I know the media sometimes tend to exaggerate certain phenomena that are maybe not as widespread throughout society as they might want to make you believe through their media coverage. Nevertheless am I the only one irritated by the cheering and chanting of Americans on the streets all across the United States, by the t-shirts and costumes displaying the US flag, by the waving of American flags, the holding up of signs "USA winning," "USA 1 – Osama 0"and by the facebook statuses some of my American friends posted to celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden? By seeing such a strong emotional reaction I cannot relate to, I am troubled up to a point that I find it almost antagonizing to see such a display of national identity. Who is winning what anyway? And winning against whom? Some self-congratulating newspaper articles or tweets seem to know the answer, while only few people such as the ones here and here question American reactions. What people seem to care less about is that the terrorist threat will not go away, some even speculate there might be an at least short-term increase in terrorist activity as a backlash in response to the terrorist's death. There are still two wars going on, one in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, none with an end or a stable solution in sight. There are drone strikes in Pakistan and in Yemen. Osama's death will stop neither the wars nror the drones. Decentralized networks of terrorists are still plotting new attacks, yet Americans are cheering as if their favorite sports team had just won the Super Bowl!
Another sign says "Obama 1 – Osama 0" (What a boom for the economy, buy the t-shirt here!), and someone explains "Yes, as it's done in sports, we always keep score." But what are we counting here? The rounds each side has won? Well, in that case I would say it stands "USA 1 – Osama 1" (at least) because of the 9/11 attack, not to mention the 1998 bombings on US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the attack on the Navy destroyer Cole, 9/1 in the year 2000. So maybe the count should actually be 1-3 for Osama? Or should we rather count the death toll in which case we would have about 1:3000 for Osama for the killing of innocents in the 9/11 incident? And what about the other terrorists the US already eliminated? This should push up the score of the US if only it were possible to quantify the number! And to be fair, we would also need to add the civilian losses, i.e. deaths, caused in collateral damage in the above-mentioned terrorist attacks, wars and drone strikes. This will be a tough one though: Should I count them as scores for the USA or Osama? Who "deserves credit" for their deaths?
USA winning: I wish I could experience the same relief so many Americans seem to be feeling. Instead, I am feeling the same discomfort I felt when seeing the images broadcasted by Western Media on September 11th, 2001, with veiled Muslim Women cheering with sounds of Islamic ululation, Muslims holding up flags of Arab countries while others were burning American ones to celebrate the collapsing of the Twin Towers which killed thousands of people. I find both reactions grotesque. If back then I was alienated by what seemed to me a madness and injustice animated by religious fundamentalists, now I feel just as distressed by seeing such a powerful display of a civic religion that appears to me just as fundamentalist and alien. If we consider all the tragedies the war on terror and the terrorists have caused, are causing and will continue to cause all across the globe, doesn't our celebration seem misplaced no matter how important or unimportant terrorist Osama bin Laden might have been? Doesn't it feel like an over-reaction that shows that there must be something awfully wrong about the fundamentals of our societies?
The war and the threat are not over. Everyone is just as safe as before. No one is winning. No one can. It is not football. Yet, I hope I am wrong. I hope I underestimate the importance of Osama's death which would change things for the better. May the best man have finally won?
Unfortunately every time a football season ends, a new one is just around the corner. It's never ending.
I wonder who will be next season's winner?
