Taking out the trash!

In my Examiner.com column today I wrote about our getting rid of public enemy number one, Osama Bin Laden.
As I was writing for the general public I was a lot gentler than I feel we from the military side of the equation would see the situation.

The perverted view of what is moral and what is acceptable to the Muslim terrorists defies reasoning, particularly one like Bin Laden whose family reaped great wealth and is reported to be intimately connected with the innermost circles of the Saudi royal family. The financial interests of the bin Laden family are represented by the Saudi Binladin Group, a global oil and equity management entity grossing billions in U.S. dollars annually. It is also one of the largest construction firms in the Middle East, and reportedly owns part of Microsoft and Boeing among other companies. The same capitalist system that allowed such wealth to be created is the same one that the terrorist purport to decry.

From the carnage of Ground Zero to the removal of Osama Bin Laden, it has been a decade of remembrance to the citizens of the United States. The initial death toll of 2998 (2009 figures) from the 9/11 attack to the more than 150,000 estimated combatant and civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, is a high price to pay for revenge, but it’s a price most will agree had to be paid. In war, hindsight is always 20-20, but had we not retaliated, we would have been sitting ducks for the next round of terrorist attacks.

According to the Heritage Foundation there have been 19 failed attacks on the US since 9/11. Whether you were a fan of President Bush or not, and no matter how you feel about President Obama, we all need to take our hats off to the outstanding job our military and security personnel have done in not only tracking down this poor excuse of a human being, but serving up justice in a manner that would have made General George S. Patton proud. A bonus is that bringing down the curtain in this fashion bypassed any court proceeding the current administration may have had in mind. This was payback in a manner that the terrorists may understand, though I doubt it will dissuade them from the hatred they carry following years of indoctrination. The global chess match with terror has reached the first pinnacle of “check”, with Bin Laden on the short end of the stick. I’m afraid “checkmate” is still a long way off.

As that great philosopher Yogi Berra said, “it ain’t over til’ it’s over”

Osama Bin Laden’s successor may well be Ayman al-Zawahri, who has been part of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization since the very beginning. While lacking the so-call charisma of Bin Laden, he is none-the-less, a potential leader with a resume that includes involvement in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. He must be moved up to the top of the Hit Parade of al-Qaeda leaders and I know will be removed in due time.

A burial at sea was more than deserved

Unfortunately for the families of those lost in the 9/11 attack and all those who have been lost rectifying the situation, Osama Bin Laden was given a respectable “burial at sea” along with a brief service performed by a clergy of the Muslim faith. This is far greater respect than we should have shown and an action that would only be afforded by our American system of what is right and what is wrong, BUT, had it been my decision, I would have either simply dumped the body out of a helicopter somewhere out at sea, or dropped him strapped to a bomb on some al-Qaeda target.

I believe we are on the right course in our war on terror. I wish that could be said of our ship of state and the political direction in which it’s headed.

Ed Mattson

Following his service in the Marine Corps Ed Mattson built a diverse career in business in both sales/marketing and management. He is a medical research specialist and published author. His latest book is Down on Main Street: Searching for American Exceptionalism

Ed is currently Development Director of the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs-State Partnership Program, Fundraising Coordinator for the Warrior2Citizen Project, and Managing Partner of Center-Point Consultants in North Carolina.

Mr. Mattson is a noted speaker and has addressed more than 3000 audiences in 42 states and 5 foreign countries. He has been awarded the Order of the Sword by American Cancer Society, is a Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow and appeared on more than 15 radio and television talk-shows.