How do we respond to the death of OBL?

The day after the assassination of Osama bin Laden, I was surprised and saddened to see just how many people not only took no joy in the news - but actually took it upon themselves to condemn anyone who viewed his death as good news. Some were simply killjoys - people who took great pleasure in robbing others of happiness - but some were truly thoughtful people struggling with the situation. Religious leaders were equally split this weekend, as they tried to teach their congregants how to react to death of this mass-murderer.

My own read is simple. It is appropriate to rejoice in justice done - especially for those of us in the NYC area who were closest to 9/11 and knew those who died. But it is also appropriate to mourn at the necessity of killing, and at the fact that he will now never have a chance to repent.

Time for honest introspection

We have celebrated the news of the death of Osama bin Ladin - a man who masterminded the killing of 3,000 innocent Americans, and would liked to have killed far more - and our politicians have basked in the glow of success. The spies who found him, the soldiers who confronted him, and the commanders who organized and approved it all should be lauded.

But it is also time to be honest with ourselves. We must admit the discovery of Public Enemy Number One shows our intelligence capabilities in the Arab world are still inadequate. It has been 10 years since 9/11, and we have now learned that OBL spent six years in the compound where we was ultimately found and killed. Let me repeat that: SIX YEARS. And during all of that time, our best intelligence was that he was living in a cave along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, probably constantly in motion. Instead, he was in a secure mansion, surrounded by family, living comfortably with all of the advantages of a modern life except telephone and internet.

After 9/11/2001, we learned that our intelligence services were hampered by an over-reliance on technology over human assets. We loved our gadgets and our gizmos, but hate doing the hard work of building relationships and developing allies. This discovery appears to indicate that nothing has changed in that vein. OBL understood this weakness and exploited it, by keeping gadgets far away. In the end, he fell because of human intelligence - his courier.

Soon, when all of the ceremonies are done and the medals have been awarded, we need to sit down and take a long, hard look at ourselves. Has anything really improved since 9/11/2001 in the areas of developing human assets in the Arab world by our intelligence agencies? (I doubt it.) Or does this great victory show an even greater weakness, that another enemy can exploit?

Finally, he's the LATE Osama Bin Laden

Credit where credit is due. The Obama administration has accomplished something that the Bush Administration could never do. They have executed an operation which assassinated Osama Bin Laden. Apparently, the kill has been confirmed via DNA testing, so there is no concern that a lookalike or decoy was eliminated instead.

Bin Laden was located at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which was monitored and when the time was determined to be right, the president said, he authorized a "targeted operation."

"A small team of Americans carried out the operation," Obama said. "After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."

...Former President George W. Bush said in a statement tonight that Obama called him to inform him of the news of bin Laden's death.

Bush called the operation a "momentous achievement" that "marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001."

Now, we wait to see if this development (1) demoralizes al-Qaeda around the world, (2) energizes and united them, or (3) has no effect whatsoever.

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

Honestly, I have been having this same thought. From here.

Major Al Qaeda Spiritual Leader renouces Jihad and Bin Laden

What would have happened if the Pope had suddenly renounced the Crusades and called for the public trials of the Crusaders who committed acts of heinous violence in the name of Christ? Perhaps history would have gone very differently, and the status quo of Jerusalem today would be more balanced and peaceful. Well, according to the New York Sun, the main theologian for Al Qaeda has renounced Jihad again America and is calling for a sharia court to try Osama Bin Laden and other senior leaders of Al Qaeda. This is the same man who years ago wrote the definitive theoological works justifying the Jihad.

One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a "catastrophe for all Muslims."

In a serialized manifesto written from prison in Egypt, Sayyed Imam al-Sharif is blasting Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad by comparing the September 11 attacks to the early raids of the Ansar warriors. The lapsed jihadist even calls for the formation of a special Islamic court to try Osama bin Laden and his old comrade Ayman al-Zawahri.

It is important to note that al-Sharif is in an Egyptian prison, and Islamic critics suggest that this turnaround was extracted by means of torture. But experts quoted in the article seem to believe the change of heart is genuine, and that this may be a sign that Al Qaeda is breaking apart from internal dissention and dissatisfaction with what the Jihad has really acccomplished to benefit the average Muslim.