Osama Bin Laden is dead. Why does this feel like a hollow victory? Will it bring back any of the people that died in the towers ten years ago? Does it make up for the soldiers that have died in Afghanistan? Is it worth the destruction of the US economy?

I wonder who really won this war. Bin Laden stayed on the run so long that the US had to drag out it's operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan for nearly 10 years. At a cost of one to three trillion dollars, it is the costliest conflict in American history. Our national debt has tripled, unemployment has doubled from historically low rates around 4.5% to hovering around 10%, we're more divided now than we ever have been, and we have fewer freedoms than we did in 2001. We cannot travel by air without removing our shoes and being subjected to radiation or invasive pat downs. Our communications are constantly monitored by our government. And let's not forget the costliest part of this: 1500+ American servicemen and women have died since the US began operations in Afghanistan. Not to mention tens of thousands of Afghanis (nobody seems to be keeping track of that number, for some reason.)

What have we gained by removing another human from the planet? Are we more secure? Will my taxes go down? Can we bring those soldiers home from Afghanistan, finally? It occurred to me, watching the President speak, that many of those men involved in this operation were barely boys when 9/11 happened. They were 10 - 15 years old. And now here they are, "winning" the war on terror, as much as such a thing can be won. What have we won? Bragging rights? I'll tell you one thing: I don't feel more secure. If anything, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I want to say that I feel ashamed of my fellow Americans who are taking to the street to celebrate this like their team just won the Super Bowl. As flawed as he was, Osama Bin Laden was still a human being, and we should never celebrate the taking of a human life, no matter how twisted or evil it was. When one person's death becomes something to celebrate, all people's lives are cheapened. If these people had been Muslims celebrating the death of an American, we would be condemning them. Let's show the world that we are the more civilized and compassionate, that we understand the value of human life, all human life, and tell these people to go home. Go home, hug your loved ones, and be thankful for every day.


"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

Martin Luther King, Jr.