Why you shouldn't cheer for Osama bin Laden's death
By Ben ReiningaMay 3rd, 2011, 3:15 pmComments (73)Late Sunday night, I sat up for a while and watched the news of Osama bin Laden's death, just like most of you. And, like I imagine a bunch of you, I was impressed by the news — for most people of my generation, 9/11 is one of the first, significant political events we were old enough to read, think, and go protest about, and this is a significant development.
But, I was also very turned off by the crowds of people chanting and merrily singing in front of our national monuments. I couldn't help but think, "This is why everyone hates us." I know that to a lot of people, especially those who lost someone in 9/11, Osama's death might feel like the end of a chapter, but does that really mean it's a reason to cheer?
A number of articles, after yesterday's initial news-surge, have been trickling out wondering the same thing. Most arguments have taken a Gandhi-style "it's never okay to cheer for another person's death" tack, perhaps best summed up by the misattributed Martin Luther King, Jr. quotation that's been trending:
“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy."
Now, he didn't actually say that, of course, but the sentiment obviously still resonates. Another interesting approach is a little more broad-sighted. In a post by a Huffpo blogger, Mya Guanieri, she points out that, while Americans are certain that our own War on Terror is morally perfect and terrorism is evil without a doubt, it might not seem that way from outside:
I've heard too many Israelis justify the occupation of Palestinian territory with statements like, "They're animals, they celebrate when we're killed." I've heard the same rhetoric come from American mouths, "The Muslim world cheered after the 9/11 attacks." Americans — many of whom consider their so-called War on Terror morally righteous — must ask themselves if the images of their celebrations really look so different than those that they condemn.
In other words, it erodes our moral high ground, and it's pretty embarrassing. Like the video above of a guy riding his ATV in circles and shooting into the air. I don't think that's how we want the world to see us.
Comments ( 73 )
a-men. Celebrating is vulgar and asking for trouble. Mourn 9/11, mourn the soliders' lives, do not celebrate death.
I had very similar feelings on hearing this news and I was very disturbed by the irrational celebrations being shown all over the country and especially around my home in NY where people shot off fireworks.
Hey, at least they are cheering over the death of a legitimate threat and an open enemy. It's not like folks are cheering over the beheading of an Arab reporter.
legitimate threat? to whom?
Americans?
the fact that the term at least was used.. makes me think we are at least aware that its wrong. and the rest of the frase was just a justification and not an entitlement
Sorry but I'm in total disagreement. People would have cheered his capture too just as much. But OBL didn't want to go out like that. The celebration is not of his death alone but of his defeat. Hiding for nearly a decade like a coward with massive funds at his disposal. This was victory against the worst person in a generation. He got a quick death unlike the thousands trapped riding in hijacked airplanes (including 8 children as young as 2) or inside burning and falling buildings. Mya at the Huffington Post must be so clueless and ambivalent to scale of suffering and pain it's pathetic.
Fuckin a-men. Yeah. Why aren't they worried or concerned about those who died in and during that? Hmm? Why put any sympathy towards those who would otherwise have no problem killing us in the name of there beliefs. Which I find to be rather ironic seeing as how those who seem to be pulling this kumbaya shit are more than likely atheists. I'm not religious myself, but bullshit is bullshit.
Never thought I'd agree with FuckYou, but yeah. Agreed. Almost everyone I've spoken to internationally has been completely supportive of us in our time of victory and pride. "Erodes our moral high ground"? Please. How delusional is that? The things that "erode our moral high ground" are the use of torture, the wars in Iraq and Libya, and of course unwanted military presence and influence in many other nations. Killing a man that took 3000 of our lives? Yeah, that one I think most people accept.
Its not the killing that this article seams to be concerned about. But the aftermath of fireworks and dance outbreaks
And so it was that Americans realized their alleged moral high ground was as tangible as Donald Trump's ethics. They paused for a second, looked around, shrugged, and kept partying like it was 1945.
Change the venue to any number of Muslim countries and the date to 9/11/2001.
The two events look too much alike, people celebrating death and revenge.
How many people reacted to those events with hate.
How many people were drawn into supporting a war in Iraq because of those images.
How much will those images of DC with hoards chanting USA USA, put fire in the belly of our enemies?
