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TONY AUTH / The Philadelphia Inquirer ([email protected])
Extraordinary claims require ex-traordinary proof. I believed themoon landing happened because Isaw it on television, and I had noproblem believing Lee Harvey Os-wald acting alone.
But the killing of Osama bin Lad-en feels fictional.
First is the fact that he was livingin Abbottabad, a major city in Paki-stan near the Pakistani militaryacademy and that, supposedly, noone knew it. Second, our forces lostno one despite having a helicoptercrash. Finally, there is the lack of abody on display.
Conspiracy nuts are going to havea field day with this.
Henry L. LazarusPhiladelphia
It is ironic that, almost a decadeafter former President George W.Bush told us that Osama bin Ladenwas “wanted dead or alive,” itshould be President Obama whobrings to a close an ugly chapter inAmerican history by killing the manresponsible for the 9/11 terrorist at-tack on our nation.
That it was on Obama’s watchthat a great intelligence and mili-tary effort bore fruit will surelyserve to boost the likelihood that hewill be re-elected.
If only the killing of bin Ladencould end the desire by some toslaughter the innocent. Neverthe-less, the American people are forev-er in the debt of those who engi-neered this victory in the war onterror and the brave soldiers whocarried out the mission.
It is a cause for pride and satisfac-tion among those who believe in jus-tice.
Oren M. SpieglerUpper Saint Clair
¢I certainly am rejoicing with the
rest of the country over the death ofOsama bin Laden, but I would berejoicing even more if our troopswere brought home.
We have troops in Germany.Why? We have troops in France andItaly. Why? Our troops are every-where, including places where it isunnecessary for them to be. Our mil-itary budget is off the wall. The mon-ey that goes to the military wouldbe better spent on health, educa-tion, and welfare.
So let us rejoice, but let us alsolook at the realities of this. Who isnext in line to take bin Laden’splace? I am not usually so cynical,but the years have given me a differ-ent take on the benefits of rejoicingtoo soon.
Gloria GelmanPhiladelphia
¢A strange coincidence happened
on May 1, 2011.One thing that happened is that
the Vatican announced the beatifica-tion of Pope John Paul II. One moremiracle and he becomes a saint. Heis now Blessed John Paul.
The other happy thing that hap-pened is that Osama bin Laden waskilled.
It may be a coincidence, or it maynot, but two beautiful things hap-pened on the same day. As a veter-an, I am elated.
George J. WaltonUpper Darby
¢
Osama bin Laden is dead. He wasliving in luxury in a city in Pakistan.He tried to kill our soldiers as theyconfronted him. Fortunately, he willnever have another opportunity toharm one of our citizens.
It only proves that our system willfind you no matter what your pre-cautions, and even though it maytake years.
May bin Laden rot in hell!Anthony J. Frascino
¢The news that Osama bin Laden
is dead transcends the often pettynature of our domestic politics. Asin World War II, good has overcomeevil. Particular thanks must go to allof those who have worked so hardover the last 10 years to make binLaden’s death a reality. This is agreat time for our country, and forthe world.
Steven M. ClaytonPittsburgh
¢
Thank God for the great news.No doubt this will boost President
Obama’s chances for reelection.No doubt Donald Trump will be
demanding to see the death certifi-cate!
Jerry SilvermanPhiladelphia
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Gregory J. Osberg PublisherStan Wischnowski EditorMichael Days Managing EditorSandra M. Clark, Tom McNamara, Avery Rome Deputy Managing EditorsGabriel Escobar Metropolitan EditorMike Leary Investigations EditorAcel Moore Associate Editor EmeritusHarold Jackson Editorial Page Editor
In connection with Steve Frank’s column about the divide betweengun rights and gun control in Arizona (“As gun battle shows, everyright has limits,” Wednesday), here is some food for thought.
According to the United Nations, Switzerland in 2008 had a murderrate of 0.7 per 100,000 people, compared with 1.4 in France, 1.2 inEngland and Wales, and 5.2 in the United States.
