The Death of bin Laden

Upon hearing the news that our forces had finally killed Osama bin Laden, I was a mix of emotions.  I was elated, worried, mad, annoyed, and contrite.  I was elated to learn that this mass murdered had finally been brought to justice.  I was worried that his ideological whack-job followers would step up attacks on our troops and innocent civilians in retaliation.  I was angered because it took so long to find this guy, and that he was in Pakistan all along.  I was annoyed by the fact that even before his statement, President Obama was sure to lay claim to bin Laden’s termination, despite Bush laying the groundwork for him, and our special forces and intelligence agencies carrying out the actual mission.  And I was contrite in the knowledge that regardless of the fact that he will go down as one of the most evil men in history, that he did not have the salvation of Christ.  It would be easy to say that he didn’t deserve Christ’s grace, but really, none of us do.  He was still a human being – despite being evil – but it’s Christ’s desire that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

What’s probably the most regretful about the operations side of this news is that it wasn’t done on George W. Bush’s watch.  President Obama seemed to bask in the fact that he was in office when our men and women in uniform or in our intelligence services tracked this diabolical mastermind down during his statement late last night – after arriving at the podium nearly an hour after he was expected.  He seemed to revel in the idea that he alone was able to bring him to justice, instead of placing a great deal of credit at the feet of his predecessor.  Yes, I know that it is one item that Obama has delivered upon since his campaign, but it feels very wrong for him standing there and not George W. Bush.  This shouldn’t alarm those of us who would still love to seem Obama get pummeled in the 2012 election.  He’s still got an abysmal track record that any Republican nominee can run against him on, and this really isn’t a credential he can present to bolster his image.  I will give him credit for giving the go ahead, but it worries me for what’s to come.  The fact that this went down in Pakistan could make for a whole new foreign policy firestorm, and let’s face it; he’s got a horrible foreign policy record.  I don’t even think Secretary of State Hillary Clinton knows how to handle this one.

Still, knowing that the CIA, our military personnel, and particularly our Navy Seals carried out this mission with surgical precision is a testament to our military and American resolve.  No one that I know will ever be able to forget what happened on September 11, and no one can really argue that the world is a better place without bin Laden.  The conspiracy theories will still proliferate, but today is a great day for America.