The Al-Qaaeda leader, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and the world’s most wanted man for over a decade was killed by U.S. Navy forces in Pakistan, today.
The Saudi-born Islamist was killed in a mansion outside Islamabad after his whereabouts were uncovered.
People around the world are rejoicing by this news…
But should we really be that happy?
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing I wanted to see more than the man dead and this Daily News cover sums up how I feel about him:
But prior to his death, Bin Laden was pretty much irrelevant. Al Qaaeda was becoming mostly threats and no action, which is definitely a good thing, mostly because the U.S. military intervention in its areas of power had rendered it very incapable of actually doing something.
With Bin Laden’s death, he was brought back into the spotlight and with that, Islamists are boiling. Terrorist attacks will only escalate from here – and instead of blaming their pretty messed up understanding of their religion for it – they will put it all on Bin Laden’s death.
Al Qaaeda is more fragmented than people think. It’s not an army with a certain hierarchy that needs to be followed. Bin Laden’s death is more symbolic than effective. But symbolism is important. Al Qaaeda, though, will simply have a new leader who might even be worse than Bin Laden.
The story isn’t over with Bin Laden’s death. Sure, we can rejoice and be happy for a day that such filth is dead. But the problem truly ends when the root of the problem is eradicated. As to how that should take place, I honestly have no clue.
And in all honesty, how do we know he’s truly dead? Hasn’t he been killed over thirteen times already? The picture of him dead turned out to be photoshopped and he was given a sea burial. I hope, for the sake of the families of 9/11 victims, that this is not a hoax.