I still remember where I was on September 11th, 2001. It started as any normal day. I had breakfast and began my short walk to school; I was in the 4th grade. We were not explicitly told of what happened, but the fear in the faces of our teachers said it all. I was not allowed to walk home that day. I did not understand why, but I knew that something had happened and everything was changing. And, I was right. Everything changed: the country began to see Muslims in a new light; we became involved in two foreign wars; and we all feared for the worst.
Sunday night was the first time I have felt that any sort of justice has been served since that day. A team of navy seals penetrated a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan, only two and a half hours from the country’s capital, and they killed Osama bin Laden. From the first point the reporting of his whereabouts were released, I questioned how Pakistan could not know that bin Laden was living so close to their capital. A series of facts makes me question more (from a recent article by Fareed Zakaria):
- The house was eight times the size of the surrounding houses.
- The mansion was newly constructed.
- The compound was valued at about $1 million, but no telephone lines ran to it.
- Neighbors noticed something odd about the solitary nature of the individuals living in the mansion.
Obama does say: “But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.”
I’m not completely convinced. Pakistan may have helped us take down the compound, but how long have they known he was living there? Our relationship with Pakistan is an important one, but we must make sure that they are as dedicated to stopping terrorism as we are.
Now, with bin Laden gone, are we any safer? This is a common question asked by many since Sunday night’s announcement. I’ve seen numerous people respond to others’ excitement with pessimism, as they believe we have only taken out one man. This may be the case, but for the loosely tied al-Qaeda forces around the world, he is their unifying figure. There may be other men behind the brains of the operations, but bin Laden is the most well-known figure of the extremist movement. His downfall means a more disorganized power-struggle for the movement. It is now that the forces are the weakest, and we must continue the fight against terror until justice is served.
