Like something out of a Tom Clancy novel, President Obama made an address to the world announcing the death of Osama bin Laden. They sent in a small Navy SEALS team to do it - which makes it more like an early 1990s Steven Seagal movie, but I guess that's about the speed of the discourse surrounding Osama bin Laden, even after all these years. I can just hear the synth bass pumping in the soundtrack.
The body of Osama bin Laden was allegedly buried at sea.
The US decided to bury him at sea because it would have been difficult finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist, the official said.
After bin Laden was killed in a raid by US forces in Pakistan early on Monday, senior administration officials said the body would be handled according to Islamic practice and tradition.
That practice calls for the body to be buried within 24 hours, the official said. The official did not immediately say where the body was buried at sea.
Not that it matters to most of us but it makes it impossible to turn it into a shrine. There were fake images of his corpse flying around for a while there but there have been no official releases.
So just like that, the cartoon villain vanishes into thin air. It's almost impossible to ascertain for ourselves if anything about the man was ever true. For my money, he was the most contemporary 'Emmanuel Goldstein' in an Orwellian 21st century we lived in. Sort of an icon governments of the free hour and put up and get their '2 Minutes Hate' happening. And for 10 years the image and myth of Osama bin Laden did his job. It seems today that they had known the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden for some while they probably haggled with Pakistan as to how to deal with it. Maybe it was like a card waiting to be dealt; in which case it is most certain there is a meaning to it happening today. My first guess is that this signals the cue for America and her allies to get out of Afghanistan.
There's a big fiscal problem brewing in America and military spending cuts are inevitable. It seems closing the book on the Osama bin Laden myth complex would allow America to get out of Afghanistan and proceed legitimately with the spending cuts that would include cuts to the military budget.
'2 Minutes Hate' Lasts For 10 Years
It seems like such a long time ago that the Twin Towers fell and ushered in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. it seems a world away and half a lifetime ago. The whole nightmare of going to war on terrorism is still hanging over our lives, impinging on our liberties, hampering our movement, blighting our sense of well being. And you could pretty much blame Osama bin Laden for it all, even though various theories swirled as to whole really was working for and why the hell they couldn't "find him and kill him".
Now that Osama bin Laden is officially dead, presumably official business should proceed in the direction of moving back towards the way things they were before the mess - but maybe they won't, because heck, maybe they don't want to.
Just as it was with the wars, I guess we'll get to find out. The next stop is the alien threat terror. It's such a drag.
UPDATE:
Just a quick snapshot of Prime Ministerial hand gestures in the wake of the news.
John Howard and Julia Gillard agree waving the right hand wipes away the smear of Al Qaeda!
Is anybody amused that Osama was hiding in Abbottadad? Presumably Tony Abbott isn't.
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