Contributed Photo
Late Sunday night in living rooms across the United States, the words “Osama Bin Laden killed” were running across the television screen. Normal Americans learned of the news from major cable networks. I, however, like to believe that right before they stormed the quad that night in celebration, the average Fairfield student heard the news a little like this: ”Bro! Bin Laden got popped! Let’s rage!”
Like most people from the New York Metro area I can remember exactly where I was when the events of 9/11 took place. Walking down the hallway of Central Middle School in Greenwich, CT, all I could think about was whether or not my dad was coming home from work in New York City that day. Luckily for me he did, but there were some kids that didn’t have the same luck as I did.
Nearly ten years after the fact, a lot has changed. The great “War on Terror” which seemed so just and right at the time, the U.S. versus the bad guys, has now lost its appeal. Many see the war as something that has gone so far off track that it can be accused as being a vessel to further U.S. foreign interest in the Middle East. In recent elections one of the hot issues has been withdrawing the troops. Most people started to forget about “the world’s number one bad guy”.
Bin Laden’s death comes as a relief to some. Hopefully it can bring some element of closure to those families whose lives were affected by 9/11. I think that it shows that no matter how far the “War on Terror” has strayed, we finally accomplished one of the things that we first set out to do. And whether you think it’s warranted or not, it has partially resurrected that feeling of patriotism we all shared after 9/11.
Of course, for every action there’s a reaction and there is now a fear of retaliation from Al Qaeda or from those sympathetic to Osama. The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a warning about possible retaliation, and the State Department issued a travel advisory to U.S. citizens abroad. While these fears are real and shouldn’t be taken lightly, are we really going to allow terrorists to affect the way we are living our lives? Just like how after 9/11 America kept running, we again need to maintain our resolve and show the world our courage.
Leave a Reply