I know , I know , we have waited for this day for a long time, the capture and execution of Usama Bin Laden.
Quite honestly , I never thought it would happen, I was sure he was long dead from his diabetes and left in a grave of stone in the mountains somewhere
After 10 long years (I no longer include the Clinton years , he had him and let him go) the accumulative efforts of so many people , pretty much the same ones through 2 administrations have born fruit.
If I have to be perfectly truthful, and I can only speak for myself....without the unmitigated courage in the hearts of Navy Seal Team 6 and their clean precise raid , we would still be chasing ghosts.
But that is NOT why I'm writing this. I'm writing this to flesh out the reasons why I agree with the Obama administration on declining to release the photo of the executed war criminal Usama Bin Laden.
I do disagree ( and you knew there had to be one "disagree" in here) with the reasoning that it would "incite" the Radical Muslim world...one cannot incite the already fanatic. This is a poor measure of perceptive judgement. You can't make someone hate you MORE. There is no sliding scale on loathing.
I don't need to see the photo to prove this really happened. While I do believe that people are capable of doing just about anything to get elected or re-elected (although I think the timing is suspect)...if I choose to believe this is a scam, I have to also believe that Bush caused 911 and blew up the Twin Towers with pre planted explosives...I just can't go there on either theories.
Most of all, and this is reason above all others, I don't want that gruesome photo on the television , on magazines covers and newspapers for our children to see over and over and over again...at the check out counter, on the newstand , on the TV in your family room or kitchen...in places where 6 and 10 years olds and teenagers witness ad nauseum before you have a chance to cover it.
Our children don't need that image in their minds.
They need to know that ultimate boogey man ,UBL is gone, and that's that.
Then we need to show grace and strength , to our own, and stop worrying about how we appear to the rest of the world. We need to turn to ourselves and show that we are the benevolent victor...I have to ask myself this funny question...what would the American-est icon I can think of... John Wayne do? He would've shot UBL, and that would be the end of it, pilgrim.
No bragging, no photos, no bru-haha...the dirty job is done, and let those who did it, have the image in their minds...that's why there are folks like Seal Team 6, they can process that image at a deeper level....I'm pretty sure I can't, and I know for sure our children shouldn't be asked to.
Right now we have over 7 crest points of the Mississippi River ready to flood crops, homes, and devastate our country, let's turn to that (that includes our president) ... let's get on the run to help our own. Each new day has new big challenges, let's get on with that...chalk up one for the Team6 ...and let's move on to the business of tomorrow with one less burden off our backs.
Right now I want the image of my son smiling as he goes to bat for his team, and enjoy this sunny day, because others can handle the truth, and give us tomorrow.
And yeah, I'll quote the Duke:
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."
John Wayne
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