May 2, 2011
On an early morning call I learned that Osama Bin Laden had been shot and was dead. But first, I “heard” the name Obama instead of Osama. I was heartsick. “This is so what we have feared”, I thought. I was quickly corrected. With no television we had not heard the news of the raid in Pakistan or President Obama's remarks. Bill and I got on our computers to get caught up.
US Today reported “"I think we can all agree this is a good day for America," said President Obama, who green-lighted the operation that swooped down on bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. He was shot to death after he allegedly resisted. At Ground Zero, a man held up a cardboard sign: "Obama 1, Osama 0."
We have a cherished friend, Mike Norfolk, who was a Navy Seal in Vietnam. Bill called him this morning, assured of the pride Mike would be feeling of the role that SEALs, the Navy's elite special operations corps, played in getting bin Laden.
So Bin Laden is dead but al-Qaeda is not. Let's not be hasty in thinking things will be a lot better very soon. From a therapist's point of view, when things change they may be for the worst at first. From the NY Times, “The national reaction contained, at its heart, a BUT, often followed by the observations that a decentralized al-Qaeda network would survive its founder, and possibly flourish, watered by the blood of a martyr.”
I've had a strange reaction to this news. I'm queasy. I have never before celebrated the death of a human being. I'm glad bin Laden has been stopped.
But I'm not celebrating.
No comments:
Post a Comment