Now I'm not really sure how the killing of a cowardly sociopath who has spent God knows how many months and years holed up in a comfy mansion in the middle of deep dark middle class suburban Pakistan has somehow made anyone safer, but then again I'm so wrapped up in the fear of having my daughter on the road that I'm probably not seeing things clearly. And even if I take a stand and think about the greater good (for a change) and never allow her to wield her power behind the wheel, the streets up here are decidedly still not safe as long as there are other teens enjoying their delusions of immortality in their fancy new cars. But Obama says an Osama-less world is a safer world, and Obama is a really smart and important guy, so he must know something I don't know about all the other gazillions of humanity-hating terrorists out there. Maybe their collective will to kill died when their hero got tossed into the sea.
Osama's neighbors may well have been blissfully unaware of the monster in their midst, but I'm a little bit skeptical. There must be at least one or two Pakistani suburbanites who kind of figured he was in there, and if the gossip mill there is anything like it is here, I'm guessing a few more folks got wind of their celebrity guest. Sure, my own neighborhood is full of petty white collar criminals and other miscreants, and I look the other way. But then again, I don't think any of them masterminded the slaughter of thousands of innocent people, so I don't feel all that guilty about keeping my mouth shut.
The first World Trade Center terrorists plotted their destruction from a little house around the corner from where I grew up. I walk by the little house occasionally when I return home for a visit. Other than some Arabic writing over the front door, there is no sign that anything bigger than morning prayers could have happened in there. Those guys are long gone, but I can't help but wonder about the current tenants. I'm glad we're chipping away at terrorism, one monster at a time, but let's face it, there are plenty more where those guys came from. And there are plenty of folks out there who are content to sit idly by while the real lunatics do their bidding.
I believe the world is safer, not because Osama is dead but because we have lots of top secret government agents and local law enforcers being vigilant about terrorism. My life hasn't changed as a result of the long overdue killing of Osama. I will proceed as usual, maybe fastening my seat belt just a little bit tighter when my daughter gets her permit.
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