Of Pictures and Peace

"Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice..." CSN&Y, CarryOn.  And did we ever Sunday night and on into Monday.  Osama is dead, gunned down by Navy Seals in a million-dollar compound right under the nose of the Pakistani military.  For some thoughtful coverage of this event, check out The Atlantic website here.

Now President Obama has decided NOT to release the death photo.  I guess we'll be in for another round of screeching just like over his birth certificate.  Jon Stewart, with whom I frequently agree,  is among the "releasers."  This time he is wrong.  The decision not to release the picture(s) isn't about their gruesomeness or that they might be offensive or give children nightmares.  It's about the security of Americans around the world.  Think about that idiot who calls himself a man of god, pastor Terry Jones in Florida.  All his little stunt, burning a Quran, did was cause churches around the world to be burned; at least 19 American troops in Afghanistan to be killed;  and numerous other threats of reprisal that General Petraeus felt would be harmful to our war effort.  Imagine the wackos' and zealots' reactions if we publish a picture of the leader of Al-Qaeda with a bullet hole in his forehead.  Might as well invite the suicide bombers onto every subway and bus they can reach..........

And what's with people calling for blasting Pakistan?  Are you insane?  This is a barely functional state with a civilian government that doesn't control the military and an intelligence outfit that supports terrorism on one hand and fights it on the other.  And none of the three has a clue or control over either of the others!!  Let's not forget they have nuclear weapons as well.  We can guarantee not only more numerous terrorist attacks but probably even deadlier ones if we pull the rug out from under the Pakistani government or condemn them too harshly.

Lost in all the Osama coverage is the little news item that the two Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, have signed an agreement to co-operate and try to unite the Palestinian peoples.  Binyamin Netanyahu the Wahoo Israeli prime minister calls this a "great advance" for terrorism.  I wonder how he can negotiate a meaningful peace treaty with only one of the two governments of the Palestinian people.  Maybe Israel under this guy doesn't really want peace??

"All we are saying is give peace a chance." John Lennon