It was a necessary action, but I do not celebrate the killing.
This end is so far away, there is little to celebrate.
You are not me!
I just wonder what people think is going to be different. Osama bin Laden was obviously a wretched man who committed atrocities, but it's not like a war has been won. Al-Qaeda is still in existence. Our troops still occupy Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands and thousands of people have died in this war. Now bin Laden is dead, and now what?
I was in Europe during 9/11, and remember seeing gatherings of (I'm assuming were) muslim and european teenagers celebrating in the street, and thinking to myself "what a bunch of uncivilized, terrible, disgusting human beings. Who would celebrate death like this?"
And then I've watched the celebrations going on here, and I feel eerily the same way.
You shouldn't. They're evil, we're not.
@FuckYou
I can't even begin to explain how much of a double-standard that statement carried.
Yes, FY, everyone is equal. There is no right/no wrong. If UBL felt like taking down the Twin Towers was justified, who are we to complain?
usa gave billions of $ to ossama ben laden when he was their ally, and then they spent billions of $ chasing him. there is nothing to celebrate.
Well, we could celebrate that we don't have to give him billions anymore. Or if we do, he can't cash the checks.
There would have been equally big and boisterous celebrations if he had been captured instead of killed. This is just a collective national sigh of relief.
I disagree. The public would have been outraged if he got a trial and would have called for his immediate death. It was a collective sigh of relief in the first few hours we got the news. Now it is blood lust. Not celebrating his death doesn't mean you celebrate his life. It just means you have respect for life, a sentiment that we want all terrorists to embrace.
I actually would have preffered him alive, dead is good enough. I wanted to see him put through the ringer then executed. Let everyone in the country go up to him and spit in his face, kick him in the ass and balls, and maybe even burn copies of the koran in front of him. He deserved whatever he got coming to him.
@FuckYou
That is the most disgusting thing I have ever read on Hooksexup. You should be ashamed of yourself.
@Z - you must not read Hooksexup much.
So when foreigners torture people and desecrate their dead bodies, it's barbaric... But if Americans were to do it, it would be "deserved"? You just proved Mya's entire point. I wasn't sad to hear of bin Laden's death, but I sure as hell wouldn't sink to barbaric levels that way the FY so desperately wants to.
Well said.
Good video, though.
I didn't feel disgusted by the cheering people did upon hearing Osama is dead, but I did feel somewhat uncomfortable. I guess I am not much for revenge. However, I don't think badly of people who are joyful of the news because they have a different reaction than I. We just have different moral dilemmas and I shouldn't place my values on someone else.
Same here. I felt uncomfortable with the celebrations, but then, how should we be reacting? Maybe joy at his death is going too far, but I have to admit, I'm glad he's gone.
Let's ask one of the people who died on 9/11 whether it's proper for Americans to rejoice in bin Laden's death. Oh. That's right. We can't. Most of them were atomized. Focus, people, focus. That could've been you dying a horrible death in September 2001. Frankly most of us are sorry the Seals didn't get a chance to kill bin Laden again. That memo's coming around. Hopefully you'll get it.
Let's not equip a mass of silenced men, women and children to progress our own points of view. Can we skip that for once? Can we just acknowledge the individuality that this nation is supposed to be founded on and realize that no one can speak for the dead - much less a multitude of them?
Be real, people. Focus, yes, but focus on what separates us, Americans, from the hordes of blood-thirsty murderers who committed that atrocity nearly 10 years ago. Rejoicing in Bin Laden's death doesn't make you a vicious warmonger, but neither does it make you more patriotic than the next guy. Be respectful of the ways in which people mourn, remember, hurt and, yes, celebrate.
I think the real point is...Bin Laden is dead and it's great that he's "defeated" (I'm sure Al Quaeda's not quitting anytime soon). But his death doesn't bring back the thousands of people we lost on 9/11, or any of the soldiers, or civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since then. It doesn't mean the war is over. Should we really try to justify the celebration of someone's death by saying, "They did it first!"? Aren't we trying to hold ourselves to a higher standard than the people who attacked us in the first place?
Do I feel a teensy bit safer? Maybe. But it won't change what's already happened. To quote K above, "Our troops still occupy Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands and thousands of people have died in this war. Now bin Laden is dead, and now what?"
