What does Osama's death mean?

I did not start this blog with the intention of getting into politics. There are few things more subjective and divisive then where one stands when it comes to various issues, political parties, or where they fall in the big spectrum. However, once in awhile something comes along and you just have to take to whatever forum you have available and comment on it. And so I come here, to my webpage where I usually do reviews, to comment on this groundbreaking story.

Yes, it finally happened. After ten years of obscurity and unconfirmed whereabouts, after years and years of being told "we think he is in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan", Bin Laden was not just found, but killed. And the big question that seems to be on everyone's lips, what will this mean now? Obviously, 9/11 was a turning point in history. Whether or not you agreed with the assessment that it "changed everything" you had to admit that it was what Gibson described as a "nodal point" in our history. It changed many things, for better or for worse, including but not limited to how the world thinks of terrorism, how the US executed its foreign policy, what that policy entailed, and had a huge impact on international relations. It also put a face on global terrorism, again for better or for worse*. And with Bin Laden's escape from the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, and the subsequent invasion of Iraq and torture controversies, many people have been left wondering about the course of the whole "war on terror" and whether or not it was even worth pursuing anymore.

And now, ten years, and two inconclusive wars later – not to mention "enhanced interrogation techniques", hundreds of thousands dead, and a whole lot of unanswered questions – the man responsible for 9/11 and this detour in our history, is finally dead. But the question remains, what now? Does Bin Laden's death mean anything for the "war on terror", even though the term has been dropped, and will it effect the fortunes of Al-Qaeda or US foreign policy? Second, and perhaps of equal importance, is a question I asked myself today. How will future generations look at this period in our history? Will they see it as an aberration, like we do Vietnam, or will they see it as something that began with tragedy and ended with triumph, albeit with some bumps along the way.

Personally, I think the answer to the first question is a resounding no. While Bin Laden's death is certainly a symbolic victory, and definitely a victory for Obama (if he exploits it just right), his death really doesn't change things vis a vis the bigger picture? Why, because the war on terror ceased being about Osama many years ago. He ceased to be the source of the US's problems shortly after Afghanistan was invaded. Which, I think helps to answer question two, but one thing at a time! As it stands, the US is still engaged on a number of fronts with its former "war on terror", and its enemies go far beyond Bin Laden and his small band of people. Whether it's the resurgent Taliban, Islamic militants in Pakistan, or the possibility of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, the US finds itself committed to war on several fronts. And they aren't going so well.

On the plus side, the US has pulled out of Iraq after seven disastrous years of occupation. The long-term effect that it will have the region are also unclear, but one thing is for sure, after an insurgency, civil war and most areas of the country still living in fear and dire poverty, things couldn't get much worse. Any hopes the neo-cons have that something good will come out of the Iraqi war, hence saving Bush's legacy, cannot be taken seriously anymore. There are those who predict it will get even worse, that the sectarian violence is nearing phase two, that the current government can't possibly control the country, and that some kind of fundamentalist autocracy is likely to take over, most likely with strong ties to Iran. Some think there's nowhere to go but up, but even many of them believe that it was the withdrawal of the US that now makes this possible. I.e. nothing good could happen so long as the occupation continued, the Iraqis needing to "build democracy" on their own.

So realistically, Osama's departure from the international scene is really not a decisive factor anymore. At least, not in my humble opinion. And this, like I said earlier, goes a long way towards answering how this whole episode will be viewed by future generations, provided I'm right of course . So for the sake of argument, let's assume that Osama, the architect of 9/11 and the man chiefly responsible for the big response it got, no longer plays a central role in the war on terror. Is this not a pretty good indication that future generations will look at this whole affair as big, messy thing that began with tragedy, took a terrible detour, and didn't even end with the architects demise? Well… sure! The fact the US can't use this as a pretext to pull out of Afghanistan, the fact that this won't bring back the half a million plus dead Iraqis who died as a result of the war, occupation, insurgency, and civil war in Iraq, the fact that it can't undo the torture of hundreds of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, most of whom had little to no evidence connecting them to any kind of terrorist acts, the fact that it can't heal US relations with its snubbed allies, the fact that it won't end the defiance of North Korea with its nuclear testing, nor curb the rising influence of Iran in the Middle East, help the US economy recover, or stem the tide of Putin's evil rise to power in Russia. It can't give us the last ten years back, all the lost opportunities, wasted time, wasted money, and most importantly, wasted lives. All of this would seem to indicate that the war on terror has been a resounding failure. And while Obama and his crew may have dropped the term from their vocabulary, while they may have withdrawn from Iraq, it is clear that the same kind of policy decisions and advisers are still in key positions, and that his administration is not immune to their influence.

So indeed… what now? What can be done to salvage the situation that 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, and the "war on terror" has left us with? What can we do, short of turning back the clock and killing him back in 2002 when the opportunity first presented itself, thus avoiding all the crap that happened between now and then?