Bin Laden - that psychotic sonofabitch - is dead: let the “Buts” commence

I generally avoid quoting from the Old Testament, but I’m going to indulge myself just this once:

“When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but
             terror to  evildoers” – Proverbs 21:15

I don’t know as I’m particularly righteous, but I’m certainly full of joy that a psychopath so vile that probably even the Guardian might think twice about giving  him a column has had his brains blown out by a US Navy SEAL. 

Before this morning, I had experienced four “where were you when you heard that…” international events – the death of Kennedy, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the death of Princess Diana, and 9/11 (inside Bush House, about to have a meeting with OnDigital executives - yes, it was that long ago). Now, the news that Osama Bin Laden has been sent straight to Hell  can be added to the list. (As you ask, I had just switched to the BBC News Channel while preparing to tuck into a bowl of cornflakes.)

I hopped over to Fox News sharpish, where one of the presenters suggested that throwing Bin Laden’s body off a tall building would have been “more appropriate” than “burying” him at sea, and enjoyed overnight scenes of patriotic joy at Ground Zero, West Point Military Academy, and in front of the White House. Never have I heard the lines “Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave/O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” delivered so passionately.

A few random observations (some of which I may have to weasel out of in the light of subsequent revelations):

Bin Laden was living in a compound eight time larger than its neighbours, amongst retired military types, a few hundred yards from Pakistan’s top military academy, surrounded by 18 foot walls and with no phone or internet connection. And the Pakistani security forces supposedly didn’t suspect a thing.

Yeah, likely. 

It seems reasonable to ask, yet again, why Pakistan is evidently such a deeply ghastly country. And, given its apparent unwillingness to track down and hand over a foreign mass murderer - one who has, it’s estimated, killed 5000 members of its security services and 30,000 of its own people - what exactly did the billions in aid given to it by Western democracies actually achieve? It may be time to revisit this modern version of the Danegeld strategy.

A former US military type on Fox, discussing the fact that the rats trapped in Bin Laden’s compound had attempted to use a handy woman as a human shield, pointed out that the Special Forces who exterminated Bin Laden live by a code of honour – terrorists don’t. I’m as queasy as most Westerners when it comes to some of the interrogation methods used at Guantanamo – but given the suggestion that it was information extracted from detainees there that eventually led to the discovery of Osama’s lair, I’m happy to go on taking Kwells while giving thanks that others are prepared to do things to protect me that your standard Hollywood liberal or left-wing blogger might balk at. (And it would also explain why Obama reneged on his pledge to shut Guantanamo – he’s a lousy President, certainly, but evidently not that stupid.)

Let’s all start scouring the airwaves and newspaper websites for the “But” brigade. Yes, they’re pleased Obama has paid for his crimes, but… the Americans should have kept the Pakistanis informed of their actions, it should have left to Pakistan to attack the compound and arrest Bin Laden, Bin Laden should have been arrested and read his rights before being put on trial, his body should have been given a decent burial, the manner of his death was a deliberate insult to Muslims, this will inflame the passions of Muslims everywhere, Al-Qaeda will be even more dangerous following this set-back, Americans shouldn’t have indulged in such crass displays of nationalistic triumphalism, the American imperialism that led to 9/11 is still infuriating Muslims around the globe, the UN should have been informed first etc. etc. 

From the off, the main thing that seemed to be obsessing BBC newsreaders was whether the success of the operation would lead to a surge of support for their great hero, President Obama.

Speaking of whom, why does Obama always come across as a state school headmaster reporting that the Head of Geography has been dismissed following inappropriate conduct with a female pupil? Dubya was dreadfully inarticulate, but at least you occasionally got a hint of passion behind his squinty little eyes. Barry has one of those reassuringly deep Afro-American voices, but seems have mislaid any charisma and charm he may once have possessed: when he should sound strong, he comes over as petulant. Hilary Clinton gave a far more impressive performance a few hours later – can’t stand the woman, but she fills me with more confidence than her dreary boss.

In 2009, the Palestinians voted Hamas into power. Today Hamas praised Bin Laden as an “Arab holy warrior”. Excuse me if I go on supporting Israel.

Finally, It seems ridiculous for someone who didn’t suffer in any way from what happened on 9/11 to talk of “closure”, but the first thing that went through my mind when I heard today’s news was those British Muslim schoolchildren (to whose parents the civilised, democratic, generous West had offered a haven from danger, persecution and poverty), who, interviewed on 9/11, sniggered about all those “yuppies” jumping to their death from the Twin Towers. Maybe they’ve turned into decent human beings in the meantime, and are as delighted as the rest of us at today’s events – if, however, multiculturalism has kept them in hate-filled ignorance, I hope that, at the very least, Bin Laden’s death at the hands of American heroes will have wiped the nasty little smirks from the ungrateful little shits’ faces.

Several of my right-wing heroes – including Enoch Powell – rather despised America. I very much don’t. Thank God the USA is still the most powerful country in the world, despite four undistinguished presidents in a row (as a colleague at the BBC once remarked – quietly – it’s lucky that our three greatest global empires have been Rome, Great Britain and the USA).

High-fives all round, and God Bless the United States of America!