OSAMA AND ADOLF

0. Mayday
On the first of May 2011, almost ten years after the terrorist attacks
on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, the President of Hope and
Change declared to the listening world that Osama bin Laden had been
executed by American special forces in Pakistan. The kill
had been confirmed. The Americans had gotten their man, Obama leading
the way.

Within hours, and following into the next day, spontaneous

celebrations of joy erupted---some in front of the White House, other
reported in Manhattan. We hadn't just brought justice to the
"mastermind", we'd taken the battle to his turf and finally shown him
what some 'merican is 'bout. The biggest set of blue balls in the
history of the National Security State---well, second biggest (lookin'
at you Commandante)---finally got their explanatory orgasm of
vengeance. Purple mountain's majesty was perhaps a bit more purple
that night, and liberty sure as hell never tasted so sweet.

Besides the boilerplate "God Bless America", Obama's peroration roused

the audience to go home and take it easy. "Y'all, I tell ya
somethin'...wild goose chase if I e'er seen'un, but boy we licked him
goooood nah." Nearly ten years of humping to nearly no effect, we
could all roll over, exhausted yet satisfied, sanguinely huffing the
after-sex smoke. "Ain't nothin' worth doin' that's done easy."

Heap on some more bromides about land of the free, home of the brave
("But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever
we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s
the pursuit of prosperity for our people . . ."), and, well, by now no
one would say the Kool-Aid wasn't going down _divine_.

Welcome, men, women, and children to the American Heliaia. The CIA'll
furnish the prosecution, the media's glad to broadcast jurors, and
there's our Hope and Change, 44, Petraeus and his technocratic
milito-crats in tow, impartially, nay! cooly (how else, really?),
meting out red, white, and blue justice to the condemned. The Greeks
did open air, but pfft, 21st century here, we'll do open tubes, plus
who needs direct democracy when we've got talkshows rolling non-stop
(soon in 3D?!).

1. Tango with Adolf

Back to the past, Argentina, Adolf (no, not (quite) _that_ Adolf).
In May of 1960, Mossad agents extraordinarily rendered the ehemaliger
SS-Obersturmbannführer, Adolf Eichmann, transporting him from Buenos
Aires to Israel to stand trial. A covert mission, the Israeli
government even denied involvement for a time (the party line being
that (sic!) "enthusiastic Jews had done their dirty work for them").

In April of 1961, Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem began, the defendant

charged with, amongst others, crimes against humanity. On August 14th,
the trial ended, the judges thereafter secluding themselves to
deliberate. Nearly four full months later, Eichmann was pronounced
guilty on all charges.

An appeal followed, but by May 31st of the following year, after

Israeli president Ben-Zvi rejected der Obersturmbannführer's appeal
for mercy, Eichmann's fate had been determined. Atropos readied her
shears, and, on May 31st, 1962 in Ramla, severed Eichmann's thread
with an Israeli noose.

Therethrough Eichmann joined the company of at least 20 high-ranking

Nazi war criminals put to death following the death sentence from a
post-war tribunal (e.g. Nürnberg 1 and 2).

2. Das Führerprinzip and the presumption of innocence

On September 12th, 2001, one day after 911, the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan agreed to consider extradition requests, albeit subject to
US authorities' ability to present evidence convincingly linking bin
Laden to the previous days' attacks.

One day thereafter, on September 13th, Colin Powell, at this time the
Secretary of State, issued a statement mentioning Osama bin Laden as
one suspect for the 911 attacks, though not the only.

On September 16th, bin Laden issued a statement through the Afghan

Islamic Press rejected responsibility for the attacks.

By Septemeber 18th, the United Nations Security Council was demanding

the "immediate and unconditional" delivery of bin Laden.

The 19th now, and Taliban leader Mohammed Omar reveals he is open to
talks with the USA. Urging patience, he suggests the USA gather
evidence to present to the Taliban Supreme Court for bin Laden's
extradition. The USA responds demanding action. It would be later
revealed that official American military operations in Afghanistan
began on this day.
The next day, a shura of village elders and leaders from across
Afghanistan convenes and issues an edict to the Taliban stating that
the Taliban should call on bin Laden to leave Afghanistan. The USA
signals this action would not be sufficient to avoid war.

Rhetorical batting about continues until finally, on October 7th,

2001, the USA begin their attacks on Afghanistan. Four days later,
October 11th, President Bush calls a presidential press conference
whereat he comments: "If you cough him up and his people today that we'll
reconsider what we're doing to your country. You still have a second
chance. Just bring him in, and bring his leaders and lieutenants and
other thugs and criminals with him."

