We've all been inundated with the news of Osama's death. Frankly, you may well be bored of hearing about it. If so, don't read this :)
First up, I wish people would learn to pronounce Abbottabad. Given it's named after a British bloke by the name of 'Abbott', that gives a hint as to the pronunciation. I know it's not always easy, but checking Wikipedia would probably do the trick...
Second, there's the whole, 'did the Pakistanis know that he was there?'. Well, it's certainly a fair question I suppose, but it's also a bit daft. It makes it sound like he was popping down the road to the chip shop every week, and managed to do so unnoticed (well, popping to the chai shop in the local bazaar would probably be a more likely scenario than the chip shop...) When you think of major criminals being found, you rarely get the neighbours saying, 'oh yeah, we knew they'd been living there for ages'. I know that's a slightly different case, because you don't know the identity of the criminal in such cases, but the fact remains that if the person next door doesn't want you to know who they are, you probably won't find out. There are also plenty of elderly people in Pakistan who are cared for in the family home (much more likely than the 'care homes' we send old folk off to in the West) who you would never see. So if you're wondering why the people next door seem to be buying extra food etc., they could merrily tell you they're looking after their sick aunt/elderly parents etc. In a country where people are routinely in 'purdah', it's not difficult to hide someone in a house. What's more, the walls were pretty immense, the windows pretty small, and, I imagine, the occupants fairly careful!
There's also the question of justice. I think at the moment that I'm inclined to think that this is justice at least on one level. If he really did declare war on the States, and was responsible for launching attacks, then he is, in effect, a combatant and therefore subject to the rules of war, which may include being killed. It's not like he'd renounced his terrorist ideals and they hunted him down and shot him anyway.
Then there's the future. What of it. Well, a terrorist organisation is not like an animal that can be killed by decapitation. Rather, it's more like a prolific weed (take Japanese knotweed as an example, if you want one). The weed grows wherever the roots are in the soil. Likewise, to deal with the terrorist organisation, you can't just take a strimmer to it and chop it down, you've got to dig it up. That means more of a 'hearts and minds' approach. (I hate that phrase in some respects, because it can smack of imperialism/colonialism 'they're all just a bit dim and need to be enlightened in the Western way of doing things' mindset, which is arrogant and wrong). In fact, doing something like killing Osama can end up being more like pruning than weeding. The cause of the problem needs to be addressed. I, for one, wonder if we've ever thought to ask people what their problem is. Is it Palestine? Well, fair point, we do seem to allow Israel to contravene whatever it likes... Is it our historical raping of their countries' resources and wealth? Another fair point. Maybe we could talk about it though, and sort out mutually beneficial trade deals rather than shooting each other (it's less messy psychologically) as a means of restoring the parity.
And of course, there's also the question of what happens to my beloved Pakistan. Well, people are already accusing it left, right and centre of harbouring terrorists, though I've explained why I think it's not so clear cut already. And OF COURSE there were people who knew he was there. He'd have got mighty hungry if there weren't, but they were in the minority. And it's over now anyway (that bit of it, at least...) So Pakistan will be dragged through the mud again, and, however untrue accusations are, some mud will always stick. And what of the safety of people there. Well, that's been rather compromised. The Christian community especially (in the minds of many Pakistanis, allied with the West) are likely to face, at the very least, increased persecution and vilification from some quarters. My hope would be that the moderate Muslims are willing and able to make the most of the opportunity that has been presented to them. There has been ample time for Islamic extremism to make its mark on the world, and on the attitudes of many people to Islam itself. Perhaps some will now take the chance to redefine Islam in the eyes of the world. The moderates don't need to change their message, they just need to speak a little louder.
Finally, there's the celebration of Osama's death. Here, the West and in particular America, has failed. How can we criticise the jubilation among Muslim groups following terrorist strikes, if we then celebrate with even greater aplomb the killing of one man? Yes, a sense of relief is understandable, a sense of justice is probably also wise, but I'm just not so sure about the jubilation. It's not like the war is over. In fact, given the splintering down of many of the groups involved, it's hugely symbolic, but I'm not convinced it's much else.
I guess now the challenge is to keep praying, and seeking to support those in areas of conflict. Seeking also to understand those who seek to wrong us, and ensure that they have no cause to do so.
That's a few of my thoughts. By no means all of them, and by no means are they set in stone. Just a sort of initial response...
