So there is this big deal right now about whether or not the US government should release the pictures of Osama Bin Laden with his head blown apart, a "made in the good old USA bullet lodged in his cranium and dark red blood drying in his scraggly beard.
Some fancy schmancy special people have already seen the pictures. Some of those fancy people are senators, congressmen, cabinet level officials and Obama's mother-in-law. Pretty soon, the US Synchronized Swimminig Team will have wallet sized pics of Osama bin Ladin looking slightly under the weather.
Anyway, those who have seen the gruesome photographs have differing opinions on whether the rest of us stupid schmucks should see them. Some say that his death is a great accomplishment and the photos should be released to help us process the information and to encourage the healing process. I see some logic in that although, to be honest, I think most of us have moved on from denial, anger and bargaining to "let's kill the bastards." Seems like the healing process has taken root already and Elizabeth Kubler Ross would be so proud of us for that.
Others say that distributing the pictures serves no purpose at all, that Usama Bin Laden is dead and that is that. Plus, this group usually cites a fear of whipping up these radical Muslims into a frenzied lather as another reason to keep the pictures to ourselves. I am not so sure. These hopped up crazies are already looking to kill us and anyone who looks like us -- they don't need another reason. I really don't think that a picture of dead Usama Ben Laddin will incite them to more violence than, oh let's say, my shopping for a new chandelier for my living room or, to revel in the banality of it all, our democratic and open way of civilization will. To accommodate our public policy positions around a relatively small group of marginalized nutbags wearing filthy cheesecloth robes and Jesus sandals doesn't seem necessary or appropriate. It's not like Al Zawahiri is in his cave saying "oh, those nice people" -- translation: spawns of the devil -- "who shot my brother" -- translation: he had a bigger gun than me -- "won't release the photos of my slain comrade" -- translation: and it was aimed at my head. "I think I should send them some flowers or a nice edible arrangement." No. He's ready to poison our water supply or kill our children anyway, with or without the photo.
Osamma Bin Laddin is dead. He was shot in the head by US Navy Seals while courageously trying to hide behind one of his wives (at least that is one of the stories told by the Obama administration). The truth will set you free, right? . A fact is a fact. As Mahatma Gandhi said "there is no god higher than truth." It happened. Doesn't a free and open society depend upon things like pictures of a dead guy who murdered so many of our friends and neighbors? I mean, I did not know personally any of the people who died on 9/11 but I know, for me, that I would like to see what we did. It would help. Somehow. But even if, in retrospect, it doesn't, it is the truth.
I don't really know what the right answer is -- seriously, I don't even know if there is a right or a wrong answer here. I know that I am uncomfortable with my desire to see the pictures just like I am uncomfortable with the videos of young people celebrating in front of the White House that Sunday night when news of OBL's death got out. I think most of us have wondered whether or not that sort of jubilation was appropriate although, to be sure, it clearly was to those young GW students trying to get out of finals. And I guess that is my point here.
My discomfort aside, there is something I know in my heart -- I WANT TO SEE THOSE PICTURES. And I have a definite problem with the Obama administration pretending that it knows better than me if it's right or wrong.
To be more specific, this is not a case of Lindsay Lohan going bra-less on her community service day. That's not truth, or dialogue, or justice or news or anything other than bad judgment. The UBL photos are news and, I would argue, among the biggest and most enduring images since Jackie O crawled across the back of a Lincoln Continental convertible to retrieve a part of her husband's brain.
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