Despite the abridged timeline, one can nevertheless deduce an

important fact: the USA never made the pretense of presenting evidence
linking Osama bin Laden with the attacks. bin Laden stood accused by
the national securtiy elders, enough for a guilty verdict in the court
of the New World Order.

Bush's words broadcast a chilling subtext: "Get in line, suspend

disbelief, and follow orders, or we'll continue to ravage your country
'til you get 'r right." Resistance is futile, we will get our way.

The subsequent events of following years are known, and one might
argue that most of the consequences were clear within weeks following
the attacks.

Judicial acrobatics established extra-judicial playgrounds where the

national security elders could deposit rendered suspects.

Programs of torture rendered the rendered eager to support the

official narrative.

The acts of patriots ensured the elders' could protect the people by
monitoring them. The whole world was put on suicide watch, but the
National Security State would administer the psychological care free
of charge.

3. Hard to Be a God

If it ain't easy to be a god, it's harder still to have them. Human

gods tend towards fallibility, and sometimes they aren't too benign.

If you want to know why bin Laden's execution puts me at a "meh", you
probably only need to know that I don't do the gods thing, at least
for any plying their trade out of the Pentagon.
In the past decade in our post-Age-of-Reason society, we've been happy
to welcome the Pentagon-gods to the bench in a court presided over by
the president and his advisors, with the verdict handed down by the
mass media.

You're guilty if enough armchair-philosophers give you the thumbs down

on the other side of the boobtube. Consent thusly attained, the
president and the elders will clean up the mess. No need for decent
bystander-citizens to get their hands dirty.

Between nation-building and the worldwide suicide watch, maybe our

gods have started to eat their own cooking, believe their own
divinification. Maybe they really will defend us from ourselves, maybe
they'll keep the boogeymen at bay. Maybe they'll break the rule of law
to preserve the rule of law, maybe we just need to follow the
Supermachtprinzip so that we can be free.

4. An Odd Couple

Nearly 50 years ago today, the man responsible for deporting millions
of Jews to their deaths in the most systematic genocide in recorded
history was captured, convicted, and hanged. A deliberative legal
process established his guilt, deliberated over the facts and charges,
and recorded the results for the annals. His body was cremated and the
ashes scattered in international waters, no man's land.

Two days ago today, American agents stormed a house in Abbottabad,

Pakistan, under the lukewarm aegis of a mildy-democratic government,
and executed a man whom all could reasonably expect guilty of crimes
against humanity, though whom had never been proven beyond a
reasonable doubt of such crimes. An opportunity to showcase the belief
of an enlightened society in its enlightened institutions is thrown
under the bus in favor of the chance to vent tribal fury at the
nemesis-figuredhead in our War on a Concept.

5. The First Draft of History

A sudden announcement that the president would address the nation

resulted in the May 1st evening press conference, whereat Obama gave a
speech detailing the thoughts and process behind bin Laden's
execution. Text of the speech with interspersed remarks follow. The
speech is included in its entirety, in its original order.

OB: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to
the world that the United States has conducted an operation that
killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s
responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and
children.

Rem: I have been led to believe that "responsible" in the sense used
here is a matter for courts, or where juridisction might be
questioned, a deliberative process of some sort---civilian or
military.

If his crimes were so heinous and his responsibility so obvious, why

would we possibly doubt the ability of our courts to hand down a fair
sentence?

OB: It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was
darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history.
The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked
planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers
collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon;
the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the
actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

Rem: None.

OB: And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to
the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were
forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who
would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000
citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came
together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded
our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of
community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from,
what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were
united as one American family.

Rem: I feel nothing but sadness for the victims of the attacks and
their loved ones. Nothing but sadness.

But why the hell would we send other peoples' loved ones halfway
across the world to die to rebuild a nation we'd previously helped
destroy and unseat a dictator who had nothing to do with the first
loved ones' loss?

Why would we start a War on a Concept? Why would we strip the loves
ones and everyone else of freedoms that make their life meaningful?
Much like the proletariat under Communism, these victims have been
used in the past decade as inviolable rhetorical ground to excuse
massive crimes against other peoples and further losses of our
citizens and our rights.

It's been high time for a long time to get it right. No number of wars
the US military fights is going to bring the people killed on 911
back, and, in fact, many actions of the US military simply multiply
our enemies. One option is to clamp down, get our Sparta on, and
prepare for perpetual war. There are other possibilities.

