38 questions for those cheering Osama bin Laden’s death

Americans are always inextricably offended when the intelligence of certain Americans is called into question but when things like this happen how can you defend your countrymen against accusations of stupidity.

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster”. No truer words were ever spoken.

On the one hand you have some dead terrorist that is resposible for many deaths and on the other hand you have a wrinkly old white man that was responsible for a million deaths and he is referred to as “Mr Ex-President”.

If the glove fits then there can be no argument. A lot of the people in the US are stupid beyond reproach and there is no way around that, there is no defending that. It is painfully obvious. I suppose that is a part of the reason why the sinking ship sinks.

At the end of the day if you are going to punish a man for killing others I say the real terrorist is still alive and he is called George Bush.

I was appalled at the celebrations, considering the vast human losses we’ve incurred from 9/11. 2,996 American deaths caused nearly 15,000 civillian/military casualties around the world, & nearly a half trillion USD of military spending. A life is a life, personally I find the unending bloodthirstiness and need for retribution stunning, disturbing, and cruel. Rejoicing a death is nothing short of barbaric, and encourages an insipid, unending cycle of violence. Our time in Afghanistan is far from over; something more somber and more of a tribute to all of the lives lost seems more appropriate to me. I will celebrate when our 90,000 troops are home safely.

The most militant/jubilant reactions I’m hearing here in Chile are strangely, from Chileans. It adds another layer of confusion to how to decode what’s going on. Now I’ve got some more questions to ask.

I’m cheering for justice. Osama bin Ladin sought to and in some situations succeeded in killing those that differed from his own views. He probably felt he had been wronged by the culture and political institutions of the western world and to some extent he may have been. But what I’m cheering (if you can consider my greeting of the news without much regret) is that he was punished for what he is responsible for.

Many individuals on these comments have said that Bush is worse than Osama and I cannot and will not say that the decisions that President Bush made did not cost many people their lives. My question to you is whether the actions of President Bush were designed to harm others or if they were a reaction to what he and his cabinet saw (though there seems to have been some wishful thinking that may have skewed interpretation of information)?

I also feel largely disconnected from these celebrations. Though, the most disconcerting thing for me is seeing Chinese people here wearing Osama shirts. Granted, I don’t feel any strong feelings towards his death, it still makes me feel uncomfortable to see someone wearing an Osama shirt.

Morally, I think it’s wrong to celebrate any kind of death. Of course, it was hard not to feel a brief moment of relief when I heard the news, but I didn’t feel right about it. I think we should be recognizing all the the people affected by the violence he and his organization have perpetrated. Isn’t that more respectful than simply patting ourselves on the back for an act that might not be important in the grand scheme of things?

That being said, please remember that not every American is blindly celebrating. I’m American, and I think it’s close-minded to accuse an entire country of acting one way. Don’t use broad generalizations to pretend you’re morally better.

Perhaps the cheering was done mostly by those who have never felt the unity our country felt right after 9/11. I’m talking about the young ones who are just coming of age. They have never felt what it was like then, to look at a stranger and shake your head and cry with them as we did at 9/11. At the heart of it, perhaps those cheering were feeling unity for the first time. Just a thought.

the absurdity of cheering the death of an old man ten years AFTER he killed over 3000 people ….. if you noticed the people who were cheering… all of them about 20 years old , meaning they were 10 when the towers were struck. you didnt see any real adults out there who are older and wiser to understand that theres nothing to cheer about did you? it is NOT a great day for america! america is still trillions of dollars in debt, fighting 3 wars that no one wants ,has a collapsing infrastructure,more people in jail than any other nation on earth and its government has declared war on its workers taking away their bargaining rights in many states. our government still gives more money to pakistan and israel than it does to detroit or new jersey…. but these children who know only their iphones are cheering as if it were a football match. killing this man BEFORE he attacked us would be something to cheer about! when he kills 3000 people and you kill him only once guess what? he wins! stop cheering children . please . you only confirm the truth that america is a overpopulated and under educated nation

I get no pleasure from killing a cockroach but OBL was a different breed of parasite, one very difficult to eliminate. The fact that we did kill him is proof to them that we are some bad-ass exterminators and they need to run for cover. What ever whining goes in in the process is just that, nothing more. It’s a tough job, take it like a man you sofa surfers.

David, I haven’t read the comments, so I don’t know what anyone else has said.

Let me first say, this is one of the most important articles, I feel, that you could have written. People need to question this reaction.

Rashard Mendenhall was criticised… on ESPN!! for voicing similar opinions.

I was ridiculed on Facebook by friends for being a “Fun hater” and anti-patriotic, told a la Ricki Stanzi, that if I ‘don’t love it, leave it’.

I said repeatedly, that this War on Terror is not one that should be conducted by our military, but by our people, like you, like me. I think the best piece I came up with for this topic was, “This is not a war that is going to be won with bullets and bombs, but maybe with books.”

Thanks for making people think about their reaction without attacking their reaction. I feel like you might have a better chance at reaching people than I did with my anger.

Cheers,
Jared