Switzerland requires all male citizens between 18 and 30 to performmilitary service. They are issued either an assault rifle or 9mm pistol.Upon completing their service they typically keep these weapons athome. The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studiesin Geneva estimates that Switzerland has more guns per capita than anyother country except the United States, Yemen, and perhaps Finland.
But, four years ago, a coalition of doctors, churches, and women’sgroups launched an initiative to tighten Switzerland’s firearms laws,citing a spate of high-profile shootings over the past decade. A proposedconstitutional amendment would have required storage of army-issueweapons on base, the establishment of a national gun registry, and a banon the sale of fully automatic weapons and pump-action rifles.
On Feb. 13, the Swiss voted overwhelmingly to cling to their guns.The Tribune de Geneve newspaper reported that 1.4 million people —56.3 percent — voted against the measure.
Might there be a link between Switzerland’s low violent crime rateand its high per-capita gun ownership? Is an armed citizenry a deter-rent to violence?
Gerald K. McOscarWest Chester
F U R T H E R M O R E …
President Obama’s an-nouncement that a U.S.special-operations unithad killed Osama binLaden was like having
the doctor tell you he had success-fully removed a cancerous tumor.
While the war on terror wasnever touted as being just aboutbin Laden — for many Ameri-cans, it was. After all, it was binLaden who masterminded the9/11 attacks that left thousandsdead and an iconic symbol of U.S.economic power in ruins.
The stated aim of the war inAfghanistan was tocut off the head of aworldwide terrorismnetwork. That meantgetting bin Laden,who, if he neverplanned another ter-rorist act, would con-tinue to be the inspi-ration for attacks onWestern countriesby other Islamists.
So, Americansshould celebrate binLaden’s death. Theyshould also celebratethe brilliance of U.S.intelligence and mili-tary capabilities,which finally camethrough for this coun-try. The CIA hasbeen bashed a lotover the years for in-telligence failures,but this is obviouslyone case where itpainstakingly pursued good leadsand got it right.
How many hundreds of peopleor thousands of man-hours wentinto this operation may never beknown. It’s worth noting that oneof the best leads may have comefrom the long-term detainees be-ing held at the Guantanamo pris-on, who provided the nickname ofa courier trusted by bin Laden.
That information eventually ledto the discovery of bin Laden’shideout. Many people assumedthat bin Laden was holed up insome cave in a remote mountainregion. Turned out he was livingin relative comfort in the bosomof the Pakistani military.
Some Pakistani officials had toknow he was there, and their har-boring of the world’s most wantedterrorist should have repercus-
sions. Yet, it is important to main-tain good diplomatic relationswith both nuclear-armed Pakistanand Afghanistan.
Bin Laden’s death doesn’t meanan end to the war on terrorism.Not with al-Qaeda still operatingin various forms across the globe,and jihadis still expressing theirmotivation to attack the West.
In that respect, the raid thatgarnered bin Laden may end upas more of a PR success for theUnited States than an operationalvictory. But most Americans atthis point will gladly take that.
With bin Laden’sdeath, Americansfeel like a greatweight has been lift-ed from their collec-tive shoulders. Asthe president put it,“justice has beendone,” especially forthose who lost lovedones and friends inthe 2001 attacks.
Now is not thetime for this countryto drop its guard.There are other ter-rorists who can’twait to elevate binLaden to martyrdomwhile they plan otherdespicable acts toavenge his death.
But at least for amoment, the nationcan stop and cheer.It can shake off thesense of failure that
people felt — but rarely acknowl-edged — in not being able to ap-prehend bin Laden for so long.
The announcement of bin Lad-en’s death unified Americans inspontaneous celebrations thatwere eerily reminiscent of theirunity in grieving just after the9/11 attacks. That grief 10 yearsago seemed to inflitrate every as-pect of life in this country, birth-ing pessimism that only grewstronger during the recession.
