Wrong, Mr. President

(Authors Note :  It’s a rare occasion I comment on non-French events. This is one.)

Wrong, Mr. president. Revenge is not justice.

Justice is the granting of due process to the accused.(Even, and especially, if they are clearly guilty.)

When you short circuit that human right, that’s revenge.

When your revenge takes the form of killing – that’s murder.

Dressing it up in the clothes of “noble purpose” changes nothing. (As you well know)

Murder is murder. Full stop.

Wrong, Mr. president.

And why? Mr. President.You knew that your act would not stop or cripple Bin Laden’s Islamic hotheads. In fact,by elevating Osama to marytrdom,regardless of whether or not you released the murder photos,you inspired and galvanized his followers to commit more “revenge murders” dressed up in the clothes of their “noble purpose.”

But you knew this before the execution Mr. President .So why aggravate an insoluble situation. Why place more lives,Worldwide at risk?

The callous among us would say that it was simply a “trump card” to get yourself re-elected. But I believe you to be a much deeper man than that,Mr. President.

Even though one of your campaign promises was to “get Osama.”  Why,Mr. President? Why is any one man more important than the organization he represents.? Clearly,America, and the Democratic party would not crumble and fall if (heaven forbid) you were to suddenly exit the scene.

So, again, Mr. President, Why? Yes, Osama was a “symbol” of Islamic Terrorism. The  Bushs’ had Saddam. You had Osama.

But you chose to execute, rather than interrogate your best and only source of complete terror planning information. You preferred instead, whatever “intelligence” you found at the execution scene. Curious, to say the least Mr. President.

Murdering the symbol of a problem, while it makes the killer(s) feel righteous, does nothing to advance a solution to the problem the symbol represents.

Wrong, Mr. President.

Unbelieveable, Mr. President. Your intelligence assaulting and continually shifting post murder explantions. DNA co-operatively donated(years in advance, yet) by the Bin Laden family, burial at sea because no country would have him(Did you ask?),and most shamefully, no pictures.”Seeing IS believing”, especially in this age of images on our portable phones. Is it not?

Your pious spin – “That’s not who we are” – your rationale for not releasing the “grisly” photo of Bin Laden, is doubly pathetic coming from a Harvard Graduate.

The World knows who “we” are, Mr. President. A nation that thumps it’s righteous chest proclaiming freedom, democracy and human rights, yet regularly suspends them whenever it suits “our” purposes.

A nation that scoops anyone off the street,in any country, suspected of terrorism, then imprisons and tortures.  Overseas, of course. Because “That’s not who we are.”

“By their actions Ye shall know them.”

That’s how the World knows “us”, Mr. President.

Certainly there are some people who have just fallen off the back of a turnip truck, but the majority of us can see and smell smoke when it’s being blown in our direction.

Wrong, Mr. President.

Did Osama deserve to die? Absolutely!

Did he deserve his day in court? Like the Nazi War Criminals? Like Saddam Hussein? Absolutely!

And if he had been afforded that day, would he have been found guilty and sentenced to death? Absolutely!

“A great day for America.”

Wrong, Mr. President.

A sad day for America. When the leader of the “free world”, the “Commander-in-Chief” of the “War” against Terrorism throws all the principles of freedom, democracy and due process out the window, and descends to the terrorists level.

Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people cheered your revenge murder, Mr. President. My bet is that the Nobel Peace Prize committee was not among them.

Sadly,the jubilant were also,unwittingly,cheering yet another assault on THEIR human rights.