On killing Osama bin Laden: An eye for an eye leaves the world blind

The Situation Room during operations to hunt and kill Osama bin Laden.

By RAFAEL BENAVIDES

                President Obama stunned the world, and even stole my birthday celebration as we all were glued to the television set, awaiting his confirmation on the death of the infamous Al Qaeda leader on May 1.

The United States has successfully killed Osama bin Laden. Wait, what? This old washed up man in hiding couldn’t possibly be the evil mastermind behind the attacks of 9/11. What’s that? He wasn’t even armed? It looks like we sure showed him that sneak attacks and murdering people is wrong.

Seriously, though. While most of us probably felt some sort of relief and accomplishment with the death of this terrorist mastermind that has caused so much pain for so many Americans and civilians around the world, in the depths of our heart many of us also felt a sense of having been robbed of something.

So the Obama administration and U.S. Navy SEALs decided to shoot to kill and unarmed man, sneak his body out of the country where he was hiding, burry (or dump, who knows?) his cadaver at sea as a way to avoid building a shrine for his followers, but also in contrast to the burial rights of Islam, which is the world’s second largest religion. No photos, audio or video have been released except for one video that attempts to bring down the god-like status of this evil warlord.

What about this signifies justice to the American people? Couldn’t we have simply arrested him and tried him at an international court to show him, Americans and the world that democracy is the key to civilized societies, and that even world-stage criminals have the right to a fair trial? His ideas and his followers would have been met with the realization that justice prevails, that what they did and continue to do is fundamentally wrong and that the world and the world’s religions agree on that. I think that would have done more justice for the United States than the operation conducted recently.

When I was in school, I would read how foreign countries long ago would invade each other and murder each other’s leaders. I used to think, “Thank God we don’t live in those times any longer.” But then I look at Iraq and Libya and the nation of fanatical Islam that uses religion as its scapegoat to conduct the most horrendous crimes in nature. I may be the only one to think this, but there is nothing civilized about the way the United States is waving its mighty influential hand around the world, especially in predominantly Muslim countries.

I am glad, though, that President Obama keeps touching on how this is not a war on Islam, rather it is a war on those who aim to hurt and kill innocent people based on corrupted religious teachings. Honestly, using religion to justify bloodshed isn’t anything new. Should we remember the bloody inquisition, or more recently, the Holocaust?

Let’s refrain from racial profiling or claiming vengeance over Muslim countries because this broken record has been playing since the beginning of time.

The real war isn’t fought on the ground or with computerized military drones. It should be fought with knowledge and enlightenment by everyone in the world, regardless of religion or creed. Democracy, freedom and knowledge are what give people a fighting chance to protect themselves and their way of life in the world. As the leader of the free world, we must abide by these principles if we expect anyone to embrace them. That means even giving Osama bin Laden his day in court.