So...this whole bin Laden thing that's going on right now...and how he's supposed to be dead now...It all kind of makes my head hurt to think about everything that's tied to that, and I'm still trying to sort it all out as I write this. I guess the best thing for me to do now is to write this all down and hope it makes sense.
First, I'm still not sure whether I fully believe that killing him was a good thing or a bad thing for the United States, although I mostly leaning towards the former. Yes, we've managed to bring to justice one of the most wanted men in recent memory, the architect of the worst terrorist attack on American soil. But he's still just one man. His death has indeed brought much closure and relief to families of those who died in the attacks and of the soldiers who have died since. But that doesn't change the fact that we are still engaged in military activities in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
Even though people are chanting and waving flags here in the States, the response is a little more mixed on the other side of the world. There are people on both sides, those who cry of joy and those who cry of anger, and there are countless individuals who stand in between the two extremes. The response is so mixed that I almost think that they cancel each other out; in the short term, bin Laden's death seems to have done little to shift opinions on the United States' war on terror.
And that's where I think the most important point of all this is. A friend of mine once jokingly said that the cure for cancer is simple: death. No one would have cancer if everyone who had cancer were to suddenly die. As horrible as that statement may sound to you, that's essentially what the United States think they can do with terrorists. But that's foolish. Killing a terrorist doesn't stop someone of a completely different nation from replacing him. Killing one cancer patient does not save the life of the next.
The United States is fighting the war on terrorism. However, while they attempt to burn all traces of terrorists from the sands of Asia, they aren't actually looking for a way to stop terrorism from developing. Like a doctor who uses radiation and chemicals to kill tumors, using bombs and guns to hunt down one or a few men won't stop terrorism at its source. Yes, there may be a vacuum in the Taliban leadership at this moment. But terrorists don't succeed by working as one, but as many. I don't mean to say that the war is futile or that there's been no progress, or that the U.S. and their allies haven't been doing their best to rebuild the areas that have been devastated by the fighting that has occurred over these last ten years.
The United States is a country that's easy to hate. It's like hating the Lakers or the Yankees or the Patriots. A lot of people feel disenfranchised because of the United States. Whether it be direct economic or trade policies, policies created and enforced by largely Western-controlled international entities, perceptions of our believes or culture, or simply because of envy, it's been very easy to develop a negative opinion of America and Americans. I'd be deluding myself if I thought that it'd be an easy thing to reverse many of these opinions. I'd also be deluding myself to think that we don't need military force to accomplish our goals in achieving peace, especially now, when we've already committed so many resources and so many lives to this matter.
The whole situation is very complicated. Everyone has their own opinion on the matter, and quite a good number of these people have access to guns and bombs and worse things. I think the best course of action at this moment is for all of us to calm down and not give the other side another reason to blow each other up. All this was just the tip of the iceberg of my thoughts on this matter, but that is all for now.
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