Maybe Osama's no longer a real danger, although I'm very skeptical. That's entirely no excuse to abandon the fervent prosecution of the man who committed the crime of the century.
I'm sure most of you remember when Dick Cheney said this:
it's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on November 2nd, we make the right choice. Because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again, that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States, and that we'll fall back into the pre-9/11 mind set if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts, and that we're not really at war.
Bin Laden is assumed by a sweeping consensus to be guilty of leading a conspiracy of the murder 2985 American citzens, mostly civilians. During the period prior to 9/11/01, America was not at war. In an immediate sense, the attack was unprovoked. In a way in which one might see the attack as provoked, the attack was uncivilized, inapporpriate, unwarranted, inefficient, psychopathic, and illegal.
I know there are some who will read this and say Bush is a far worse criminal for his seemingly illegal war on Iraq, leading to deaths of more then ten times those killed on 9/11/01. I don't necessarily disagree. I just don't think most Americans would impulsively agree. Maybe someday. But Bush is the head of state, and legality is more confusing in this circumstance. I think a sweeping majority of Americans would agree bin Laden is the worst living criminal on earth. And I think most who believe Bush is the worst would agree that bin Laden is nearly the worst.
Therefore, every single American who is not a member of the Bush administration should be thoroughly outraged that the Bush administration is making irrational decisions regarding a goal of capture of the perpetrator of the crime of the century. We can't tolerate people like bin Laden to plot violence against our country and carry it out. Everybody should understand the principle that security is necessary for properity. Law is civilization's process of deliberating and implementing this principle. Government is the vessel of law. The administration of our government is not adequately carrying water.
We have a law against murder for obvious reasons. No one wants to die by the whims of anyone and the more effectively murderers are prosecuted, the more trust we have in law and the more comfortable we can go about our business. The dissolution of the bin Laden group at the CIA makes us more uncomfortable for reasons as follow.
I immediatly assume that the now dissolved bin Laden group at the CIA had the best chance of delivering key contributions to the eventual capture or death of bin Laden than any other institution in the world. I might be wrong. Maybe the department was full of screw ups. But I tend to think that professionals who focus on an attainable goal are quite disposed to making progress relevant to that goal. It's asinine to believe otherwise, and maybe the administration is just asinine.
Or maybe the administration does not think that the goal of bin Laden's capture or death is important enough to devote the resources. This is of course asinine also. As I've explained, it's important to pursue the perpetrator of the crime of the century (as if it needs an explanation). This is a very obvious rule-of-law issue.
I return to the Cheney quote at the begining of this diary. How dare he refer to breaking the law, as a "just criminal acts." Bin Laden broke the law. He committed the crime of the century. His terrorist attack was not just a criminal act. It was the worst criminal act. Any other terrorist attack is not just a criminal act either. In fact no criminal act is just a criminal act. Criminal acts break the law. And the law is really fucking important to civilization. Some laws are unjust and need to be reformed, but even these are not "just criminal acts." Unjust laws are very serious issues. Other laws, like laws against murder, are utterly essential and it's incomprehnsible regarding them as unjust. The law against murder, too, of course, is not just another law.
So I hope, as a civilization, we will regard the law with more respect than the Bush and Cheney administration, and react to such comments as Dick Cheney's with the contempt it deserves. Our government leaders need to appreciate the law, and when a law broken at a magnitude like bin Laden's crimes on 9/11/01, they will devote overwhelming resources and attention to see that the criminals are brought to justice. The dissolution of the team focused on the goal of bringing the perpetrator of the crime of the century to justice clearly demonstrates the inadequacy of the administration.
Bush and his administration spokes-people often say the most important job of the president is to protect the people of the nation. No one should concede, at this point, that they are performing their job adequately when such a fundamental law of protection as the law against murder goes unpunished for such an aggregious crime.