Opinions

Death of Osama is reassuring to some, but that may not be the case

After ten years of searching, Osama bin Laden — A Saudi Arabian billionaire and the most wanted man in the world — has finally been ousted. Videos of his take down have been posted all over YouTube and Facebook and a DNA test has supposedly been conducted in order to prove the tattered body is his.

Some skeptics are not convinced that Osama bin Laden has just recently been caught and killed. Many Middle East analysts wholeheartedly believe bin Laden has been dead for some time now, and “killing” him ten years later (ironically, on the same day of Adolf Hitler’s death) is nothing but a symbolic gesture that will both aid in the morale of soldiers overseas as well as boost Pres. Obama’s approval rates, and by default, sealing his victory for a second term.

Robert Fisk is among many to point out the stagnant role bin Laden has played in recent times. Fisk points out that regardless of bin Laden’s capture and killing, he was hardly involved in current day al-Qaida missions and was nowhere near a leadership role in the post-9/11 days.

While the death of the world’s most wanted terrorist is just cause to celebrate, it should not distract us from the reality of the situation: Our government still has thousands of troops overseas, we are still spending billions of dollars on military expenses and, if anything, we should be worried because Pakistan is much worse off than we originally anticipated. This may sound redundant, but it is necessary to make this point clear. If bin Laden was able to hide out in a $1.5 million mansion without being found out right away, what does that say about the border security of this country?

After watching the news and listening to broadcasting regarding this subject matter, it is clear Pakistan has moved from a “failing state” into the category of “failed state,” and the fact that it is a nuclear power makes it all the more terrifying (no pun intended). Pakistan is the real issue now, and all eyes are on the American ally as it attempts to wiggle its way out of the mess it’s gotten itself in.

While Pakistan’s situation remains my main concern, another fear is that terror attack threats are going to start pouring in now that such a prominent figure in the terrorist community has been taken out. This is interesting, considering we’re already at about 5,000 threats per day and the CIA and Department of Homeland Security spends their time filtering out actual threats from fake ones. Let’s be honest — how many more threats can there be?

This terrorist business is tricky, which means the average person is expected not to understand the configurations of how to track and take out terrorism, and therefore, is kept in the dark from the public regarding just about everything terrorist-related.

This is the first time in decades the CIA has been able to publicly rejoice in a defeat, which has led to even more drama regarding who exactly took him out and the role of the navy in the operation. I think we can all agree that America as a whole can take credit for this one, and it really doesn’t matter how narrowed down the list of people we should credit becomes.

The bottom line is we still have work to do, and it’s only going to get harder from here on out, so let’s brace ourselves, for I guarantee the worst is yet to come.

Dina Al-Hayek is a senior political science major and a columnist for the Daily 49er.

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