Osama's dead and people aren't happy.

As the entire world learned approximately 13 hours ago, Osama bin Laden has been confirmed dead, having been taken out by a US team under President Obama's orders.  While most people are out celebrating and rejoicing, others are wondering killing Osama bin Laden actually means anything almost a full decade after the September 11, 2001 attacks, while other people are questioning why people would celebrate the death of someone. I am basing this completely on my own Facebook news feed, so maybe that's not exactly how things break down, but it's how things appear to me.

Maybe it's because a large number of my Facebook friends are either younger than me or around my age (which would have put them at the ripe dumb age of 13 or younger on 9/11), or because maybe it's because a large number of my Facebook friends believe in conspiracies or don't trust the US government for one reason or another, but I am picking up on a lot of negative vibes about the whole ordeal. More so than I ever would have guessed at least.

I personally do find the news to be good news. I know that his death does not mean terrorism is over, nor does it mean that the entire world is safe from anything bad ever happening again. Of course it doesn't mean something like that, but it does give the world something: hope. There is a lot about the world that I don't understand, and with many things I don't even pretend like I know what's going on, but I do know that the past 10 years have been filled with lots of dread, despair and distrust. So to hear that the [alleged] mastermind of the terrorist attack that brought in this dark era has been removed from this Earth, it is kind of comforting. Even if Osama bin Laden was not behind the 9/11 attacks (which some people are still very insistent about), he was still a well-documented terrorist known for being tied to several terrorist plots around the globe. So his death is not just a big "AMERICA FUCK YEAH"-victory like some people have been putting it (even if it is just as a means to make fun of the über-patriot archetype, such as yours truly). It's a symbolic achievement for the world. Sure, it doesn't mean that his death is an instant means for the eradication of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, but it is a message to those groups: he was to be feared, but that still won't stop the world from bowing down.

Of course there will be those who see things in a Nationalistic sense and only see this as an American achievement. And that's sad, because it means more than just that. Yes I am an American and I'm proud to be, but I'm not happy because American troops were the ones who got him. I'm happy because one of the major figureheads of Hate has been taken down.

It bothers me a bit to see messages from people who say they don't understand why everyone is celebrating his death. "Life is precious and the loss of one isn't to be a happy occasion, no matter how bad the person" is the general idea behind these thoughts [again, just based on my findings. It is very likely that the most popular dissenting statement is "So the scapegoat is dead, now let's find out who really plotted 9/11"].  I understand that it is morally apprehensive to wish death upon someone, but I find it very hard to believe that people are unable to make exceptions to this. Even in my everyday life I know there is one person whose death I would not be saddened by.  And that's just for trying to get me arrested so he wouldn't go down alone! Maybe it's because my moral fiber is woven differently from other's, but to me there are certain people who, when they commit certain deeds, lose a part of their humanity and I no longer view them as being the same as me. It's not just terrorists or people who have done me wrong (and even then, it's only just one person who has wronged me). There are plenty of other hate groups (KKK, Religious or Political Extremists, Nazis, etc) and just general scumbags (Child Molesters, Rapists, Murderers) in the world who I wouldn't bat a tear for if they died. This doesn't mean that I necessarily wish that they would die, but it means that if it were to happen that I do not think that society would lose anything. And I can say for a fact that if I was close to one of the victims, I would be ecstatic to hear of their passing.

Is that a morally correct way of thinking? No, I don't think so at all. But that's not going to stop anyone from celebrating the demise of one of the key players in the War on Terror.