Huge challenges remain. Sol-diers are still at risk in Afghani-stan and Iraq, with the threat ofbeing drawn into other conflictswhere totalitarian regimes resistdemocracy. But with bin Laden’sdeath, it’s easier to envision a daynot too long from now when thewars are over, the troops comehome, and optimism reigns.
R esidents of the city’s FirstDistrict should appreciatetheir new councilman. Af-
ter all, he will have cost Philadel-phians nearly $425,000, which isthe size of the deferred-retire-ment payout that left incumbentFrank DiCicco with little choicebut to actually retire.
The district — which stretchesfrom South Philadelphia alongthe Delaware to Port Richmond,including such thriving neighbor-hoods as Old City and NorthernLiberties — at least got a strongfield of potential replacementsfor the price.
The strongest, JOE GRACE, offersa refreshingly reform-mindedplatform in the wake of DiCicco’signominious golden parachute.
As the former executive directorof CeaseFirePA, Grace successful-ly pushed efforts to curb gun traf-ficking in Philadelphia and othercities. He also served as the city’scommunications director underJohn F. Street — a less righteouscause, yes, but one of severalposts that give Grace valuable po-litical and government experi-ence. He’s also been a lawyer anda Daily News reporter.
Grace has made ethical issuesan appropriate focus of his candi-dacy, including the dubiousDROP program that stands to en-rich DiCicco and other Councilmembers. He calls for banningoutside employment and nepo-tism on Council, along with stron-ger city watchdog agencies andcampaign-finance laws. He alsohas intelligent proposals on neigh-borhood revitalization, businesstaxes, and school violence.
Among the other First District
candidates, union organizer JeffHornstein stands out with impres-sive academic credentials and anastute sense that the city shouldbe “less weird” in terms of its taxand other policies. But his laborties could diminish his capacityto choose taxpayers over the mu-nicipal unions.
Vern Anastasio has a longrecord of neighborhood activism.Anastasio’s electricians’ union-backed campaign four years agowas unfortunate, but in this race,that powerful union backs statesystems analyst Mark Squilla.
Fifth DistrictCouncilman Darrell L. Clarke, a
contender for the Council presi-dency, has a record of legislativeaccomplishment and effective ad-vocacy for his district, which runsfrom Center City through NorthPhiladelphia into Fishtown.
Clarke’s Democratic primary op-ponent, minister Suzanne Carn,brings abundant energy to herbid, but falls well short of makinga case for firing the councilman.The Inquirer endorses DARRELL L.CLARKE.
No Republicans are running inthe First or Fifth District.
Low violent crime ratein armed Switzerland
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Readers respond to bin Laden’s death
This canceris gone
Osama bin Laden
His ability toavoid captureadded to a senseof pessimism inthis country.
To find more editorials, follow theeditorial board blog “Say What?”,e-mail letters to the editor, submitcommentaries or responses toeditorials and op-ed columns,and find archives of Tony Auth’scartoons, go to:www.philly.com/opinion
OLIVIER DOULIERY / Abaca Press / MCTReaction outside the White House was swift and jubilant. A crowd quicklygathered after President Obama annouced Osama bin Laden’s death.
Grace, Clarkeare best choices
Joe GraceFirst District
Darrell L. ClarkeFifth District
A18 B www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Extremism still resides in the Pakistani heartlandBy Brahma Chellaney
O sama bin Laden’s kill-ing in a U.S. specialforces assault on a
sprawling mansion near Is-lamabad recalls the captureof other al-Qaeda leaders inPakistani cities. Once again,we see that the real terroristsanctuaries are located notalong Pakistan’s borders withAfghanistan and India, but inthe country’s heartland.
This, in turn, underlines an-other fundamental reality —that the fight against interna-tional terrorism cannot bewon without demilitarizingand deradicalizing Pakistan,including by rebalancing civil-military relations there andreining in the country’s rogueInter-Services Intelligenceagency.
