The End of Osama

It's funny the way things develop. I had all sorts of plans for what I was going to write about this week - for one thing, I wanted to continue my ranting about satire, the Royal Wedding and the class system. Then, on Monday morning, the US announces that its secial forces have assassinated Osama bin Laden, blowing me off course completely, obliged to blog about Osama's demise. OK, I know that there's nothing actually forcing me to respond to this news, but I can't really claim to be any kind of satirist if I don't respond in some way to the death of bin Laden. Not only that, but I've got a lot of mileage out of Osama and al Qeada over the past few years, in terms of stories over at The Sleaze. So, I think I owe it to him to write a couple of pieces.

One thing I do feel I have to say on the subject, is that, personally, I really can't take any pleasure from another human being's death. No matter what terrible acts that individual might have been responsible for. Consequently, all this jubilation in the States makes me feel very uncomfortable. I accept that if I'd lost someone in the 9/11 attacks, or one of the other al Qeada related terror attacks, I might well feel differently about this issue. But I doubt it. One of the things which so outraged Americans, not to mention the entire civilised world, were all those pictures of people in the Middle East rejoicing at the news of the destruction of the Twin Towers. I'd like to believe that our refusal to take pleasure in such things is a sign of our humanity and decency. Make no mistake, I'm shedding no tears for Osama, the creed he espoused engendered nothing but hate and destruction. But, at the end of the day, I'd much rather he'd been taken alive and tried for his crimes, than gunned down. Anyway, I've said my piece. Hopefully now I can get back on schedule.