Late on the night of May 1, President Obama addressed the nation with the news that a secret Navy SEAL mission had killed Osama bin Laden, his wife, son, and an assistant. Sources say that bin Laden acted cowardly in his final moments, even grabbing his wife and using her as a human shield. The raid lasted only 40 minutes and when it was over, the leader and founder of al-Qaeda, and who Muslims call their “lion” was dead. He had not hidden in a cave in the mountains as was commonly believed but in a million dollar safe house in the middle of Abbottabad, Pakistan. The complex had been suspected to be his home since last August but that was only recently confirmed and after much discussion and planning an attack on the complex was approved.
Osama had been actively hunted by the United States since 1999 when he was added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list for his participation in the 1998 bombings of two United States embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed over 200 people. After that his list of crimes grew to include the murder of 17 people on the USS Cole in 2000 and the senseless killing of 2,974 Americans on September 11, 2001 when he ordered the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City. He denied responsibility for the attack until 2004 when he finally told a reporter:
“As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way [and] to destroy towers in America”.1
His crimes did not stop there though. He instigated attacks on thousands of civilians in attacks on Bali, Turkey, the Philippines, Russia, England, and many other countries around the world.
What was the point? Well, according to a fatwa that he signed called “The World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders” he said
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies - civilians and military - is an individ
ual responsibility for every Muslim who can do it, in any country in which it is possible to do it.”2
If that isn’t enough, he wrote in the same document
“We – with Allah’s help – call on every Muslim who believes in Allah and wishes to be rewarded to comply with Allah’s orders to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they find it.”2
This isn’t just a radical murderer encouraging more murder, he is actually obeying the Quran when it says “O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness” 3 along with, “slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush.”4 Finally, “And kill them [the unbelievers] wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they turned you out.” 5
The killing of "unbelievers" is only half of the story though. The other half is much more subtle and has affected America more than we had suspected. When bin Laden decided to destroy and overcome America, he realized that a world superpower like the United States would never be defeated on the battlefield. The only way to destroy us was to first destroy our economy and that was what he was aiming for. He learned this lesson well during the 1980's while the Soviet Union was trying to conquer Afganistan. Osama was an active part of the resistance and when he saw that the rebels were successful in not only repelling the Russian invasion but contributing to it's collapse in later years, he realized that drawing the enemy into a long, drawn-out war was a drain on its resources and would eventually result in the collapse of the country's economy. Later he revealed his strategy saying, "We alongside the Mujahideen, bled Russia for ten years, until it went bankrupt"6. According to Wikipedia;
"Osama's overall strategy against much larger enemies such as the Soviet Union and the United State
s was to lure them into a long 'War of Attrition' in Muslim countries, attracting large numbers of jihadists who would never surrender. He believed this would lead to economic collapse of the enemy nation. Al-Qaeda manuals clearly outline this strategy. The Soviet Union collapsed following years of fighting in Afghanistan, and several prominent authors have stated that the United States was on the verge of suffering the same fate, losing countless trillions of dollars to the ongoing conflict. In this sense, some have credited Osama as the one person who was successful in his fight against both of the world superpowers."
In a way, we have played right into Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda's hands with our "War on Terror". Despite his death, bin Laden's strategy will still work to bring America to it's knees until we bring our troops home. The "War on Terror" started with a good motive but after nearly a decade of fighting we still lack a solid objective. Instead we spend trillions of dollars to keep American soldiers in a place they shouldn't even be in.
Although the death of bin Laden is a great victory for Americans, especially when we think back to 9.11 it would be naive to think that his threat is gone. Al-Qaeda will be weakened for a while but one of Osama's sons is expected to take his place in that organization. His death has stirred up anger from many Muslims in the Middle East and we would be wise to be extra vigilant in our watch for terror attacks.
For now, as the President said, "Justice has been done."
~Addie
“We love death. The US loves life. That is the difference between us two.”
~Osama bin Laden
1 Landscapes of the Jihad: militancy, morality, modernity, By Faisal Devji
2 Arabic version: http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/fatw2.htm English version: http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm
3 Quran 9:123
4 Quran 9:5
5 Quran 2:191
6 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/nov/03/usa.alqaida
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