No, but we did just get a major one over them. It might not bring back those, you can't, but this is definitley a start to closing the books on this one. They did do it first. Do unto others as they would do to you. Simple as that. It's us or them.
God you are hopeless, as well as malignant. Do unto others, you say? You've done it 500 TIMES over to the Arabs (thats north of 1.6 million Arab deaths in Iraq & Afghanistan for how many in the Towers? 3000? And those deaths aren't about to NOT be added to anytime soon).
Someone will dance for joy the day it's done unto you, sunshine. I feel it in my bones. Your kind can't but not have personal enemies.
1.6M Arab deaths at Coalition hands? You must be joking.
Nice karma, wishing FY pretty much the same thing that you condemn him/her for, hypocrite.
Fuck You, you are a complete moron. The actual quote is, "Do unto others as YOU would have them do unto YOU." Need a translation? That means that you treat others the way you would like to be treated. I've never seen that quote misinterpreted so completely.
@DrDoctor
(1) There has been north of 1.55 million Arab deaths in Iraq due to hostilities, and north of 50k Arab deaths in Afghanistan due to hostilities, since the respective Coalition invasions. Nowhere did I say that ALL those deaths were solely due to Colaition actions, but the fact remains those particular deaths are recorded as specifically coming in consequence of the Coalition invasion. No joking here, sunshine. That's 500+ times the amount of deaths from the Towers falling.
(2) I never wished anything on FY. I made known my intuition that he would endure the same, due to the nature of his own internal goings-on. My intuition may be off, but you have to learn the difference between someone wishing X on someone, and someone making it known they think someone will end up enduring X sometime later down the track.
Your reading comprehension skills are severely lacking. I suggest you take some remedial classes to get yourself back up to speed with the adults.
WOW! Nothing says America like some fat drunk redneck asshole on an ATV, shooting a gun while chanting USA with an American flag in the bachgroud. The only thing that could have been more American was if there was a group of red necks decked out in camo gear and nascar shirts, pissing on the Karan and shiting on photos of President Obama, saying that his birth certificate was a hoax. As an American I'm entitled to my opinion right or wrong, and that video although funny, is a sad reminder that our country is going to hell, and that when people think of America, that's what they asume we're all like. Just as we asume that all people from the middle east are like what we saw in Team America. So laugh it up chuckles and celebrate, cause if people already think we're a bunch of ass holes, we may as well play part.
@so-what: You said it, brother.
word.
It's also a sad reminder that this guy is who Hooksexup decides to depict as America. We could try to detach the (near) euphoria that accompanied the death of the evil Bin Laden from the sadness of ending a human life or we could just caricature it to make all Americans look like idiots.
You're fucking kidding me with this kumbaya shit right? Cause if you aren't, I got news for you, who anyone who says the things that are said in this article, you're a terrorist sympathizer, moral high ground this that and the other thing really doesn't come into play when dealing with someone as evil as this, yes good and evil exists, regardless of what you deniers say, who will otherwise blow you up/kill you/slice your throat and throw you down the well etc. When dealing with someone like that who turns into an us or them situation,have done that. And it will be them not us in this situation. You can only reason for so long, but not only what about when you're dealing with someone who is unreasonable, but will go to the extremes along the likes of a bin laden or a hitler? Hmm? Then what? Sit back hold hands,"morally debate" this out, or take action and stop them? Thought so. I mean, anyone who isn't celebrating this wonderful momentous occasion and trying to turn this into a philosophical debate, not only are you obviously trying to use this to your advantage for your own twisted agenda, you are also a terrorist sympathizer and therefore a traitor, and if it were up to me, i'd throw you all in jail or kick you out of the country.
""This is why everyone hates us." I know that to a lot of people, especially those who lost someone in 9/11, Osama's death might feel like the end of a chapter, but does that really mean it's a reason to cheer?" Why not cheer over it? They do the same when one of them pulls off a succesful terrorist attack. Again, don't try and turn this into some philosophical moral highground shit, cause you are dealing with those who would otherwise kill you.
How frightening everything must look from inside your skull. Thank goodness it isn't all up to you, because we would all be in .... Iraq or Afghanistan... two countries who have supported known terrorists.... which makes you a terrorist sympathizer. You're just a much grumpier terrorist sympathizer than the rest of us run of the mill kumbaya terrorist sympathizers.
