Some thoughts on the death of Osama bin Laden

I was watching and listening to the reports and commentaries on TV, radio, and the internet this morning about the raid that ended Osama bin Laden's life. From the patriotic outbreak of crowd gatherings cheering and singing their joy at the end of a reign of terror, to the cynical rantings of people like Alex Jones who want to make everything a conspiracy. The Lovers and Haters of Barack Obama came out heavy.

I did not vote for Obama, and probably won't vote for him in 2012, but I also won't condemn every action he has made in the couple of years he has been in office, but he wasn't the one who killed bin Laden, it was a group of Navy Seals who went in and did the deed, highly trained military personnel. I read where Obama approved the mission, and had a hand in the planning of the mission. He has never been in the military, how much did he have to add to the tactical side of the mission? Good for him that he hadthe men and resources to allocate for the mission, and good for the world that this was finally accomplished.

Alex Jones, online radio personality, posted a video that infers that bin Laden was actually killed 5 years ago and his body "put on ice" until it was politically beneficial to report it. Why wasn't it politically beneficial for Bush to report this a couple of years ago when John McCain was behind in the polls and needed the boost to beat Obama in the race to become President. Why wasn't it politically beneficial when Bush and Cheney's trust and believability factors dropped to all time lows. Even if they did, I am sure another conspiracy theory would prop up.

Osama bin Laden's body is to be buried at sea, bringing up 2 points I heard this morning. First is that the Islamic world would be upset that he was not buried according to Islamic tradition, second that once his body hits the water, any chance to prove it is him, will become a major undertaking, and all evidence eventually becoming part of the food cycle of the ocean, we would have to take the word of the government who we have all come to distrust and some even to despise.

Finally, I wasn't there, I didn't see bin Laden's body, I have to go by the reports given by the President, and the news media as to what happened. I am not going to say that this makes Obama the ultimate hero of my life, but I will say this does take one terrorist out of the picture. I also am not going to say that this will make the world safer or not as I am sure there will be reactions to this, even though the official Afghani reaction is one of support, the people have yet to speak. I hope that this helps to take the edge off of the hyper-paranoid tensions that fill the United States and many allied nations. I do hope that the United States government can allow some of the restrictions placed on it's people to be loosened, but I doubt it at least for a while as once they taste power it's hard to give it up.

It was an extremely important action, but we have to wait and see how it affects the future. And in closing I say to the men and women of the armed forces, and especially to those who had a personal hand in ending this chapter in world history, "Well Done, I thank you and appreciate your service and sacrifice to do your duty, and America is proud of you."