Osama bin Laden may be only recently dead, but we’re already feeling the first attack — in the form of a computer virus disguised as video of his demise. (Click here for information about how to protect yourself from it.)

I wasn’t dancing in the streets Sunday night when I heard the news that bin Laden had been killed, but it felt undeniably good. Like many people, I knew someone killed that day, although only distantly. He was my brother’s best friend, a friend he’d had since high school, who was the original pilot of the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. When the terrorists took over the plane, they killed Victor, moved him out of the way, and plowed it into the tower, taking thousands more with them.  Ten years later, it remains unlikely that my brother will find a new best friend he also went to high school with 45 years ago.

Over on Facebook, I find it infuriating how many people I know have expressed what sounds to my ears like sadness over the killing of Osama bin Laden. Yes, I am mischaracterizing it a bit, but here’s the post that a respected and somewhat-known playwright friend of mine put on her wall:

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.

I have several problems with this, not the least being that Martin Luther King Jr. never said this.  If he had said it — which, as I’ve noted, he did not — it would be good to remember that despite his obvious many accomplishments, he was never the leader of a nation so brazenly attacked and explicitly conspired against. With regard to the sentiment in the quote, I think if I’d had the chance to take out Hitler, I would have done plenty of rejoicing. Osama is lower down on that scale, but still makes my list.

In the past couple of days whenever I’ve had a few spare minutes, I’ve trawled around on my Facebook feed, seeking out “Friends” who’ve posted the illegitimate quote from “Martin Luther King Jr.” and responded accordingly. Here’s one of the replies I received:

The Dalai Lama said that if we kill Osama Bin Laden we will create 10 more.

I don’t know if the Dalai Lama said this, and if he did, I don’t know why we should care. His opinion on the matter seems to me irrelevant. And I’m just curious what the perceived alternative was to taking out Osama, now that we’d finally actually found him (with no thanks to the government of Pakistan, which has been pilfering my tax money and yours). This was a person who orchestrated an attack that killed thousands of innocent people and devastated the U.S. economy, and who was eager to do more of the same. Historically, all the accommodation in the world has done little to appease the hunger of terrorists and invaders, from Genghis Khan to Hitler to Osama. I’ve begun to think that Osama bin Laden’s final attack has been on the common sense of some of our own people.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Politics, Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.