Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda and key mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, was killed on May 1, 2011 during a U.S. military operation known as Operation Neptune Spear. The raid was carried out by Navy SEAL Team Six at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, marking a significant moment in the fight against terrorism. President Bush stated, “this momentous achievement marks a victory for America and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.”
The Headlines read: ‘OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD!’ Celebrations erupted in the streets of New York City and in cities across the world reminiscent of May 8, 1945 when Hitler was killed (April 30th), Germany surrendered, and President Truman declared “Victory in Europe,” bringing WW ll in Europe to an end. Crowds joined in jubilatory displays of patriotism, waving American flags and cheering, “USA, USA!”
My phone and email flooded with congratulatory messages from friends and family, “I’m so happy for you, now you have the closure you’ve waited ten years for.” “You and Dave finally have the justice you deserve, now he can rest in peace.” The outpouring of excitement over the latent capture of a single iconic terrorist who murdered my husband was overwhelming. Added to the media trumpets, phone calls, text messages, and emails flooded the placid space of my Vermont home. I had turned everything off for several days and when I re-opened it all, I was hit by the howling wind of messages. The feelings that swept through me were a surreal paradox, like when the wicked witch of the west was killed and Dorothy’s safety was avenged, however upon returning home she discovered that nothing could ever be what it was before the tornado. My husband is still dead.
From the East Room of the White House, President Obama declared that “justice has been done,” in his address to the American public. Yet, although May 1, 2011 lives in infamy in the shadow of the attacks bin Laden ministered in September, 2001, 9/11 victims and family members are no closer to justice fourteen years after The Star-Spangled Banner chorale has faded. It took another eleven years and a split-second decision to find bin-Laden’s co-architect and successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri to be killed in a Hellfire missile attack. It’s taking forever to bring to trial and lock away the four (five) accused al-Qaeda 9/11 planners and agents, leafing through issues of Car and Driver at the U.S. Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
From 2011 forward, on this day, Americans will open a paper or a broadcast and hear Osama bin Laden’s name. When, Mr. President, will the Military Commissions, the Department of Justice, and the confessed accused, languishing in Constitutional purgatory on America’s dollars, hear my husband’s name at a sentencing trial, and now my son’s name, with the names of the 2,976 civilians murdered by this cabal of evil?
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html
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