There is no substantial reason for releasing the photo of a dead Osama Bin Laden. The only purpose it could serve is to add sensational grist to the mill of 24 hour news. Releasing the picture will only reinforce the idea that any trifling conspiracy theory is valid until proven otherwise; whether that be where Barack Obama was born or if OBL is truly dead. If the White House were lying about tracking and killing the world's most wanted terrorist, couldn't aforementioned terrorist burst the president's bubble by releasing another of his videos? And if this was a hoax, wouldn't the prankster be better served releasing the photo right before election day?
Withholding the picture is also important for the same reason OBL was buried at sea. He was more important to the global jihadist movement as an icon than an operator. Burial at sea prevents his final resting place from becoming a monument. The remains of Adolf Eichman, the architect of the Holocaust, were similarly scattered in the Mediterranean. Bin Laden's ideology hinges on aggrandizing his conflict to that of a holy war so that his followers believe that terrorism is a matter greater than deposing dictators or forcing Western powers to retract. Al-Qaeda seeks to build up its combatants as folk heroes, 9/11 organizer Khalid Sheik Mohahmed told a courtroom that he is like George Washington. Responding in kind would be confirming their self-proclaimed elevated status as an existential threat and would also be detrimental to the United States's safety. Terrorists should not be presented as madmen bent on razing the U.S., but as criminals, murderers, hypocrites who would just as soon kill the people the claim to be fighting for. Terrorists should not be given a forum for dramatic speeches, their burials should not be an occasion for ceremony. Combating terrorism is as much a conflict of ideas and the U.S. should not feed the discourse, but tamp down the grand language terrorism thrives on.
Showing posts with label Osama Bin Laden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Osama Bin Laden. Show all posts
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Bin Laden Family
With Osama Bin Laden dominating the news and projections of what the future holds, I thought I would share something that I found absolutely fascinating when I first heard it a few years ago. Steve Coll spoke at the London School of Economics in support of his book The Bin Ladens. The book examines modernization and globalization in Saudi Arabia through the perspective of the Bin Laden family. Coll looks at the incredible story of Osama's father Mohamed who started out as an one-eyed illiterate who made bricks out of clay and grew into the head of the second wealthiest family on the peninsula after becoming the al-Saud royal family's favorite palace builder. Osama's oldest brother Salem lived an incredible life, but even more so when juxtaposed with what Osama. He had been an aviation enthusiast, rock and roll aficionado, and international bon vivant. He often liked to bribe bands to let him sing "House of the Rising Sun," whether it be at Oktoberfest, wedding receptions, or Oscar parties.
MP3
LSE Page
UPDATE:
This picture was in the Daily Telegraph and I think it highlights the dissonance of Osama Bin Laden's public persona juxtaposed with that of the normal arc of a person's life. This is during a family trip in Falun, Sweden. He is second from the right with the green shirt and blue bell bottoms.
MP3
LSE Page
UPDATE:
This picture was in the Daily Telegraph and I think it highlights the dissonance of Osama Bin Laden's public persona juxtaposed with that of the normal arc of a person's life. This is during a family trip in Falun, Sweden. He is second from the right with the green shirt and blue bell bottoms.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Osama Bin Laden: The Militant, The Myth
Osama Bin Laden’s death was a stunning development for people around the world. We are faced with many questions about what comes next. Is the world a safer place? Yes. Nevertheless, will soldiers in Afghanistan stop worrying about improvised explosive devices? Will airport security no longer require passengers to remove their shoes? Can the U.S. pull troops out of Afghanistan tomorrow? Is the War on Terror over? No, unfortunately. The clearest take-away from Bin Laden's death is some measure of solace for the victims of 9/11, the men and women of the armed services, and their families.
The emotional celebrations in front of the White House are understandably an important part of a national catharsis. However, the media's eagerness to capitalize on the charged national mood by offering a tidy summary is misleading. Although Bin Laden's death is undoubtedly a landmark in the War on Terror, it by no means represents crossing a finish line. We do not yet know how involved Bin Laden was in the training, financing, and planning of Al-Qaeda's operations in recent years. If he had become disconnected from the core leadership while on the lam, then his death may not cause a serious operational disruption to the group. The symbolic significance is undeniable, but on its own, still may not be sufficient to cause the collapse of the organization. Audrey Kurth Cronin, author of "How Terrorism Ends," argues that "decapitation" is usually not enough independent of other factors. The recent democratic uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa have done a great deal to de-legitimize Al-Qaeda's founding premise that only asymmetrical holy war can bring about change. Couple that shifting landscape with the dramatic increase in drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Bin Laden's death may be enough to end Al-Qaeda as we know it.