OB: We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to
bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly
learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda -- an
organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war
on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our
country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda
to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Rem: If it were not so consequential, the omission would be

negligible. As it stands, it's outrageous. We did not "[go] to war
against al Qaeda", rather we went to war against anyone (1) harboring
or aiding al Qaeda and (2) anyone vulnerable enough that we could
attack. Had we followed only (1) without (2), we would have quickly
invaded, e.g., Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, had we gone to war with _al Qaeda_, we would not have
ever attacked _Afghanistan_.

Actually, we used 911 to attack anyone (1) vulnerable enough to be

attacked and (2) not obsequeously observant to our demands. We require
(2) since Iraq had nothing to do with al Qaeda (pre-invasion).

OB: Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of
our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great
strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and
strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the
Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven
and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and
allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including
several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Rem: We've sacrificed now double the number of American lives lost in
the 911 attacks, ruined two countries, and significantly dismantled
the rule of law and our rights to achieve a state of affairs the gives
significant rhetorical ammunition to terrorist organizations for
recruitment and has no clear endgame. That is not a success.

OB: Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan
border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from
along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the

director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the
top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our
broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence

community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far
from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I
met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more
information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding
within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I
determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and
authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to
justice.

Rem: Again, small correction, enormous meaning. The president did not
issue an order to "bring [Osama bin Laden] to justice", he issued an
order to summarily execute him. That might be justice if he'd been
tried, sentenced to death, and escaped...except that never
happened. Justice isn't what the president and his national security
advisors decide it is.

OB: Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted

operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team
of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and
capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid
civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden
and took custody of his body.

Rem: The lack of civilian casualties in an isolated sense is a good

thing. But with regular drone attacks often killing scores of
civilians, one can hardly expect the Pakistani people to swallow this
good news with glee.

OB: 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. 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 not 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.

Rem: How can one possibly achieve a thorough understanding of the

situation if one doesn't mention that we played an integral part in
bin Laden's initial rise to jihadist prominence? Maybe there's a
lesson in there somewhere?

OB: As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –-
and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as
President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against
Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of
Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many
countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all
who believe in peace and human dignity.

Rem: They slaughter us, we slaughter them. How does a believer in

peace possibly jive to that?

OB: Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take
action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what
we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism
cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound
where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against
Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with
their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and
historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is
essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al
Qaeda and its affiliates.

Rem: Can anyone possibly imagine how we would react if someone

referred to their longstanding intent to carry out military exercises
in our country presumably without our consent? Yes, it's a rhetorical
question.

Secondly, I don't think anybody believes that "Pakistan" qua the

Pakistani people are gung-ho about our work in their
country. Pakistani government, maybe. But in that case, we're just
helping to brew a disaster.

OB: The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our
shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens.
After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know
well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as
Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a
loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been
gravely wounded.

Rem: No idiot would choose to be attacked or have his loved ones

attacked. Choice has nothing to do with how one assess 911. Nobody
would choose that for themselves or people they cared about.

The only question worth asking is: "Are terrorist attacks a

predictable consequence of our actions?"

If I throw a boomerang, I don't "choose" that it will loop around to

me again. But if I've used proper technique, it's a predictable
consequence of throwing the boomerang. If I didn't want it to loop
back to me, I'd stop throwing the MFing boomerang.

Analogously, American involvement in the jihadist movements in the

1980s in Afghanistan created a force that could easily change its
focus and use its power against the USA. In part, this occurred.

Now, a logical response would NOT be to return to that country,

construct a government of warlords and train a huge army to babysit
the population.

OB: So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we

will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by
when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of
our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the
values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can
say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror:
Justice has been done.

Rem: HowTF do we claim to have been "true to the values that make us
who we are" during the last decade if those values do not include (at
least) (1) torture (2) widespread government surveillance (3)
destruction of foreign countries (4) disregard of the rule of law?

OB: Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and

counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve
this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know
their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work
and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they
exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of
those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that
has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Rem: I, for one, would like to see more of what my government is doing
in my name.

OB: Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11
that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment
to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our
shores.

Rem: None.

OB: And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that
prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s
achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the
determination of the American people.

Rem: If by "greatness of our country" he means "our ability to impose

our will on the world", then yes this could count as such
testament. If it has to do with the profundity of our legal
institutions, the enlightenment of our society, and our belief
therein, this is no such testament.

OB: The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we
are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind
to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of
prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our
citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our
sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth
or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of
America.

Rem: Nothing new to add.