Other terrorist leaders cap-tured in Pakistan since 9/11were also found living in itscities, including KhalidSheikh Mohammed, al-Qae-da’s third in command; AbuZubaydah, the network’s oper-ations chief; Yasser Jazeeri;Abu Faraj Farj; and Ramzibin al-Shibh, one of the coordi-nators of 9/11.
If there is any surpriseabout bin Laden’s hideout, itis its location in a militarytown, Abbottabad, in the shad-ow of an army academy. Thisonly underscores the exten-sive protection that bin Lad-en must have received fromelements of the Pakistani se-curity establishment to helphim elude the U.S. dragnetfor nearly a decade. Thebreakthrough in hunting himdown came only after theUnited States, at the risk ofrupturing its long-standingties with the Pakistani armyand ISI, deployed a numberof CIA operatives, special-op-erations forces, and contrac-tors deep inside Pakistanwithout the knowledge of thecountry’s military.
In recent years, with its se-nior operations men capturedor killed and bin Laden holed
up in Pakistan, the badly splin-tered al-Qaeda had alreadylost the ability to mount a ma-jor international attack oropenly challenge U.S. inter-ests. With bin Laden’s death,al-Qaeda is likely to witheraway as an organization. Yetits dangerous ideology is ex-pected to live on and motivatestate-sponsored non-state ac-tors. It will be mainly such ele-ments that will have the capaci-ty to launch major transnation-al terrorist attacks like the2008 Mumbai strikes. Even inAfghanistan, theU.S. military’smain foe is not al-Qaeda, but a resur-gent Taliban,which enjoys ha-vens in Pakistan.
That is why thespotlight is likelyto turn on the ter-rorist nexus with-in Pakistan andthe role of, and relationshipbetween, state and non-stateactors there. Significantly, asthe CIA closed in on bin Lad-en, the chairman of the JointChiefs of Staff, Adm. MikeMullen, for the first time pub-licly linked the Pakistani mili-tary with some of the mili-tants attacking U.S. forces inAfghanistan. Pakistan’s home-grown Islamist militias contin-ue to operate openly, and thePakistani army and intelli-gence remain loath to severtheir cozy ties with extremistand terrorist elements.
Grudging at bestFor the United States, Paki-
stan poses a particularly diffi-cult challenge. AlthoughAmerica has provided $20 bil-lion in counterterrorism aidto Pakistan since 9/11, the as-sistance it’s received in re-turn has been grudging atbest and duplicitous at worst.Today, amid a rising tide ofanti-Americanism, U.S. policyon Pakistan is rapidly unravel-ing. Yet Pakistan, with one ofthe world’s lowest tax-to-GDPratios, has become more de-
pendent than ever on U.S.aid.
Even as Americans exultover bin Laden’s killing, theU.S. government must rec-ognize that its failed policyon Pakistan has inadvertent-ly made that country theworld’s main terrorist sanc-tuary. Rather than helpingto build robust civilian insti-tutions there, the UnitedStates has pampered the ji-hadist-penetrated Pakistanimilitary establishment, bestillustrated by the fresh $3
billion militaryaid package ear-marked for thenext fiscal year.After dictatorPervez Mushar-raf was drivenout of office, thenew Pakistani ci-vilian govern-ment orderedthe ISI to report
to the Interior Ministry, butit received no U.S. supportfor this effort to assert civil-ian control, which allowedthe army to quickly frus-trate the effort.
After he took office, Presi-dent Obama implemented amilitary surge in Afghanistan.In Pakistan, however, he im-plemented an aid surge, turn-ing it into the largest recipi-ent of U.S. aid, even thoughthe Afghan Taliban leader-ship and al-Qaeda remnantsremained ensconced in thecountry. This only deepenedU.S. involvement in thewrong war and emboldenedPakistan to fatten the AfghanTaliban, even as sustainedU.S. attacks continued to se-verely weaken al-Qaeda.
