Monday, May 09, 2011

Show Me the Mullah


Ya'll know me. I'm usually the raging advocate for liberal causes. But every now and then, an issue arises that seems clear to me, but puts me in the opposite camp from my progressive friends. I vociferously disagree with the president's decision not to release the Osama bin Laden death photo, and I uncomfortably find myself on the same side as Alan Dershowitz, Sarah Palin, and a mess of right-wing Republicans. Conspiracy theories began to sprout the moment bin Laden's death was announced. CIA Director Leon Panetta initially announced that "ultimately, a (proof of death) photograph would be presented to the public," but someone quickly yanked his leash. The government needs to post the photo tomorrow, not for the prurient pleasure of revenge seekers or lovers of gore, but to send a message to jihadists, active or potential, that if you attack the United States, this is the fate that awaits you. Already, the Pakistani residents of Abbottabad are denying that the terror kingpin was ever among them. Even though Al Qaeda acknowledged bin Laden was killed, there are thousands of people who believe that Elvis faked his own death to escape the limelight and lives in Michigan. Hell, there are people that still think Hitler survived WWII and is spending his dotage in Paraguay. And Mr. President, 33% of Republicans think you're a foreigner, and 20% believe you're a Muslim. Why would you think they would take your word for it about bin Laden? These are the same people who believe John F. Kennedy was kept on life support at Bethesda Naval Hospital after his brain went missing.

Speaking of JFK, is there anyone left that has not yet seen the Zapruder film? If I can take watching President Kennedy getting his brains blown out ("back, and to the left"), I can stand a photo of bin Laden with a hole in his head. Yet, the president remains cautious, so as not to further inflame homicidal zealots that hate and want to kill us anyway. These are the savages that beheaded journalist Daniel Pearl and posted it on the internet. When the military caught up with the assassin, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Bush posse blew up the photo of his dead ass, poster size, for the world to see, and there was one less delusional killer making snuff videos in Iraq. We have lived with the horror of Al Qaeda for twenty years and three presidents now. Show them the photo and give them a taste, and if some naughty people want to make computer games and YouTube videos of the graphic image of a dead Osama; oh well. Freedom of the press gets messy sometimes. Were the decision mine, I'd drop copies of the photo from a helicopter over the Pakistanis that harbored him, and send a special 8x10 glossy to Ayman al-Zawahiri with the phrase "Sic Semper Tyrannis" engraved underneath.

The U.S. Navy granted bin Laden more respect in death than he gave to his thousands of victims, but the burial at sea better have been videotaped. When the Fascists were defeated in Italy, they hanged Mussolini, and his wife, upside down in the town square. When Nicolae Ceausescu lost his job as Butcher of Romania, the photo of his bloody corpse finally gave surcease to his suffering subjects. The president claims publishing a dead Osama picture will cause an "incitement to violence." Is he kidding? The Shia and Sunni in Iraq are killing each other for sport. If it's our troops Obama is concerned about, go ahead and bring them home. The drone strikes are effective and, despite their vow to avenge the death of bin Laden, Al Qaeda's collective sphincter just tightened several notches. The president says he doesn't want to give the terrorists an iconic image to exploit, but he's a bit late for that. Think of Osama and the turbaned image is already imprinted in your mind. The Bolivian Army was forced to publish pictures of the bullet-riddled body of Che Guevara on a slab to prove that he was dead, but that's not the iconic image people wear on their T-Shirts.

I was once a turn-the-other-cheek pacifist, until age and experience convinced me that some people are so obtuse, the only way to get your point across is with a smack upside the head. My Georgia in-laws will forgive me for referencing General William Tecumseh Sherman's quote; "Make war so terrible (and) make them so sick of war that generations would pass away before they would again appeal to it." President Truman followed the Sherman example to end the war against Japan. Despite the horror of war, no amount of diplomacy will dissuade a generation raised on the glory of the mujahedeen from ceasing their hostilities against the West. The U.S. created and armed this monster to fight the Russians during the Reagan era. It's only fitting that our soldiers should also destroy them and their charismatic leader. Thanks to the fresh efficiency of the CIA and military, Al Qaeda has been reduced to a bunch of bitter, womenless men, riding dirt bikes and playing guerrilla in the mountains of the Hindu Kush. Motor scooters can't cross an ocean. Unquestionably, some deranged individuals will try to commit some new atrocity on U.S. soil, but the threat of bin Laden's Al Qaeda is essentially over. We have their Rolodex. Since the "Arab Spring" is sweeping the Middle East, the U.S. has an opportunity to embrace a new generation, disenchanted with despots and jihad that offer only death and despair.

