First I do not think OBL was a vile and horrible monster as portrayed in the media. He was someone who lived by what he preached, and did not hesitate to take great personal risks to do that. I disagree with what he preached, but that is beside the point. So when he entered this path, I am pretty sure he knew what the risks were and he must have been prepared to be killed at some point.
I think that his engagement in Afghanistan against the Soviet forces was an example of personal bravery of someone who could have lived a comfortable life from inherited wealth, but chose not to. Again, my personal sympathies in this conflict were with the Soviet backed forces, which represented social progress, but that is beside the point. What matters is that he willingly went into this fray knowing the grave risks to his life, even though he had other choices.
His bankrolling of the 9/11 attacks - I am not sure how far his role stretched beyond that - was a similar decision. he knew darn well what the risks were, but he did it anyway. One may question the wisdom of killing civilians not involved in combat, which I find reprehensible 9which is again beside the point.) But for someone who willingly participated in the war in Afghanistan, it was not a moral question but a fact of everyday life -civilians were routinely killed to achieve military objectives. This may be totally alien to our views, but that is again beside the point.
So when the commandos finally killed him, they merely enacted a part in the role that he crafted for himself long time ago. After 9/11 he has been a spent force, out of sight and increasingly out of mind. And following the Arab Spring, increasingly an anachronism, a closed chapter that many did not care to remember. Being shot instead dying in obscurity from disease or old age was his last grandstanding, so to speak.
So while condemning the terrorist, let us not lose the sight from the man who turned his life into the greatest spectacle of the 21st century.
As to the US commandos killing him - this was just a natural consequence of the path that OBL entered a long time ago, nothing to rejoice, nothing to abhor. Just the grand finale of the greatest spectacle of the 21st century to date.
Wojtek
On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 11:53 AM, Julio Huato <juliohuato at gmail.com> wrote:
> En español:
>
> http://www.cubadebate.cu/reflexiones-fidel/2011/05/05/el-asesinato-de-osama-bin-laden/
>
> In English:
>
> http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/reflexiones/2011/ing/f040511i.html
>
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