Make no mistake: Thescourge of Pakistani terror-ism emanates more from thecountry’s Scotch whisky-sip-ping generals than from itsbead-rubbing mullahs. It isthe self-styled secular gener-als who have reared the forc-es of jihad and fathered theTaliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, theJalaluddin Haqqani militia,
and other groups. Yet, bypassing the blame for theircontinuing terrorist-proxy pol-icy to their mullah puppets,the generals have made theUnited States believe that thekey is to contain the religiousfringe, not the puppeteers.
Ground zeroIn fact, Pakistan’s descent
into a jihadist dungeon oc-curred not under civilianrule, but under two militarydictators — one who nurturedand let loose jihadist forces,and another who took hiscountry to the very edge ofthe precipice.
Without reform of the Pa-kistani army and ISI, therecan be no end to transna-tional terrorism — and nogenuine nation-building inPakistan. How can Pakistanbe a “normal” state if itsarmy and intelligence agen-cy remain outside civilianoversight, and decisive pow-er remains with militarygenerals?
With bin Laden dead, al-Qae-da can reconstitute itself only ifthe Pakistani military succeedsin reinstalling a proxy regimein Afghanistan. Until the Paki-stani military’s viselike grip onpower is broken and the ISI iscut down to size, Pakistan islikely to remain ground zero for
the terrorist threat that theworld confronts.
Brahma Chellaney is a professor ofstrategic studies at the Center forPolicy Research in New Delhi andthe author of the forthcoming“Water: Asia’s New Battlefield.”Distributed by Project Syndicate.
By Daniel Mintz
I and many others choseto go to college in Wash-ington partly in anticipa-
tion of a momentous occa-sion — so we could chantand scream outside theWhite House, and so wecould say “We were there”for whatever occurred dur-ing our time in the city. Asthe events of Sunday nightstarted to unfold, I and myfriends at George Washing-ton University soon decid-ed we had to get to Pennsyl-vania Avenue.
News of the death of Osa-ma bin Laden began tospread around 10:30 p.m.,and by 11, throngs of mostlyyoung Americans from allover the city had floodedthe sidewalks in front of theWhite House to sing, chant,and display their patrio-tism. We celebrated into thenight as people hung flagsfrom trees and reporters in-terviewed and photo-graphed them. By 1:30 inthe morning, cars were stillcrowding the streets ofWashington with theirhorns honking, and jubilantpeople were still filling thesidewalks. The feeling ofbrotherhood was palpable.
After several hours of cele-
brating, my friends and I de-cided to call it a night. Andas I walked the few blocksback to my dorm, I wonderedwhy we had felt such a desireto join thousands of strang-ers and celebrate bin Laden’sdeath.
I realized that what I waslooking for — and what I gath-er many of my peers werelooking for — was unity.
Especially inWashington, parti-sanship and divi-sion are widelyaccepted andrarely questionedthese days, butthey take theirtoll on us. Andhere was a briefchance for thou-sands of us tocome together as Americansand celebrate the greatnessof the United States — to re-mind the world and our-selves that we do love thiscountry and that all of us, re-gardless of political affilia-tion, want what’s best for it.
I saw this exemplified bythe image of two people inthe sea of patriots, one hold-ing a Bush-Cheney campaignsign and the other an Obama-Biden sign. On Sunday night,their positions on oppositeends of the political spec-
trum were irrelevant. Theywere arm in arm, celebratinga day for which all Ameri-cans had been waiting 3,519days.
After the fanfare has sub-sided, the pundits will nodoubt resume the chorus ofpartisanship, debatingwhat this means for Presi-dent Obama’s reelection,for the House Republicans,
and more. Buton Sunday night,f o r h o w e v e rbrief a moment,I felt an outpour-ing of love forth is countryfrom myself andthousands ofpeople aroundme. It transcend-ed what divides
us and accentuated whatbrings us together.
On the streets in front ofthe White House and aroundWashington that night, I wit-nessed patriotism in its raw-est form — not as a punchline for politicians, but as aspontaneous expression ofAmericans.