If you ever want to come over to our camp, we'll make you a mango smoothie and read aloud from the Constitution. I will personally draw graphs and illustrations to get you through the really tricky parts of the First Amendment. There will be guacamole. I doubt you can keep up that surly demeanor in the face of some really bitchin' guacamole.
So...you'll read from the First Amendment to show FY why he shouldn't voice support for the guy in the video who is expressing his First Amendment rights?
Sorry, MC, I doubt you have anything to add that we don't already know.
Aw, EagleEye, you just want a mango smoothie too. ALRIGHT, c'mon over. You can leave your selective reading skills right there, pal. You won't need 'em over here.
Thanks, MC, but I'll pass. A smoothie with a side of ad hominem doesn't interest me.
@EagleEye
Shut up, Publius.
Actually MC, before you try to put words in my mouth, I'm actually not too crazy about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. But unlike people like yourself who are out of touch with reality, I accept reality for what it is. I'm not joining anyone's camp. I know what you think as you read what I say, but I'm not that I guarantee you. But taking out Bin Laden is a great thing. And how am I a terrorist sympathizer? I said get them before they get us, we need to stop them etc. How is that being a terrorist sympathizer like you? I'm not grumpy at all. I'm glad they got the son of a bitch and just cause I'm not holding hands and singing kumbay along with you idiots doesn't make me grumpy at all. I never said you couldn't say what you wanted to say, but sometimes when you say something, people can,will,and are going to confront you on it, which they have every right to do. So perhaps we need to sit you down, read you the constitution and remind you why these people are so bad in the first place. I know what the first ammendment says, I know it goes both ways, but like I said, I will confront,question, and get in your face if need be when you say stuff like that.
Btw, that video of the guy on the atv is fucking awesome, and that's what everyone should be doing.
It's jingoistic simpletons like you - with your demented, uninformed and myopic view of the world - that sew the seeds of tyrannical nations. Thank god you have no power, because you are of the mindset that would carelessly lay waste to people you disagree with, confidently assuming that entire populations think alike and no one but you is capable of individual thought - just like the terrorists. Bitch.
You should be ashamed of yourself. Nobody is sympathizing with terrorists, you ham-faced clod - they are merely having a discussion about the virtue of celebrating the death of one evildoer when he is responsible for the deaths of untold thousands. Some people don't feel like celebrating a subject that brings up such terrible memories - a consideration you obviously never made because you're an anti-intellectual bigot who is incapable of empathy and, by virtue of your intolerance of those less-willing to celebrate, probably incapable of pleasing a woman.
You should reconsider your life. You are vapid, dull, hateful and widely disliked. So fuck you, FuckYou.
Well said, NFY. Well said.
Yes, well said, NFY. Written like the condescending idiot you almost certainly are.
@EagleEye
Shut up, Publius.
No, FuckYou....
Ah, and you just proved me right.
"confidently assuming that entire populations think alike and no one but you is capable of individual thought " Well, you just showed me that the people not celebrating this and turning it into an issue for there own warped agenda are doing just that. Thinking alike in the name of some p.c kumbaya bullshit. I suggest you come back to reality and join the good fight against evil. No, I am not a terrorist. I have never killed,bombed,assaulted etc any of the things the terrorists do. I am merely accepting the fact that there are evil people such as this, and they must be stopped. When it comes to dealing with people like this, you can't go the moral high ground route, it's unrealistic. I mean, the terrorists seem to have no problem not going the moral high ground route, so I don't see why it's such a problem to not fight fire with fire so to say.
"It's jingoistic simpletons like you - with your demented, uninformed and myopic view of the world " I really don't have a view of the world like that. I ask you to not assume things and attempt to put words in my mouth, cause that tends to get me pretty pissed. Well, what makes your view of the world any better? Jingoistic simpleton really? Where are you from? New York? Boston? Some area where you think you're better than the rest of us cause of some force fed bullshit you were told? The guy is riding around and celebrating, shame you can't find any joy in that.
