I was at work Sunday night when a friend of mine and co-worker, Jonathan Green, called me on the faculty helpdesk line to say Osama bin Laden has been killed.
I did not officially believe it until I saw the special report on abcnews.com shortly before 10 p.m.
Upon hearing that news the first thing I did, given my knack for quoting from movies, television shows and commercials, I searched for a quote from an episode from the classic "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979) television series called "War of the Gods" on the Internet.
Near the end of part I, Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) receives a communication from Count Baltar (John Colicos), the former trusted representative of the Council of Twelve and the man responsible for the destruction of practically the entire human race by the Cylon Empire that he is surrendering.
"Word is spreading like sunbursts through every corner of the fleet," Adama says. "It's a jubilation unprecedented as Baltar is brought before the Council of Twelve. It is just as Count Iblis promised. Our enemy has been delivered."
Indeed, here on Earth and in America at Ground Zero and at the White House word did spread "like sunbursts" as crowds of every race and creed turned out in droves once President Obama announced to both the country and the world that “Justice has been done.”
The man responsible for the deaths of close to 3,000 innocent souls on Sept. 11, 2001, and countless others for the past two decades, the thorn in America's side, the stone in every American's shoe, public enemy number one has been killed in a shootout by U.S. forces in a mansion in Abbottabad, 30 miles north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
The chants of "U.S.A." and "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey goodbye" were heard outside the White House and Ground Zero.
"Ding dong, Bin Laden’s dead, Bin Laden’s dead…ding dong, the wicked Osama is dead!” wrote one of my friends on Facebook.
“I’ll bet it was Chuck Norris that pulled the trigger,” wrote another.
When I logged onto Facebook upon getting home from work, I saw a page was already set up called “Osama Bin Laden Being Dead” and to click “like.” As of this writing, 30,472 have clicked “like” on that page.
Today on May 2, 2011, nearly ten years after those devastating attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon before the brave souls aboard United 93 thwarted terrorists from taking more lives, the world and the country now suddenly seems a much better place. To quote what former President George W. Bush said at a press conference on April 13, 2004, the "world is better off without Saddam Hussein," the world today is now much better off without Osama bin Laden!
Up until Sunday night, I, like a number of skeptical Americans had come to accept the belief that the Al-Qaeda leader would never be caught. The most I could ever hope for was that he was dead already. Now it is official. No doubt in the days to come we will see pictures of bin Laden’s body to convince the country that he is indeed gone the way pictures of Jordanian militant Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s corpse were released to the public after he was killed by coalition forces in Iraq in June 2006.
Normally I would wait a few days, perhaps even a week before writing a column about something this big.
Tonight, however, I felt like chronicling the moment and how every American feels right now. I know that in the hours, days, and weeks to come we will hear what implications Bin Laden’s death will have for the United States, our armed forces abroad and in other countries.
"For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al-Qaeda's leader and symbol and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies," President Obama said Sunday night. "The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat Al-Qaeda. Yet his death does mark the end of our effort. There's no doubt that Al-Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must --- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad."
God bless our nation’s armed forces here and abroad and God bless the United States of America!
©5/2/11
I did not officially believe it until I saw the special report on abcnews.com shortly before 10 p.m.
Upon hearing that news the first thing I did, given my knack for quoting from movies, television shows and commercials, I searched for a quote from an episode from the classic "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979) television series called "War of the Gods" on the Internet.
Near the end of part I, Commander Adama (Lorne Greene) receives a communication from Count Baltar (John Colicos), the former trusted representative of the Council of Twelve and the man responsible for the destruction of practically the entire human race by the Cylon Empire that he is surrendering.
"Word is spreading like sunbursts through every corner of the fleet," Adama says. "It's a jubilation unprecedented as Baltar is brought before the Council of Twelve. It is just as Count Iblis promised. Our enemy has been delivered."
Indeed, here on Earth and in America at Ground Zero and at the White House word did spread "like sunbursts" as crowds of every race and creed turned out in droves once President Obama announced to both the country and the world that “Justice has been done.”
The man responsible for the deaths of close to 3,000 innocent souls on Sept. 11, 2001, and countless others for the past two decades, the thorn in America's side, the stone in every American's shoe, public enemy number one has been killed in a shootout by U.S. forces in a mansion in Abbottabad, 30 miles north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
The chants of "U.S.A." and "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey goodbye" were heard outside the White House and Ground Zero.
"Ding dong, Bin Laden’s dead, Bin Laden’s dead…ding dong, the wicked Osama is dead!” wrote one of my friends on Facebook.
“I’ll bet it was Chuck Norris that pulled the trigger,” wrote another.
When I logged onto Facebook upon getting home from work, I saw a page was already set up called “Osama Bin Laden Being Dead” and to click “like.” As of this writing, 30,472 have clicked “like” on that page.
To this day I cannot remember what the world was like on Sept. 10, 2001. We all know the world changed forever on Sept. 11 and I have always had the negative feeling in the back of my mind that it was not ever going to be for the better.Every year around the end of August since 9/11, an immense sense of sadness always overcomes me through the end of September. There is no doubt it’s because of all the repeated documentaries aired about that fateful day as the anniversary draws closer that I can’t seem to escape from. It doesn’t matter if I have the television off. If I go to the Internet, no matter what homepage I go to there is always some clip about 9/11 mentioned.
Today on May 2, 2011, nearly ten years after those devastating attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon before the brave souls aboard United 93 thwarted terrorists from taking more lives, the world and the country now suddenly seems a much better place. To quote what former President George W. Bush said at a press conference on April 13, 2004, the "world is better off without Saddam Hussein," the world today is now much better off without Osama bin Laden!
Up until Sunday night, I, like a number of skeptical Americans had come to accept the belief that the Al-Qaeda leader would never be caught. The most I could ever hope for was that he was dead already. Now it is official. No doubt in the days to come we will see pictures of bin Laden’s body to convince the country that he is indeed gone the way pictures of Jordanian militant Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s corpse were released to the public after he was killed by coalition forces in Iraq in June 2006.
Normally I would wait a few days, perhaps even a week before writing a column about something this big.
Tonight, however, I felt like chronicling the moment and how every American feels right now. I know that in the hours, days, and weeks to come we will hear what implications Bin Laden’s death will have for the United States, our armed forces abroad and in other countries.
As the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 gets nearer it is comforting to know that a sad chapter in America’s past is now closed. It’s almost as if a heavy weight has been lifted off our country’s shoulders now.That does NOT in any way mean the war on terror is over. We must never, ever forget the close to 3,000 who were lost that September morning and the military servicemen and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice abroad since and who continue to put their lives on the line for our country every day in the name of freedom. Nor should we allow this victory as a reason to let our guard down. America must continue to remain vigilant.
"For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al-Qaeda's leader and symbol and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies," President Obama said Sunday night. "The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat Al-Qaeda. Yet his death does mark the end of our effort. There's no doubt that Al-Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must --- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad."
God bless our nation’s armed forces here and abroad and God bless the United States of America!
©5/2/11
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