Daniel Mintz is a GeorgeWashington University studentfrom Mercer County, N.J.He can be reached [email protected].
Some deaths can’t be assuaged by this oneThe demise of bin Laden does little to undo thecountless mistakes we’ve made in his name.
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By Dante Zappala
Amid the requisiteflag-waving, chant-ing, and nationalis-tic fervor over thedeath of Osama
bin Laden, I will not be rejoic-ing myself. There will be novindication for me as I re-member the sacrifice of mybrother, a soldier killed inIraq in 2004.
If the largely symbolicevent of bin Laden’s deathbrings closure for the count-less people affected by thetragedy of 9/11, I wish thempeace. But his death does not
offer any to me. It cannotundo the legacy of the reck-less endeavors undertaken inthe aftermath of that tragedy.
What may be convenient toforget in these moments ofrighteous chest-beating isthat, shortly after the devasta-tion perpetuated by this crimi-nal, we accepted an ideologyof permanent war. We wavednot the Stars and Stripes, butthe flag of revenge.
The so-called war on terrortook us to Iraq, a country thathad nothing to do with 9/11 orbin Laden. Preemptive warfarewas introduced to the lexiconof American foreign policy. We
happily absorbed a series of fab-rications that told us our ownsecurity depended on bombingand invading this country. Inthe process, we abandoned ide-als that are essential to our tra-dition and spirit.
My brother was killed chas-ing a ghost, scouring the desertfor weapons of mass destruc-tion. But the true ghost wechase — the bin Laden that isstill hidden to us — is our senseof security. In that regard, thelegacy of bin Laden will be thathe successfully baited us intoendless conflict in the MiddleEast, putting us on a road tomilitary, economic, and moralbankruptcy.
Will bin Laden’s death makeus finally feel safe? This coun-try spends more money on its
defense than all the other na-tions on Earth combined, andyet we cannot say with any con-viction that the wars in the Mid-dle East have done anything toincrease our security. The con-sensus, in fact, is that they havedone the opposite.
The Iraq war is windingdown without having met anyclear military or political objec-tives. Waste, fraud, and mis-management will define theconflict, as will what promisesto be an indefinite military pres-ence there. In Afghanistan, ourforces have tripled, and thoughthe definition of victory is ever-changing, we still cannotachieve it. And now we are en-gaged overtly or covertly in op-erations across North Africa.
Meanwhile, there are more
than 1.5 million veterans ofthese wars, many of whomserved multiple deployments.Traumatic brain injuries andpost-traumatic stress disorderscar this class of heroes. Moreand more, the veterans of theglobal war on terror are inhomeless shelters, prisons, ordead by their own hands. Thetoll will span generations.
Who has benefited from thissacrifice? I certainly have not.And I feel certain that mostAmericans have not.
Will the death of bin Ladenresolve our need for permanentwar? The likely answer is no.
Bad guys, both real and exag-gerated, will continue to exist.We will remain fearful, and wewill squander treasure and op-portunity on the premise that
we are perpetually threatened.The only way to truly kill Osa-
ma bin Laden is to reevaluatewhat we have done in hisname. We must take a long,hard look at why we continueto spend $10 billion a monthand to accept, albeit with sor-row, the loss of life in Afghani-stan. We must question why weso readily drop bombs in Libyawhile some of our own citystreets resemble a war zone.
If we can face these hardtruths, we can bury ourghosts along with this mon-ster. Then, and only then, willwe be vindicated.
Dante Zappala is the brother ofthe late Sgt. Sherwood Baker.He can be reached [email protected].
The real threatemanates fromScotch whisky-sipping armygenerals.
An outbreak ofrare unanimityfills the streetsof the nation’scapital.
ARSHAD BUTT/ Associated Press
Osama binLaden’s death iscondemned bysupporters of thereligious partyJamiat Ulema-e-Islam. They helda rally in Quetta,Pakistan, onMonday.
Commentary
For a moment, truly united
www.philly.com B A19THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRERTuesday, May 3, 2011
