Before this gets too crazy...let's be CAREFUL about what's being celebrated

[Ken Burch]

A vile man is, apparently, dead. I don't mourn him and know of no one else who will either.

But the pursuit of this man(assuming that our forces actually killed him as opposed to his simply succombing, at long last, to kidney failure)led to the deaths or many, many people in Afghanistan AND Iraq...few of whom had any connection to the man, or his crazy militia/cult, and few of whom deserved to suffer for the repulsiveness of his actions.

If Osama is dead, that STILL doesn't vindicate the Iran or Afghan wars OR the idea of U.S. intervention in the Middle East. It still doesn't justify the human cost. And it's not at all likely to turn into the ability to achieve progressive outcomes at home.

What we're actually going to see now, unless I miss my guess, is a rise in "superpatriot" emotions, emotions that are almost always tied to right-wing politics, emotions that OUR party will not benefit from.

In the meantime, Afghanistan needs to be rebuilt and the imperial mindset embraced by the leaders of both parties in this country needs to be challenged and resisted at every turn, because if it isn't, all that we hold dear as progressive-minded people will be swept away in another ugly tide of American exceptionalist arrogance.

Be wary of all that. Show restraint. And mourn the innocent dead.

Sorry if I'm not in a "Yea, Team!" mood tonight...but war isn't a sporting event and death, even of loathesome people, shouldn't be celebrated. Every time we DO celebrate someone's death, we kiss a little of our humanity goodbye.