Osama bin Laden's Trial

There has been much jubilation over the death of Osama bin Laden. Although he is no loss, I would prefer to have seen him captured and then tried for his crimes. However, I always thought that he may be killed but never caught, which was the end result. On one level bin Laden is now an Islamic martyr enjoying his 72 virgins in heaven, instead of being the virgin in some Federal super max prison. I am not certain who would want him as a prison bitch, though. If he had been captured and I were the prosecutor I would plea bargain with him to provide us with information about whom in this county he was helping. I know that some in the United States have benefited from his actions and I suspect that was the plan. The bombings of the African embassies and the U.S.S. Cole were a blow to President Clinton and therefore weakened Al Gore in the next election. President George W. Bush took office under the cloud that about half the nation did not think his election was legitimate. The attacks on September 11, 2001 were a Pearl Harbor moment and the U.S. population united behind the president in the face of foreign attack. Also, there have been well documented business connections between George W. Bush and the bin Laden family.

Even though they are members of different political parties, Presidents Bush and Obama are part of the American power structure and to that extent Obama will protect Bush and see that there is no trial. For his part Obama has been Lincolnesq in this matter. President Lincoln needed a significant military victory to insure his reelection in 1864. He got together with his generals and came up with a multiple pronged attack on the Confederacy. The result was Sherman's triumph in Atlanta and Lincoln's electoral victory. The killing of Osama bin Laden protects Bush, Cheney et al and it gives Obama a needed military success.