Osama bin Laden, 1957-2011
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First, your intrepid scribe notes the above without any regret whatsoever. If your planned effort results in the death of 3,000 innocents on a clear September morning, you deserve to be hunted and killed without hesitation or remorse.
If this sounds like hypocrisy from an avowed social liberal, I ask you to consider the following: Men, women, and children die every single day as a result of armed conflict around the globe. It is commonplace and accepted that combatants in the field are by definition in harm's way, and wars result in people being dead. Osama bin Laden was the declared and acknowledged leader, ideologue, and spokesman of al Qaeda. By his own urging, al Qaeda publicly declared war on the United States of America, and brought that war to these shores.
As has been said in this space before, if you make war on the United States, we will return the favor.
As a first-year Midshipman at RPI, many years ago, I had the opportunity to meet a Navy SEAL who came to address our NROTC unit. The gentleman was certainly engaging and friendly with us, but the overwhelming impression I got, and one echoed by a number of my classmates, was that this guy gave off the unmistakeable aura of someone not to be trifled with under ANY circumstances.
"Quiet professionalism" is a phrase often associated with the SEALs, and with Special Forces troops around the world. Excruciatingly well-trained, intelligent, and possessed of physical and psychological strength most of us cannot fathom, these individuals do the dirty work that must be done in the defense of our country. They don't talk about, except within their own. They seek neither riches nor glory, and the only accolade they receive is from within their own very closely-knit fraternity. They do a job that they know needs to be done, so that we can sleep at night.
We may not like it, or like to admit it, but we know it.
That this world is a dangerous place is a given. That SEALs make it just a little less dangerous for you and me is equally true.
Thanks, guys.
Until next time,
Excelsior!
