Uncut

When it comes to controversial topics, I more often than not find myself in opposition to the popular opinion. This post will follow that trend, and before you write me off as an unpatriotic cynic, at least read the argument and standpoints you may not have thought of. I think it is safe to say we all remember where we were on that fateful day the twin towers fell, the world stopped in it’s tracks to witness an event none of us could have thought possible. Not since Pearl Harbor had such a hit been taken on American soil, and it was not a remote port of Hawaii that was targeted, but our greatest capitals, and my home in New York City. That day the unfathomable happened, just blocks away from my mother’s office. Chaos descended upon the city, so much that I was unable to get home that night and was forced to take refuge in a strangers home at the age of twelve. New York was in a state of emergency. In an unfamiliar environment, with no friends or family to comfort me, I watched the tragedy unfold again and again on the news. The details I was most horrified by was the footage of people celebrating in the Middle East, rejoicing at the loss of American life. Whether it was due to this footage or general American ignorance, people made those next few months very hard for Middle Eastern Americans, harassing them with words and violence. I have not always been proud to be an American, but I always have and always will be proud to be a New Yorker. A city which I believe stands outside the rest of these United States as an entity of it’s own.

When we went to war the entire country banded together with New York’s battle cry, to avenge the atrocities done to our nations greatest city. Thousands joined the military based on that event alone, told by our government there were menacing weapons of mass destruction. The initial query ran by our former President Bush was well supported, but after draining years with little to no results it became apparent the campaign had other agendas as well. Just when the country was about as fed up as it could be, came the election of President Obama. This moment marked a change in American history, such as the likes of JFK in our generation, an inspiration to see. Different opinioned Americans crossed their regular boundaries to meet on common grounds, we where all thinking a little bigger. But as the fickle American public is known to do, soon after inauguration opinions began to change. The expectations placed on the president, were so great that people became upset he could not meet their impossible standards. The backlash began; American ignorance again reared its ugly head, demanding a birth certificate from the President, doubting him completely. Our country was headed straight back to the conservative politics we had just fled from.

When the news surfaced last night about the death of Osama Bin Laden I paid little attention, thinking it would go relatively unnoticed. Turns out I was wrong, I underestimated the bloodlust of ravenous Americans who had been searching for a way to justify the war their tax dollars had been going to for years. Apparently it was some sort of victory, we killed the bad guy. Isn’t this then when the movie is supposed to end? The war over, troops coming back home, now that would be something to celebrate. But no, none of that was happening, no real victory achieved, we caught one cowardly man, the figurehead of 9/11 but he was certainly not the whole cause, nor is his death the solution. The people who lost their lives in the tragedy are no less dead, nor are their families avenged, not really. And how many additional American lives were lost to finally gain capture of this one man? The answer is far too many.

With every pain the search caused our country, the enemy only became more victorious. Whether Osama Bin Laden continued to live or die is ultimately meaningless when the process to capture him is detrimental. To put a price on this mans head gives him a purpose, a value. To call him our generations Hitler gives him an importance. The truth is he was not a good man, and no one on American soil will mourn his loss, but to celebrate it, makes us no better than our enemies. I will not celebrate the campaign for a coward. The greatest insult we can give to that man is to forget him, not glorify him as even Hitler has been, with names that carry on into history. I will not partake in the uncouth wishes to spit on his grave, or drink and pretend America is a better place to live now. As I have said I am a New Yorker before I am an American, and to truly bring our fallen citizens peace perhaps we could finally finish their monument. The place where many celebrated last night is still just a construction site. It has been over ten years and still nothing exists where so many have lost their lives, they are not honored, as they should be. Our city still has a gaping hole that the death of Osama Bin Laden cannot fill. But perhaps the greatest asset the news of this death has brought is a reaffirmed confidence in our president, who I for one have never doubted.