9/11 was the most spectacular and traumatizing terrorist attack this generation has ever seen. After the attacks on New York and Washington, Bin Laden's legend grew to iconic status as the head of a terrorist organization with global reach and an agenda to take down the world's only super power. Before that terrible day, Bin Laden had been on par with the likes of Joseph Kony, the MRTA, Muammar Gaddafi, Idi Amin; murderous oddities on the fringe of American consciousness. Then entire world then knew the name Osama Bin Laden, a mass murderer and ideologue who delusionally strove for a transcontinental religious empire. For jihadist wannabes, he became an oversimplified brand whose subtext was deliverance from injustice, disrespect, and the ruin brought about by modernity. Other extremists took his mantle and started their own Al-Qaeda franchises in Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and even China. Terrorist groups similar to Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda will not stop targeting Americans. Extreme ideologies without the capability to confront a juggernaut like the U.S. military will always rely on ambushes, hiding amongst civilians, prying opportunities in open, cosmopolitan societies. As Bin Laden became more notorious, his role in directing attacks diminished, but the spread of his ideas is what made him most dangerous.
The death of Osama Bin Laden is certainly worth celebrating and while watching the revelry outside the White House I was struck by how young some of the people were. Some must have been children in 2001. It dawned on me that we too had bought into an oversimplified, grandiose idea of who Bin Laden was and what he stood for. As if all these extremist militants under his mantle would quietly go away, as if in an action movie. After 9/11, sympathy and support poured in from around the world and it was squandered in a wasteful war that had nothing to do with the attacks on two cities most emblematic of the United States. While rousing support for the War on Terror the United States became shamefully at ease with the blanket suspicion of Muslims. Islam was portrayed as a hateful monolith. There was no distinction made between secular dictators, militant groups with local agendas, and those touting a global holy war. Americans were told that breaking a tradition of anti-torture that was as old as their country was beyond question. Patriotism was said to trump the trampling of civil liberties. The United States had killed its boogieman, but terrorism did not start with Bin Laden and it will not end with his death. Justice has indeed been done, but the ideals that make the United States so great have been stained.
1: "Year of the Drone" New America Foundation
The emotional celebrations in front of the White House are understandably an important part of a national catharsis. However, the media's eagerness to capitalize on the charged national mood by offering a tidy summary is misleading. Although Bin Laden's death is undoubtedly a landmark in the War on Terror, it by no means represents crossing a finish line. We do not yet know how involved Bin Laden was in the training, financing, and planning of Al-Qaeda's operations in recent years. If he had become disconnected from the core leadership while on the lam, then his death may not cause a serious operational disruption to the group. The symbolic significance is undeniable, but on its own, still may not be sufficient to cause the collapse of the organization. Audrey Kurth Cronin, author of "How Terrorism Ends," argues that "decapitation" is usually not enough independent of other factors. The recent democratic uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa have done a great deal to de-legitimize Al-Qaeda's founding premise that only asymmetrical holy war can bring about change. Couple that shifting landscape with the dramatic increase in drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Bin Laden's death may be enough to end Al-Qaeda as we know it.
9/11 was the most spectacular and traumatizing terrorist attack this generation has ever seen. After the attacks on New York and Washington, Bin Laden's legend grew to iconic status as the head of a terrorist organization with global reach and an agenda to take down the world's only super power. Before that terrible day, Bin Laden had been on par with the likes of Joseph Kony, the MRTA, Muammar Gaddafi, Idi Amin; murderous oddities on the fringe of American consciousness. Then entire world then knew the name Osama Bin Laden, a mass murderer and ideologue who delusionally strove for a transcontinental religious empire. For jihadist wannabes, he became an oversimplified brand whose subtext was deliverance from injustice, disrespect, and the ruin brought about by modernity. Other extremists took his mantle and started their own Al-Qaeda franchises in Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and even China. Terrorist groups similar to Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda will not stop targeting Americans. Extreme ideologies without the capability to confront a juggernaut like the U.S. military will always rely on ambushes, hiding amongst civilians, prying opportunities in open, cosmopolitan societies. As Bin Laden became more notorious, his role in directing attacks diminished, but the spread of his ideas is what made him most dangerous.
The death of Osama Bin Laden is certainly worth celebrating and while watching the revelry outside the White House I was struck by how young some of the people were. Some must have been children in 2001. It dawned on me that we too had bought into an oversimplified, grandiose idea of who Bin Laden was and what he stood for. As if all these extremist militants under his mantle would quietly go away, as if in an action movie. After 9/11, sympathy and support poured in from around the world and it was squandered in a wasteful war that had nothing to do with the attacks on two cities most emblematic of the United States. While rousing support for the War on Terror the United States became shamefully at ease with the blanket suspicion of Muslims. Islam was portrayed as a hateful monolith. There was no distinction made between secular dictators, militant groups with local agendas, and those touting a global holy war. Americans were told that breaking a tradition of anti-torture that was as old as their country was beyond question. Patriotism was said to trump the trampling of civil liberties. The United States had killed its boogieman, but terrorism did not start with Bin Laden and it will not end with his death. Justice has indeed been done, but the ideals that make the United States so great have been stained.
1: "Year of the Drone" New America Foundation
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