I sat down at my computer tonight intending to write an update about my trip to Beirut last weekend or this weekend's adventures in Jerusalem, but I can't get President Obama's announcement about Osama bin Laden out of my head. I woke up this morning to an inbox full of Washington Post email alerts and a Facebook newsfeed of excited status updates declaring that the world's most wanted man was killed in a CIA operation. Initially, I didn't think much about it--I was happy because everyone I encountered, virtually or in real life, was happy. Why shouldn't I be pleased that the world is rid of a hardened terrorist?
As the day wore on, I became more and more uncomfortable with the congratulations offered by my American classmates and the celebratory news coverage. I am glad that bin Laden's death might provide some closure for victims of al-Qaeda's terrorism and their families. I am glad that my country accomplished something it set out to do. I am admittedly even glad that this might help President Obama win reelection next year. But I can't accept that this is "justice." My good American values teach me that everyone deserves a fair trial, my UU faith tells me that there is inherent worth and dignity in every person, and my heart has always led me to believe that no one should have the right to play God and take the life of another human being. My conscience simply cannot write off ten years of civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the name of revenge and, further still, I cannot bring myself to believe that any human life, no matter how tainted by wrongdoing, is worth a bit of positive media coverage and a whole lot of empty justice.
I know many people probably think that I am unrealistic and naive and maybe that is true. Maybe my idealistic worldview will get me nowhere in life, but I spent the first eighteen years of my life learning about the greatness of American democracy and the last three learning about the double-standard we apply to anyone different from us the moment we get afraid. If I've learned nothing else during my time in Egypt and Jordan over the course of the past year, it's that the biggest problem many Arabs have with the United States is the inconsistency of our foreign policy--and they're right. Why do we think that only some people deserve a fair trial--after all, Saddam Hussein and Timothy McVeigh each got one, didn't they? Why do we think an American life has greater value than the life of an Afghani child caught in the crossfire? When will we realize that we would get so much farther in the world if we truly led by example instead of brazenly brandishing our military might?
I don't have answers to these questions, so instead I'll just angst-ily sit here and continue to listen to "Let It Be" and Emmanuel Jal's "We Want Peace" on repeat while I try to make sense of the world. Oh life. Womp womp.
Edit: My favorite blog, Foreign Policy Passport, weighs in on exactly what I've been musing about.
As the day wore on, I became more and more uncomfortable with the congratulations offered by my American classmates and the celebratory news coverage. I am glad that bin Laden's death might provide some closure for victims of al-Qaeda's terrorism and their families. I am glad that my country accomplished something it set out to do. I am admittedly even glad that this might help President Obama win reelection next year. But I can't accept that this is "justice." My good American values teach me that everyone deserves a fair trial, my UU faith tells me that there is inherent worth and dignity in every person, and my heart has always led me to believe that no one should have the right to play God and take the life of another human being. My conscience simply cannot write off ten years of civilian deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the name of revenge and, further still, I cannot bring myself to believe that any human life, no matter how tainted by wrongdoing, is worth a bit of positive media coverage and a whole lot of empty justice.
I know many people probably think that I am unrealistic and naive and maybe that is true. Maybe my idealistic worldview will get me nowhere in life, but I spent the first eighteen years of my life learning about the greatness of American democracy and the last three learning about the double-standard we apply to anyone different from us the moment we get afraid. If I've learned nothing else during my time in Egypt and Jordan over the course of the past year, it's that the biggest problem many Arabs have with the United States is the inconsistency of our foreign policy--and they're right. Why do we think that only some people deserve a fair trial--after all, Saddam Hussein and Timothy McVeigh each got one, didn't they? Why do we think an American life has greater value than the life of an Afghani child caught in the crossfire? When will we realize that we would get so much farther in the world if we truly led by example instead of brazenly brandishing our military might?
I don't have answers to these questions, so instead I'll just angst-ily sit here and continue to listen to "Let It Be" and Emmanuel Jal's "We Want Peace" on repeat while I try to make sense of the world. Oh life. Womp womp.
Edit: My favorite blog, Foreign Policy Passport, weighs in on exactly what I've been musing about.