"You should be ashamed of yourself. Nobody is sympathizing with terrorists, you ham-faced clod - they are merely having a discussion about the virtue of celebrating the death of one evildoer when he is responsible for the deaths of untold thousands. Some people don't feel like celebrating a subject that brings up such terrible memories - a consideration you obviously never made because you're an anti-intellectual bigot who is incapable of empathy and, by virtue of your intolerance of those less-willing to celebrate, probably incapable of pleasing a woman."
Well, not denying the terrible memories part, but we got him. Nuff said. Anti-intellectual bigot? and what brings you to that ASS-umption? Hmm? Just cause I realize not everything can be reasoned out and negotiated with, the likes of which cowards like you tend to believe in? I actually have alot of empathy, how can you say that when you don't even know me? I just am glad we got one evil son of a bitch, who speaking of which, there's a guy who lacks empathy, but since you are obviously a terrorist sympathizer and hate America(ns), you obviously don't want to see that?
"intolerance of those less-willing to celebrate, probably incapable of pleasing a woman."
When did I ever say I was intolernat of those not celebrating? There have been several family members of 9/11 victims who aren't really feeling this either, which I actually respectfully and empathetically understand. It is those the likes of you who can't see this for what it is and what's really going on who I have a problem with.
"You should reconsider your life. You are vapid, dull, hateful and widely disliked. So fuck you, FuckYou."
Well, as for the making fun of me for thinking I can't please a woman as you say, and assuming I'm hateful and widely disliked, and the judging by the condescending tone of your response, something tells me you are incapable of pleasing a woman and have all sorts of issues around that and similar subjects, you're probably a widely disliked and isolated loner, and you're just venting it out on me cause you're too much of a pussy to do anything about in real life. You're just another little s.o.b who wants to argue about everything, which you have every right to do, but don't be surprised when not everyone feels the same way as you do and it comes back to bite you in the ass one way or another.
"...just another little s.o.b. who wants to argue about everything..."
Interesting that you say that about other people, when you're obviously just a troll trying to piss people off. It doesn't matter what the article is about, you immediately make the most ridiculous comments, just to get a reaction out of people.
Also, when people have a different opinion than you, claiming they're anti-American, and not patriotic is so worn out. We've heard enough of that already. Try a new one.
Oh, and if we were on the side of the terrorists, we would be suggesting that desecrating his body is actual justice, like you seem to think. Funny that you think you're being so patriotic by wanting to act just like the barbarians.
Get a job, FuckYou? Find a better way to spend your time than provoking people on message boards because you're too much of a ninny to do it in real life.
I have a job thank you. Please try to come up with something more original to try and kick me off of here. I'm not trying to piss anyone off, I'm just pointing out the obvious, and it seems someone can't handle it.
The rest of the world hates us no matter what we do so we might as well celebrate his death and fuck what the rest of the world thinks. For those that don't want to celebrate his death by taking the "high road": take the high road but quit your bitching so it doesn't interrupt my shouts of glee. The fucker could have surrendered instead of using his wife as a shield.
You don't keep up on news reports, do you? He didn't use his wife as a shield. That was a lie.
And where did it say he didn't use his wife as a shield?, whom which btw, I really have no sympathy for her at all.
@K, I've heard it both ways and am likely to believe that he did use her as a shield. The reports of her attacking the SEALS unarmed sound more like he threw her towards them trying to escape. That was the kind of coward that he was. He was happy to have everyone else die a "martyr's" death but not him. I only wish that they had brought his body back to NYC, put it in one of those trough urinals at Yankee stadium and sold tickets to let people piss on his corpse. We could have eliminated the national debt by doing that.
I'm likely to believe she wasn't so much running at them, as she was just running. I think if he was using her as a shield, she would have been dead. You think they wouldn't have shot at him, just because he was using her as a shield? Doubtful. He was a coward. He was fine with encouraging other people to blow themselves up when he obviously wasn't willing to make the same "sacrifices." Again, I'm not sad that he's dead, but pissing on any corpse is barbaric. He's dead. How does desecrating a body make it any better? For an answer, you can ask the terrorists you claim to despise so much.
When 9/11 happened, a bunch of people cheered and celebrated. The big difference is that on 9/11, people celebrated an attack on civilians. Bin Laden was a self-proclaimed murderer. So, NO, celebrating his death is NOT the same fucking thing.
