I'm sure everyone knows Osama bin Laden was killed by American forces a couple of days ago and by now, everyone has heard "facts" about the raid. Well, it turns out that many of those "facts" may be just fabrications to justify our actions. It's not clear that bin Laden was armed nor is it clear that bin Laden used anyone as a human shield. As I understand it, he was sick so he was probably pretty easy to take down.
I have a hard time believing the raid team couldn't have subdued him without killing him so that he could be put on trial for his actions. What we did is nearly straight up murder and won't change anything. I don't feel any safer, I still have to get x-rayed or have my junk groped and I still need to buy $10 bottles of water on the other side of security. Are we really free?
Can I really trust the American media to broadcast anything factual anymore? Fox News is one small step above the Enquirer and the others aren't much better. When did media go from reporting on what happened to manufacturing stories? Are they that desperate for ratings as to pass stories as the truth? What happened to fact checking?
Why are some athletes being vilified for daring to question why we celebrate the death of anyone? I personally believe bin Laden was a terrible person, but everyone deserves a fair trial. It's part of what separates the good guys from the bad guys. We should definitely take steps to protect ourselves, but should do so with the minimum amount of force necessary.
I really fear for the future of this country because I feel many of us have lost our ability to rationally process information and the ability to ask tough questions. We've been in Afghanistan for ten long years now and have accomplished diddly squat. If anything, we've reinforced our enemies' view of us. We should reach out with the olive branch and try to improve their conditions so they don't feel the need to attack us. Life is too short for hate.
I'm not necessarily a pacifist, but I believe our military should be used for defense and as the last resort. We do not have the moral right to impose our will on anyone and chanting "USA. USA. USA." like we just won a gold medal is crass and saddening. Is this point where human evolution has brought us? We've really come no further than the Roman rabble entertained by gladiators hacking each other to death?
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2 comments:
Well put and sums up my own viewpoints. I don't think bin Laden's death will reduce our warring in the Middle East and I don't think anyone should cheer when someone is murdered (no matter how evil the individual).
It's also amazing how much crap people are taking for sharing our viewpoints as if we're unpatriotic or something. Crazy.
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