“Victory only has meaning in its effect on the events of the future”-Herman Wouk
Remember this phrase as we discuss the events of Sunday Night.
As we were laying in bed-the sun having gone down long before, and the only light in the room being that of the solar walk lamp(s)-my cell phone wrang? “What’s going on? Why is the President coming on TV?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about-all I know is I paid 500 bucks for a generator and I am not happy about it.” After reminding him that here in Shopping Mall we had no power to view a TV-he explained what was happening. And he called me back after the President’s speech to confirm it. I thanked him-turned the battery powered radio on-listened for a while and went to sleep. Well that’s one thing done, but too bad it doesn’t solve the rest of my problems. ( Or the nations.).
The celebrations afterwards may have made everyone feel good (even me-Osama deserved to be killed and I am glad no one thought they should capture him and bring him home to some sort of a trial, it would have been a nightmare. Just look at what happened with the guy they are going to try). However the kind of wild eyed enthusiasm we saw may have been a great thing in 2002, culimating a successful invasion of Afghanistan-the fact that it occurs in 2011 makes all the difference. People want to forget that the intervening eight years happened, but they did. And Osama dead or alive-we still have to live with those results.
So seeing Osama gunned down in 2011, simply leads to a sigh of relief. ” Thank God that’s over with.”
Now what?
A good question!
This is not the same as saying that the US and Europe can now stop worrying about terrorism. The west will need a serious counter-terrorism policy for many years to come. But the Bush-inspired drive to make terrorism the centrepiece of US foreign policy was a mistake. The declaration of a “Global War on Terror” distorted American foreign policy and led directly to two wars – in Iraq and Afghanistan. The war on terror has guzzled billions of dollars in wasteful spending and spawned a huge and secretive bureaucracy in Washington. The death of bin Laden gives President Barack Obama the cover he needs to start quietly unwinding some of these mistakes.
I happen to agree with that sentiment. I also will not go down the rathole of thinking, ” Oh great-the fact that we got Bin Laden somehow makes all the bad things that are at odds with our national ethos, somehow OK now.” Because they don’t answer one or more underlying questions:
“If they [torture] worked so great, why did it take so long?”
The problem with arguments about how well torture “worked” is that they invariably justify future acts of torture, as well as past ones. The Obama administration appears never to have fully understood this, decrying Bush-era excesses while continuing to deploy them. Sunday marks our best opportunity not only to turn the page but also to close the book on claims that our legal regime was inadequate to address terrorism. It is clear Bush never understood it-and that was one of the many reasons he deserved, and still deserves, a healthy dose of national scorn.
Furthermore, no one is answering the really really important question-namely, now that Bin Laden is dead, how will this expedite the removal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan? The answer is it won’t-nor will it put a cork in the mouths of those who advocate for permanent war. If Bin Laden’s killing was about creating a turning point so we could leave both of those conflicts behind, pull out our troops, and begin the necessary adjustments to our overseas presence to successfully compete in the multi-polar world, then that would be something really worth celebrating. Unfortunately, Americans seemed to have learned remarkably little from their pain and disappointment in both countries. And regrettfully, we have too many in our leadership who have a vested interest in keeping the conflicts going. ( Cue “God Save the King”-for David Petreaus). And as long as the conflicts go on, they drain our national treasure, kill and maim the elite of our youth-and on the whole diminish our ability to stand up and compete with those forces that are the real enemy to American life and prosperity. And those enemies are not located anywhere in Afghanistan, Iraq, or for that matter much else of the Middle East. Many of them trade on Wall Street and the Hang Seng.
Andrew Baecevich is right:
As long as the American way of life – American freedom itself in however warped a form – depends on access to large quantities of foreign oil, US exertions to determine the fate of the Greater Middle East will continue. So, too, will efforts by violent Islamic radicals intent on thwarting the West’s vision of a New Middle East serving the West’s purposes. Bin Laden’s passing – like his entire vile career – will have decided nothing.
The opportunity cost of the mistakes made getting to the villa in Pakistan are huge. And if the United States does not seize the opportunity to reverse those mistakes, turn the corner and get out of the hell holes we find ourselves in, then we will continue on a road of economic and influence decline. If we use the opportunity to turn the page of history-that will be the best gift the SEALS could have given us.
That’s what Lex continues to fail to understand. Not just him, but too many others who influence others with bad ideas.
When we finally put the wars behind us and leave Iraq and Afghanistan-then I will break out the champagne. Till then, its just a really positive development in war that has gone on way too long already.
But I’m glad Osama is dead.