Nearly 10 years ago, the United States of America suffered a terrorist attack at the hands of a global terrorism group headed by Osama bin Laden. This heinous and cowardly act served as a rallying point for a nation divided after a heated election in which there were many accusations of fraud and cheating conducted by the victorious party. Americans bought up every patriotic item they could get their hands on. Democrats and Republicans stood together as representatives of a proud and vigilant nation who would stop at nothing to bring justice to those responsible for this act. The President saw his approval ratings skyrocket.
Now, nearly 10 years later, the person at the apex of responsibility for those attacks has been brought to justice.The President himself reported last evening that Osama bin Laden has indeed been killed by U.S. forces after nearly a year of detailed surveillance concentrating on the Pakistani compound that ultimately housed bin Laden. In his address to the nation, President Obama outlined the sequence of events leading to bin Laden's better-late-than-never termination which included several meetings with intelligence personnel and ranking military officers. Mr. Obama explained his role in the process and that he gave the go ahead to put the plan in motion to finally take out Osama bin Laden. This plan succeeded and did such with no loss of American lives during the operation.
This result, however, is not good enough for some people. Many posts I have seen on Twitter, facebook, and comments sections of news and political sites are all blasting Obama. People are accusing him of taking all the credit, laying praise on George Bush, and ultimately passing this off as a publicity stunt. Honestly, I am not sure exactly how many questions Obama has to answer before some people are satisfied but I am going to estimate that some people simply never will be satisfied. Merely days after Obama put to rest criticism that he was not born in the United States, he gave the green light to have Osama bin Laden killed. Not good enough, apparently.
The truth is that plenty of people deserve high praise for taking out a mad man who had zero regard for human life. First and foremost are the men and women of the USA's armed forces whose selfless sacrifices and willingness to put their lives on the line every minute of everyday to assure we never see another 9/11.
Those individuals, fighting together as one, deserve the largest pat on the back of anybody. We also have the intelligence experts who never gave up on finding bin Laden and used their innate skills to help finally bring him to justice. President Bush deserves some commendation for initiating the effort to find bin Laden, be it unsuccessful under his watch. Lastly, President Obama deserves his share of praise for his handling of the situation since he first received word that bin Laden's whereabouts had been located by US Forces. He was patient but prudent and was involved in the process throughout.
That same synergy that bonded Americans in the wake of 9-11 seems to be absent these last few days. Sure there were people in the streets of NYC and DC waving their flags and singing the "Star Spangled Banner" but that celebration has been shouted over by the screams of the Conservative movement looking for any excuse to denigrate Obama and his presidency. They had to make sure that little to no credit was awarded to the Commander-in-Chief they vehemently detest like a 5 year old jealous of his neighbor's Hot Wheels. Those same people were calling people like myself un-American, un-Patriotic, and instructing me to move to another country when I showed dissent towards President Bush's policies. Funny what life is like when the shoe is on the other foot.
Nearly 10 years later, that sense of unity felt in the days following the 9-11 attacks is but a whisper amongst screams. I just wonder if that sense of unity will ever find it's way back?
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