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PDF versionbin Laden euphoria miss terrorism roots
by Mario T. García on May. 02, 2011
Like most other Americans, I was stunned last night of hearing of the killing of Osama Bin Laden by U.S. special forces in Pakistan. I think most Americans like myself had not given much thought to bin Laden and had accepted that he might never be captured or killed. I have some quick thoughts on this major development.
One is that if the death of bin Laden helps to lessen the threat of future terrorist attacks such as 9/11 that his death will serve a purpose in saving lives.
Second, I don’t believe at the same time that there should be euphoria over bin Laden’s death because he and Al Qaeda only represent the symptoms of what causes terrorism. The causes as is being exemplified in the political rebellions in the Middle East have to do with poverty, modernization, rising expectations, and, at the same time, the lack of political self-determination for many especially in the Third World.
We should also recognize that these causes are also exacerbated unfortunately by historic U.S. policies that have led to support for repressive and authoritarian governments in regions such as the Middle East based on American desires for oil and imperial power. Unless we address the underlying causes that give rise to terrorism, the killing of bin Laden will only be treating the symptoms.
Third, and finally, I am concerned from a Catholic perspective about the morality of any U.S. involvement in assassinations. I am not saying that the killing of bin Laden was a deliberate assassination but the fact is that we had targeted him for assassination.
How do we reconcile this with the Catholic reverence for life? Is the killing of bin Laden part of a just war? And even if we can morally justify it what about the collateral damage of the killing of innocent civilians, for example, as a result of the use of drones in Pakistan? I don’t have the answers to this but I do know that war and military campaigns will not effectively deal with the many problems in the world related to poverty, the uneven distribution of wealth in the world, and the continued exploitation of Third Word resources by the stronger powers.
I would like to see, but I doubt that I will, our pastors and priests at masses next Sunday in their homilies address the moral issues surrounding the killing of bin Laden and the U.S. strategic use of targeted assassinations. We need to hear this from the Church and our priests should have the courage to address this issues rather than fearing alienating parishioners.
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The moral issues, as you call
The moral issues, as you call them, should have something to do with the context of the issue, and not be discussed in a vacuum. Any discussion of the morality of Bin Laden's death should have something to do with his murder of thousands of people across the world and a decision by the world community that he had to be stopped. A discussion of the moral issues should not be a lecture about how Jesus was a wimp and we must all lie down and let people walk all over us. And it shouldn't include the old kneejerk accusation that our policies cause everything that's wrong in the world. If you agree to those groundrules, go ahead and give your sermon about morality. Otherwise, shut the hell up and learn something about the real world. - Juliana Martin, Queens, New York.
You omitted one cause of
You omitted one cause of terrorism: Islam itself, which is a religion of terror and submission of the "infidel".
Deborah, I have a hard time
Deborah, I have a hard time believing you're serious. Islam is intended to be a religion of peace. Its very name means "peace". The fact that some of its adherents have twisted things around doesn't change this.
Using your logic, if you'd substitute a couple of words, you could even say christianity (exemplified by the crusades) was a religion of terrorism and submission of all unbelievers (infidels).
Are concerned "from a
Are concerned "from a Catholic perspective" about the morality of U.S. involvement in abortion by laws that legalize that deplorable act? If you support the Democrats, then you support abortion. How do you reconcile support for Obama and the Democrat Party with reverence for life? Hypocrite.
Because the timing of
Because the timing of ensoulment is still an open question.
In whose opinion - yours??
In whose opinion - yours?? The Church has spoken rather definitely on this point, and I don't think you get to pick statements from a couple hundred years ago before we new anything about modern medicine and say that the teaching changes. Respect for life has always been a consistent teaching. Granted there are exceptions in cases where society and others are in imminent danger, I hardly think a baby fits into that category.
All of this talk about
All of this talk about 'justice being done' bothers me considerably. It seems to me to be more about vengeance that justice, and, "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord". I cannot cheer that someone has been killed. Being pro-life does not end with birth but continues on until natural death, or at least that is what we pray for during pro-life Sunday! And further, violence begets violence.
Also, it is totally true that until our intelligence organizations do some in depth analyses of just why we in the west are so hated by the terrorists, we will be as complicit in violence as they are. The reasons for the hatred are probably so varied that to say without the anayses that it is this or that is pointless. The stupid argument put out that they hate us for our freedoms has been put to rest by Middle Easterners themselves this year with the demonstrations demanding the very freedoms they purportedly hate.
One of the saddest things to me in our modern world is that the eternal truths that our Catholic faith teaches have been so muddied over by the sex abuse crisis, the antipathy against homosexuality, fear of women, and rigidity in the hierarchy that the Church's voice in these truths has been virtually silenced. How tragic, when it is needed the most.
I'm impressed--you managed to
I'm impressed--you managed to work a broadside against the hierarchy into a thread about bin Laden. There should be some kind of award for that.
And the moral equivalence, expressed in the usual bumpersticker cliches, while predictable, is also impressive in its way. Actually, since you can't bring yourself to even mention the crimes of bin Laden and his admirers, we must be worse.
And speaking of religion-based misogyny, did you read that bin Laden used one of his wives as a human shield? No matter how hard I try, I have to admit I don't stay up nights worrying about why stone age thugs hate us, by apparently mileage varies on that one.
Again, some kind of award is warranted.
"The causes as is being
"The causes as is being exemplified in the political rebellions in the Middle East have to do with poverty, modernization, rising expectations, and, at the same time, the lack of political self-determination for many especially in the Third World."
Bin Laden was richer than Croesus, and the upper echelons of Al Qaeda are middle class or better. Seems to be at best incomplete, and fails to account for the lack of similar movements arising from other places experiencing the same problems.
Good thinking, Mario. I go
Good thinking, Mario. I go along with you.
For the minds of the “North American United States’ers” the now famous phrase “9/11” immediately brings to mind the heinous terrorist attack on the NYC Twin Towers in the year 2001.
“9/11” nevertheless for millions of us “Also American People” brings to mind the heinous attack and murder on “9/11” of 1973 of the popularly elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende Gozens and then the installation of the cruel military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile. THE ROLE OF THE CIA’S “COVERT ACTION” IN THIS TERRORISM IS WELL DOCUMENTED on pp. 504-6 in the book by the well known USA author, deceased last year, Howard Zinn, in his “Voices of a People’s History of the United States” 2004.
I vividly remember the “9/11” of New York, 2001. Returning from my work at the office that day I said to my wife and two daughters. “Pray God that the USA takes this occasion to ask itself in all sincerity: “¿Just why do they hate us so much?” AND THEN BEGINS TO DIALOG IN ALL SINCERITY ABOUT THE CAUSES OF TERRORISM.
Instead, George W. immediately declared his “war on terrorism”. Results: up till today, millions of dead in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now there are also USA drones in Libya. Perhaps sincere dialogue at that time might have avoided not only these millions of dead, but even most of the “current unrest” in the Middle East and Northern Africa that is shaking the world at this moment.
Justiniano de Managua el 2 de mayo, 2011
Are You serious? In what
Are You serious?
In what manner, shape or form was this heinoous monster human.
Celebration is definetley warranted. As were Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot deaths.
Your political coreectness, bundled up with Your view of what a Christain
reaction should be is nauseating to the extreme.
Why is Your emotional and thoughtfull energy not expressed for the victims of this murderer?
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