America’s unnerving celebrations post Bin Laden's death

"Rot in hell" screams the front page of the New York Post. “The Butcher of 9/11 is dead”, “We got him”, “US nails the bastard” as the United States of America basks in bloodthirsty revelry, tabloid antics went into over-drive. Spontaneous celebration filled Times Square, crowds gathered in front of the White House euphorically cheering “USA, USA, USA”. Mass hysteria broke out on the social networking scene with Twitter reporting 4000 tweets per second as news of Osama Bin Laden’s murder broke out.

The death of Bin Laden will long be remembered as a victory for justice and humanity. The world stood still to feel the wrath of the USA whose people outdid themselves in their disturbing expressions of patriotic excess.

The scene of hysteria at ground zero was untactful, to say the least. Herfried Munkler, German political scientist, was one of the first to openly criticize the US response comparing the rejoicing to the celebrating of the 9/11 attacks in the Gaza strip. How ironic, after the tabloid outrage over this reaction of a few Muslims, Was it hypocritical for America to report the same national euphoric craze?

The German Christian Democratic Union described America’s sentiments of revenge as archaic and “medieval”. Greens member, Goring Eckhart noted as “Christians we shouldn’t celebrate when someone is killed in a targeted way”. When US politics is founded on Christian democratic beliefs and showing mercy – is glory in revenge killing appropriate? Throughout history the US establishment breeds hatred and contempt, using religion to inculcate fear that the public blindly swears by.

American security forces have been glorified for their thoroughly executed plan to get the world’s most wanted man. After a decade of hunting a highly secret covert operation on Bin Laden’s secret complex in Abbottabad, Pakistan successfully sought out and executed Osama Bin Laden on 2nd May 2011. Syed Nazakat of The Week in Delhi has criticized the hypocrisy and deception of US Intelligence and security forces, disclosing the number of high ranking men in Al Qaeda who are, in fact, CIA plants. They must have known where Bin Laden was hiding out. Is this merely another hypocritical US propaganda coup?

Bin Laden’s death was declared another US military victory, seeking vengeance for American lives lost. "This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001," said former US President George W. Bush. For the most part the conflict has been unsanctioned, unsupported and unforgiving. With blood on their hands America tells the world their lives are more valued than others.

The media is bombarded with the US government’s ethnocentric propaganda and xenophobic sentiments that justify their presence in the Middle East. The US propaganda machine has reported other deaths of Bin Laden where there have been aliases; many have questioned whether the ‘real’ Osama was killed or could it be another body double? Assassinated former Pakistani president, Benazir Bhutto, said in an interview in 2007 with David Frost that Bin Laden was murdered in 2001. In a post 9/11 world, “Come masters of war, who lie and deceive” – Bob Dylan.

Bin Laden’s execution poses the question can a democratic country commit such crime without due process or trial? Was there the option of surrender or submission (as mandated in the Geneva Convention) - or is America exempt from universal moral code? Many argue the USA went too far in acting as judge, jury and executioner. Australian human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson believes “It was quite clearly a violation of international law”. “It’s not justice...Justice means taking someone to court, finding them guilty upon evidence and sentencing them,” he told ABC arguing Bin Laden should have been tried just as Nazi’s were tried at Nuremberg and Milosevic faced tribunal in The Hague.

Bin Laden’s death was a violation of Pakistan’s national sovereignty; further straining US-Pakistan relations. Pakistani foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar expressed ‘deep concerns’ over “unauthorised unilateral action” and reprimanded the US for demonizing them as a terrorist state.

The unrelenting war in Afghanistan feeds off ‘an eye for an eye’, ‘tooth for a tooth’ – yet with the US’s key objective achieved, there is no indication of conflict resolution. What is America still doing there? Are they any closer to creating peace in the Middle East? Or is peace to be sidelined for America’s vengeance?

China Daily has criticized the uproarious response, urging “stronger commitment, wider consensus and more international cooperation is needed so that progress can be made in the fight against terrorism in the near future”. Julia Gillard has also emphasized this is not the end of the war on terror and that “we must remain vigilant and aware”.

Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt fears the undeterminable repercussions in the Arab World. With German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle calling on western nations to temper their responses; “we must be careful… we do not send images into the world that could again lead to incitement or to the heroization of al- Qaeda, he told Die Welt Wednesday.

The US’s semantic insensitivity highlights the ignorance and bigotry underlying the entire conflict. Will these spectacles of bravado add fuel to an uncontrollable fire? China Daily fears this could see devastating retaliation by Al-Qaeda networks over the world. The media’s attempt at showing Arab-Americans gushing in appreciation doesn’t equate to the reaction in the Middle East, as his supporters grieve and threaten to backlash.

“We stress that the blood of the holy warrior sheik, Osama bin Laden, God bless him, is precious to us and to all Muslims and will no go in vain. We will remain, God willing, a curse chasing the Americans and their agents, following them outside and inside their countries. Soon, God willing, their happiness will turn to sadness. Their blood will be mingled with their tears”
– Anonymous Al Qaeda website.

Osama Bin Laden was listed as the FBI’s most wanted man alive, yet leader to millions.We can only hope his demise is catalyst to establishing peace between Israel and Palestinians and around the world.