Thoughts on Osama

Asalamu Alaikum,

I first heard what had happened around 10 in the morning. When we got up Tariq turned on one of the Urdu news channels and after a minute I asked him to switch over to BBC so that I could understand what was going on better.

I was a bit stunned, slightly skeptical, I guess I just wasn't expecting something like this. When ever I thought about Osama bin Laden in the past, I kind of expected it to be different, maybe a bomb would get him, or something like that. Something distant.

I don't really take joy in his death, because I think that it would be wrong for me to do so, but I am not really unhappy either, he did some really terrible things. I didn't lose family on 9/11, so I will never be able to truly understand how those who did feel. Maybe some feel like celebrating, maybe some just get a bit of relief, closure.

I am kind of upset that people feel the need to gather in the streets waving flags and singing the national anthem. How they react is none of my business really, but it cannot help the situation over here. In a place where some people already hate Americans this will only make us look bad, and may incite some people to retaliate.

I think, regarding the man himself, at the most I can feel a sort of grim satisfaction that he is gone and can't do any more harm.