The Death of Osama Bin Laden
Osama Bin Laden was the world’s greatest terrorist bomber and the founder of the al-Qaeda organization which served the purpose of mass casualty attacks inimical to military and civilian targets. Being the C.E.O of terror attacks, he organized a traumatizing and painful attacks against the United States embassy in 1998 and the 2002 Bali bombings which resulted in deaths of thousands of innocent men, women and children (Bowden, 2012).After these attacks, he went into hiding in Pakistan and was declared as the world’s most wanted terrorist. The U.S government launched war on terror against him in a bid to find him whether dead or alive. In May 2011, president Obama held a press conference to inform the nation that Osama Bin Laden had been killed and his body seized by the U.S armed forces. In some minds, this event provided justice for the attacks of 9/11 while for others, the fear of threat increased. This paper analyses the post-event speeches by President Obama and the CIA director.
In the introductory part of his remarks, President Obama embarks on the past ten years of that fateful September when a bright day was darkened by the horrific attack on the American citizens in their history (The White House, 2011). He states that the 9/11 images still reflect in the national economy through the terror related tragedies for instance the collapsing of the Twin Towers to the ground.He congratulates heroic citizens who took the initiative to rescue the nation from destruction. He states that the worst images were those the world could not perceive such as the gap left by loved ones, the adverse effect on children who lost one or both parents and parents who could never embrace their child/children. From these remarks, it is clear that President Obama was predicting the future of the U.S based on the historic events(The White House, 2011). As victims of casualties, they have learnt some lessons from the past and are applying the skills to better the future. The analysis here are both victorious and realized risk. The death of the innocent victims was an awakening dawn to the U.S citizens of the realized risks around them whereas the heroic military who survived after the terror war emerged victorious and were even acknowledged by the president.
He also states that on September 2001 was America’s time of grief and that people united, by holding hands and donating blood to the wounded(The White House, 2011). They were united to protect their nation and bring justice to the offenders. Upon learning that the attackers were al-Qaeda group and Osama being the bell ringer, they declared war against al-Qaeda to protect their citizens, friends and allies. He states that they have achieved tremendous strides through the efforts of their heroic military and their counterterrorism professionals. They have warped terrorist attacks and strengthened their homeland defense. They eradicated the Taliban government in Afghanistan which offered a safe haven to Osama and his al-Qaeda crew and also connected with friends around the globe to capture al-Qaeda terrorists. These remarks indicates that the president respected his citizens’ grief and that he also encouraged unity to members of his state. Later in future after the nation’s mourning, they were united and remained strong and this helped them in one way or another to defeat their attacker. Based on analysis, the speech was a victorious one whereby they not only destroyed Osama, but also the strong points of al-Qaeda group in Afghanistan.
In the midst of his speech, President Obama notes that after the destruction of al-Qaeda’s haven in Afghanistan, Osama managed to escape to his hideout in Pakistan while the remnant group continued to take lives across Afghan border and across the world (CIA, 2011). He also states that after taking the throne, he ordered the capture or killing of Osama the main priority to curb the al-Qaeda group as they proceed to defeat, disrupt and dismantle his network. From these remarks, it can be deduced that with the escaping of Osama and the co-existence of al-Qaeda in different parts of the world, the president was trying to alert his citizens on the possibilities of unpleasant future turnout of events. The citizens had to be cautious and take note of any violent happenings around their environment. This part of speech can be analyzed as realized risk because the enemy is still roaming freely and nobody knows the risk which might befall them around such dangerous attackers.
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon E. Panetta, also had a message to the U.S citizens informing them that they had successfully killed Osama Bin Laden and that justice was served at last (CIA, 2011). He goes ahead to state that there can never be any compensation good enough to measure up for the suffering and pain inflicted by the Osama and his henchmen, and consoles thousands of families with the death of Osama. He also adds that the thoughts of family agency turns to the fallen soldiers who died in the battlefield to make that day a reality. He however enlightens them to be vigilant since the founder of al-Qaeda was the one killed and not al-Qaeda group.From his message it is clear that the relevant, timely and accurate intelligence offered by CIA resulted to the victory of the U.S military, though it is essential to note that the battle is not yet over (CIA, 2011). The fallen soldiers on the other hand gave up their own life for a terrorism Free State and a peaceful future.
Personally I think the killing of Bin Laden served as justice to all U.S citizens, especially those who were affected directly or indirectly. But on the other hand, it also raised the fear of terrorism among most U.S citizens (Michael, 2012). This is because the world wide spread of al-Qaeda organization might be planning to unleash another attack against U.S to avenge the death of Osama. After all, they still have the terrorism skills their master instilled in them, plus the impact of losing their leader might double their wrath to take even more lives than before. In their speech conclusion, both President Obama and Leon agree that thecitizens must remain vigilant since al-Qaeda will try to avenge Osama’s death. This is evident by the current trends of terrorism experienced in different parts of the globe among them the U.S, Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan and Uganda just to mention a few countries around the world.
The death of Bin Laden has adversely affected the al-Qaeda recruits in several ways. For instance, during his lifetime, he trained both the local and regional Muslim militant groups and advised them to carry out the terror attacks on their own, without relying on a central leader. The principal strength of al-Qaeda was to operate without a central point or leader (Michael, 2012). This knowledge is still applicable up to date whereby they just explode different parts of the world without central meeting point and this works in their favor since it is hard for them to be tracked down. Also apart from being the founder, Osama was also viewed as a spiritual leader among the al-Qaeda group. Therefore, his rebellious ideology terrorism war between the West and Islam unfortunately exists to date. His purpose as an ideological and visionary lodestar are still nurtured among extremists Islamic, since ideas never perish (The Atlantic Monthly Group, 2014).
References
Bowden, M. (2012). The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden. Atlantic Monthly Press.
CIA. (2011).Statement to Employees by Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon E. Panetta on the Death of Osama Bin Laden. Retrieved on 14 Feb. 2014 from https://www.cia.gov/news-information/press-releases-statements/press-release- 2011/justice-done.html
Michael, J. (2012). Year after Bin Laden’s death. Retrieved on 14th February 2014 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-04-29/bin-laden- anniversary/54630274/1
The Atlantic Monthly Group (2014). How the Killing of Bin Laden has Crippled al Qaeda. Retrieved on 14th February 2014 http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/how-the-killing- of-bin-laden- has-crippled-al-qaeda/256505/
The White House (2011). Remarks by the President on Osama Bin Laden.
Retrieved on 14 Feb. 2014 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press- office/2011/05/02/remarks-president-Osama-bin-laden