Today it was reported that the adult sons, especially Omar bin Laden, 30, have publicly condemned the killing of their father Osama bin Laden. They have accused the United States of killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea. (Shane, Scott, New York Times, May 10, 2011, Bin Laden Sons Say U.S. Violated International Law) Osama Bin Laden’s sons posed the question of why their father “was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that the truth is revealed to the people of the world.” They went on to state, “We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems…justice must be seen and done.” Supra.
Although it may be extremely difficult, if not impossible, one must at the very least try to see this from the bin Laden family’s perspective before we judge anyone. As ridiculous as these statements may seem to the average American, we must understand that these are human beings that just lost their father. As evil as he may have been, to Omar bin Laden and his other sons, he was a father first.
Perhaps these statements were prepared and released too soon. After all it has only been 8 days since the Unites States' operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan. It may have been wise for Omar and family to allow some time to pass before attacking the Obama administration’s actions. But of course, we are dealing with human emotion here, and I think in this instance emotions got the best of them. Simply stated, even if the United States wanted to take Osama bin Laden alive, he doesn’t strike me as the type of character that would have raised his hands in the air and allowed himself to be taken into custody. In all likelihood he would have grabbed the nearest assault rifle within reach and started shooting at will a la Tony Montana, minus the bad Columbian accent.
The most enraging statement made is the one calling for the “truth” to be “revealed.” What more truth do you want? It is true that Osama bin Laden has been responsible for thousands of American deaths. It is true that Osama bin Laden wanted more Americans dead. It is true that he would not rest until he saw more Americans die. It is true that he caused thousands of Americans an unquantifiable amount of pain and suffering. It is true that Osama bin Laden used women as shields during the raid. And it is true that no country on this planet would have allowed his corpse inside its borders. Thus, although I feel for the bin Laden family as human beings who lost a family member, I whole heartedly disagree with their stance that a better solution was to capture their father alive and put him through trial. Even Osama bin Laden would have preferred to go out the way he did, and although the bin Laden family is clouded by emotion at this time, maybe one day they will realize that "justice was seen and done."
Written by Ivan U. Cisneros