I don't celebrate his death - the ultimate disposition of his soul is for God to decide - but I do celebrate justice. Personally, I wouldn't do it as a drunken college student in front of the WH but then neither did 99.99% of Americans.
Well EagleEye, it's cause you just don't live in reality. You celebrate justice? Doesn't seem that way from your condescending rant towards me. Oh yeah right. You're just so above those drunken college students right? Have you ever had any sense of joy in your life? Have you ever even had sex or been drunk or smoked some weed or anything?
As someone from the UK and thus slightly detached from the situation, I find all this celebrating in very poor taste and downright ignorant.
It doesn't even mean anything. He was getting on a bit, I'm sure they already have a successor in place who will be determined to prove himself.
What? A Brit finds America ignorant and in poor taste? This is certainly front page news. Sadly, GB is a shadow of its former self, having lost virtually its entire industrial base, most of its moral underpinning and almost all of its military might.
Recall this is the country that has dogs wear booties when in/around Muslim property, that just arrested a bar singer for "Kung Fu Fighting" and is currently considering implementation of Sharia in various areas.
It saddens me but GB should now be looked at as a warning to America. We must not follow the same path.
@EagleEye
Shut up, Publius.
I agree. I was wondering when that troll was going to show up. I'm thinking EagleEye, FuckYou and Publius are the same jerk.
It's me, FuckYou, and I assure you, we are not the same person. I wouldn't do that. But hey, look who I'm dealin with.
I'm not defending the guy, but killing him like that was stupid. Now he's some kind of martyr for their 'cause'.
An excuse me, but watching you people celebrate like obnoxious hockey fans on TV made you look like ignorant pricks, you were just missing turbans, some goats and AK-47s. Bind Laden had the final laugh, he made all of you into what you hate the most.
There were once two leaders of men named Good and Evil. Both had many followers. Good told his followers that he was good, and that Evil was evil. Evil told HIS followers that HE was good, and Good was evil. The followers on both sides were mostly good, and simply believed the stories that their leaders told them. Some followers had some evil in them, though all were certain of their goodness, and the goodness of their leaders. One day, Evil incited his followers to do harm to the people of Good, and made it known that he would continue until Good's people were wiped out, leaving Good with a moral dilemma: to strike back at Evil, and so cause harm, a typically evil act, but also protect his people, which was good, or to do nothing, which was normally the right thing to do, but risk more harm to his people, which would be, at best, irresponsible. He chose to attack back and support his people, and did great harm to Evil. When Evil attacked Good, his followers took to the streets to celebrate, which enraged Good's people. Now that Good had harmed Evil, many of Good's followers likewise celebrated their victory, causing the followers of Evil to also become enraged back, and they attacked Good again in return. Good attacked back, and so it went, with the celebrations of the people on both sides fueling the desire for revenge in the other, until one day a number of Good's followers gathered together and cried out for the celebrations to stop. "Let us not celebrate our enemy's defeat," they said. "This war is terrible, and has caused much harm. By acting like the people of Evil, we have reinforced their beliefs that we, in fact are evil. Let us not celebrate, but quietly mourn the necessary harm we have caused. We can even celebrate in our hearts, but let us show the people of Evil that we are different from them, and see what happens." The people of Good heard the message and would not celebrate their victory. Evil looked and looked, seeking to find followers of Good celebrating to stoke the fires and rally his people for another attack. But the people of Good held firm, refusing to act in the same manner as their enemies. Some followers of Evil were undeterred, but others saw this and realized that there was something different about their enemies. "Why are they not celebrating, if they are as evil as our leader says?" The celebrating came across to them as an insult, but this new gesture appeared to reflect a part of themselves, a part that was tired of the war, and refused to take any joy in killing, whether justified or not. Just as the celebrating had served to inflame them, the quiet response invited a quiet in them, and a number of them turned their backs on their leader. When Evil attempted to rally his people for another attack, he had less followers than before, and his power began to wane. Would he have enough followers for continued aggression against Good? That was yet to be seen, but the fact remained that the followers of Good had at last rejected the blind and vicious cycle that was leading to more and more violence, and had, by changing themselves, created an opportunity for their enemies to also change. It did not work perfectly, and the followers of Good were still ready to defend themselves if needed, but at least there was hope that this new way of thinking and feeling would continue to impact the conflict in a positive way.
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