death - used as "a human shield" and shot dead.
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