Nip these cancerous conspiracies in the bud by publishing the post-mortem photograph. Even then, some people will still believe it never happened, just as others won't accept Obama's birth certificate. If this drags on, Donald Trump will insist on seeing a "death certificate." Traditionally hawkish GOP legislators are suddenly questioning the legality of the targeted killing, and the sloppy way the administration rolled out the narrative only aided their cause. They raised the questions: did bin Laden hide behind his 18 year old wife? Was he holding something or reaching for a weapon? Personally, I don't care if he had the remote control or his dick in his hand - good shot guys. Maybe I've lived in Memphis so long, a bit of redneck has rubbed off on me, but I've come to agree with my Texas cousins' aphorism that "some people just need killin'." After the destruction of American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, plus hideous acts of terror in London, Madrid, Mumbai, and Indonesia, no one in the world had it coming more than bin Laden. And when they got him, he was planning a 9/11 tenth anniversary attack on U.S. railways. Fuck him, post the head shot. I trust and believe President Obama, but if my position is conservative, I may as well quote Ronald Reagan, who once famously said, "Trust, but verify."

11 comments:

Clyde Broadway said...

I am easily swayed by my Rock and Roll idols---You have convinced me.

billy wicks said...

very very good,RANDY..

Anonymous said...

Randy keep walking toward the light my brother.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately sometimes you you have to pander to the lowest common denominator.
I think of the words of Saint Thomas "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger were the nails were, and put my hand into his side , I will not believe.

Anonymous said...

Sputnik, after watching Obama's explanation on 60 minutes last night, I have to agree with him, not you; showing the photos with "lines and arrows and paragraphs on the back describing what each one is" will do nothing to appease the nay-sayers. They'll still scream it's photo-shopped, or not definitely him...... just as the birth certificate of Obama was immediately decried as fake. No, it can't help, it can only hurt, and if it incites any additional religious idocy, and conflagration, it's SURE NOT WORTH IT!!! in my humble opinion.

zephyrman

Sarah Palin said...

The reason President Obama will not release these photos is because I shot Osama Bin Ladin. I fired 3 shots! The Head! The Chest! The Ass! Oh well! As the song goes...two out of three ain't bad! Pictures were taken of me kneeling on one knee holding up OBLs head by his ears as if he was a fatally wounded prize winning moose! There is even one shot of me putting lipstick on the mullah! When these pictures are released I will announce my bid for the Presidency! May God Bless America! Randy! Can I depend on your support? Sincerely, Sarah

Gregg said...

Watched Obama last night. Feel like the leader considered well with everything he had. My data bank is limited by the smallness of my sphere, so I don't second guess on this one.

Deal is done. If momma is dead all her children cry. If they see a picture of momma with her head hanging from her neck, most of her children will be looking for some blood to let. The Romanian and Italian analogies don't hold here. Their war was over. The people those leaders persecuted were the ones who hung them. This is a different deal.

He said it correctly and he said we don't spike after we score a touchdown. Obama's a bit more grown up than most of us. Me, for sure.

Fred Hayek said...

Alan Dershouitz a right-winger? Professor Alan M. Dershowitz is Brooklyn native who has been called “the nation’s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer” and one of its “most distinguished defenders of individual rights,” “the best-known criminal lawyer in the world,” “the top lawyer of last resort,” “America’s most public Jewish defender” and “Israel’s single most visible defender – the Jewish state’s lead attorney in the court of public opinion.” He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg.

If this is a right-winger; well mabe we could all take a lesson.
http://www.alandershowitz.com/biography.php

Cindy said...

Wow Randy. You hit the nail on the head!

Anonymous said...

"Obama's a bit more grown up than most of us." OMG this is what all the liberal talking heads keep repeating. He is sooooooo much smarter than us. I don't give a shit about the picture but I tell you the Obamas showed either they are really stupid or really arrogant by having Common at the White House. I hope he keeps doing this sort of thing. He will NOT be re-elected even if he did give the go ahead on Bin Laden.

Sireen said...

Randy! Last Sunday my sisters Fatima, Gyllee and all met @ my house to celebrate the life of our late Mama The Black Pantheress (The Former MidSouth Lady Wrestling Champion) for Mother's Day but I must admit we spent a lot of that time laughing & agreeing with your most excellent editorial as well as celebrating the Death of another muthuh that rat bastard Muhfuh Mulah Osama bin Laden! Just when folks count Obama out his birth certificate emerges & a few days later bin Laden is dead! He gotta be the luckiest white man alive! Oh yeah! He's White now! Caucasians are claiming him. Here is why the Seals threw Osama's bony ass overboard! Remember when Bush captured Sadam Hussein! Everybody was happy! But then it dragged on...& then when they finally hung him his head popped off like a wine cork...like out of a freak show or something. If Bush would have ordered him killed & thrown overboard he would of left office a hero. Obama says "Spare me the Side Show! Plus pictures can come back to haunt you! Especially when they tied his skinny ass to a board & threw him over board to the fishes! Hell, they could accuse the U S of water boarding that Wicked Wanker or something! There I said it! Thank you Jesus! Sireen