Jack & Jill Politics

Americans have strong reason to feel patriotic and perhaps even a little safer today.

Maybe you’ve heard? Osama Bin Laden is dead.

President Obama has shown that a former law professor & community activist is more capable of being a strong commander in chief than a C-student/frat boy cheerleader/former baseball team owner (Dubya). How long was George W. Bush president again – 8 years, 7 of those post 9/11? That president, rather than focusing on America’s (and the world’s) public enemy #1, sent us into a disastrous, expensive and unnecessary war with a country that did not attack us. And failed to apprehend the leader of the terrorist group that did attack us, allowing him to spread affiliate Al Qaeda groups in various regions and perpetrate more terror attacks such as those we saw in Madrid (2004), London (2005) and Bombay (2008). Bush’s lack of focus on bin Laden demonstrably opened the door to more Al Qaeda attacks worldwide while pursuing an unwise, largely fruitless & extremely expensive distraction in Iraq. Here’s a more extensive timeline of Al Qaeda attacks from Wikipedia.

Let’s hear it for the power of intelligence, commitment and education. It’s time to redefine macho.

This is a big day for a few reasons.

1) Barack Obama has proven he’s an incredibly capable commander in chief. Remember when people said that the U.S. exit from Iraq would be an impossible catastrophe? Yet Obama pulled it off using what’s become a characteristic blend of muscular diplomacy and well-structured, intricately planned military strategy. It was almost a non-event when active operations inside Iraq ceased and our armed forces withdrew from Iraq successfully. It’s not perfect there but it’s nowhere near the situation that people like John McCain predicted ominously. Through withdrawing from Iraq, it’s lowered our bills there, sure but has also opened up more armed forces for stuff like killing Osama bin Laden. It’s allowed re-focus on our national priorities. Obama’s been working on this particular action apparently since at least September of 2010. From a senior admin official at the White House:

Indeed, in the earliest days of the administration, the President formally instructed the intelligence community and his counterterrorism advisors to make the pursuit of Osama bin Laden, as the leader of al Qaeda, as a top priority.

Another example of Obama’s commander in chief skillz: the Somali pirate rescue (remember how awesome that was?) and the successful resolution of what could have been a very messy situation in Egypt – the transfer of power from Hosni Mubarak. Make no mistake – the latter sitch showed Obama relying in part on our long-standing military ties in Egypt to help manage a situation that could have spiraled out of country to destabilize even more seriously the entire region and minimize violence.

2) Republicans now officially have lost the power of 9/11 as some sort of moral high ground from which to promote bad policies & short-sighted decisions to the American people. Between Obama actually succeeding in apprehending bin Laden and the GOP’s shocking & terrible treatment of 9/11 first responders asking for medical assistance after serving their country so bravely, this issue and its patriotic appeal is now firmly rooted with Democrats if they decide to take it up.

3) Obama wisely chose to treat bin Laden’s body with respect according to Islamic traditions (inasmuch as was possible given the unique circumstances). This is a big deal because it sends the powerful message that we are humane in victory and respectful of a man’s religion if not tolerant of his penchant for organized violence and mayhem. We are not at war with Islam but with terrorists, some of whom happen to be Muslim. This will go a long way, hopefully, to ease some of the discomfort out there in other countries that are majority-Muslim.

4) This really does potentially have the power to make us a little safer. It appears that not only was bin Laden and one of his sons killed, but this could be a huge intelligence bonanza: 22 people were captured or killed in the 40 min operation(!) plus lots of computer equipment was seized. Here’s what a senior WH administration official had to say last night about what this means for Al Qaeda and for us going forward:

Bin Laden was al Qaeda’s only (inaudible) commander in its 22-year history, and was largely responsible for the organization’s mystique, its attraction among violent jihadists, and its focus on America as a terrorist target.  As the only al Qaeda leader whose authority was universally respected, he also maintained his cohesion, and his likely successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is far less charismatic and not as well respected within the organization, according to comments from several captured al Qaeda leaders.  He probably will have difficulty maintaining the loyalty of bin Laden’s largely Gulf Arab followers.

Although al Qaeda may not fragment immediately, the loss of bin Laden puts the group on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse.

And finally, it’s important to note that it is most fitting that bin Laden’s death comes at a time of great movement towards freedom and democracy that is sweeping the Arab world.  He stood in direct opposition to what the greatest men and women throughout the Middle East and North Africa are risking their lives for:  individual rights and human dignity.

Re: that last sentence ~ Word. The Middle East has new hope and new heroes now…

5) I sincerely hope that those people who believe that Obama is some sort of secret Muslim working in cahoots with those who hate America find themselves chastened. Those people are out there — I’ve seen the Tea Party signs and crazy blog posts/emails — and I hope they are eating crow today. (sorry, must pause to roll eyes from back of head after spontaneous eyeroll/head shake combo). Not that there’s anything wrong with being Muslim! It would be fine if Obama were Muslim. He could still defend America as many U.S. troops who are Muslim do everyday. But that’s been used as a swipe to undermine Obama’s patriotism – the whole “Obama is a secret Muslim hellbent on destroying America” and it’s clear now that people who believed that were clownin’ hard.

A few questions remain for me, at least:

• Does this mean we can pull out of Afghanistan sooner/finally? Sure, we need to work things out with the Taliban, but really, isn’t it time to expedite the shut down of the war there? We just can’t afford the expense of this war in a place where our objectives are a) no longer very clear and b) no longer as urgent with the death of bin Laden. Teachers, police officers and firefighters should not get laid off in America so we can continue operations at the current level in Afghanistan. Period.
• What the hell is going on in Pakistan? Can someone explain to me how bin Laden was able to live comfortably, evidently for years, in a compound in a neighborhood filled with retired Pakistani military personnel and within spitting distance of the Pakistani Military Academy, the equivalent to our West Point. Not impressive and frankly suspicious. How many people there suspected that something weird was going on in a house/compound so very differently built from its neighbors? People aren’t stupid – I can tell you a lot about the people in my neighborhood and their houses. I mean, give me a break. Something about the whole scenario is very disappointing & disturbing to me and frankly, a little suspicious. The question is what this means for our relationship with Pakistan and its leaders going forward. This is serious and now the whole world knows of Pakistan’s either willing or unwitting failure to apprehend a dangerous criminal more or less living in the bosom of their armed forces.
• Will there be an Al Qaeda retribution strike? While in the long term, bin Laden’s death and the destruction of his headquarters will debilitate the organization but in the short term, those left behind may be desperate to re-assure their followers of their continued relevance as the world’s leading providers of terrorism. That’s a little scary to contemplate.
• Will Osama bin Laden’s death photo be released? I hope so, not for the ghoulish macabre among us but to prevent conspiracy theorists who might look for reasons to doubt this victory.
• Will this have any impact on the 2012 race? I think it’s too early to tell. It buttresses a claim of solid national security chops. I don’t think it will hurt but after the euphoria blows over, a lot of people will still be hurting over the economy. So I think it points to what’s possible with strong leadership yet Obama still will be held accountable next year on the economy and jobs. Perhaps it might build a little more of a foundation of trust among those who believe him to be a Marxist Muslim non-citizen.

That’s my take on things. What do you think? I’m curious about your reaction and thoughts on this historic day…