In this editorial, three City Times editors share their personal reactions to the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

Shane Finneran, Managing Editor

“Just a few years ago, the Pentagon was caught lying about what happened to U.S. soldier Jessica Lynch in Iraq.

Then came the Pat Tillman saga. At first, the military said he was killed by the enemy. Later, they admitted it was friendly fire.

Now they say we killed Osama Bin Laden, and that it’s a major victory.

But in 2002, when Bin Laden went missing, George W. Bush said, ‘He’s a person who’s now been marginalized .. I truly am not that concerned about him.’

What’s the real story?”

*****

Joshua Vincent, Sports Editor

“Have we really ‘decapitated the head of the snake’ of Al Qaeda as suggested by Counterterrorism chief, John Brennan?

The prevailing thought is that terrorist organizations replace leadership in much the same way that shark teeth operate: when one is lost, another immediately pops in to replace it. This is not the case with Al Qaeda.

Their network is looser and not hierarchical. They rely on a web of connections to sustain their fight, not a corporate style of organization. Osama Bin Laden was not just a figurehead for Al Qaeda; he was its founder and only leader to this point. His networks, both of the financial and terrorist variety, stretched
far and were a valuable resource.

This is more than decapitating a snake; this is smashing a spider in the middle of the web.”

*****

Fernando Yates, Online Editor

“The taking of a life should never be celebrated, period. It does not matter if the life is taken by acts of war, you can not pick and choose when life is sacred.

News of the death of Osama bin Laden came seemingly out of the blue and it seemed that the first reaction of many Americans was to have a tailgate party out in front of the White House.

In no way am I saying that bin Laden was a good person, on the contrary I believed him to be a rather terrible person, but to celebrate the murder of an unarmed man to me is evil.

Others who were responsible for so much worse were at least given the illusion of a fair trial. The Nazis had the Nuremberg trials and even Saddam Hussein had a trial in front of an Iraqi tribunal a few years
back.

Many Americans feel rage when they see an American flag burning at the hands of cheerful radicals. What do you think the people who viewed bin Laden a hero feel?

We have found ourselves in a circle of hate, and the celebration of the death of Osama bin Laden, just added fuel to that fire.”