so they say he's dead. and now what?

whoopdedoo, he died.
so what?

yes, it might sound like a very good excuse reason to party and it definitely is a huge boost for morale and patriotism (how convenient is the timing of the news in relation to everything else that's going on in the world.. the fighting in the middle east/political unrest, the elections in the states, etc?), but if you take the time to think it through, it boils down to "so what?"

do you think that because bin laden is "dead" (how many times have we heard that before in the past decade?), that all of this horrible mess they call terrorism will go away? that his supporters, or any enemies of his enemies, will suddenly snap out of it and rescind all they believe in and/or fought for all these years? that the world will now automagically be full of sunshine and rainbows?

so what?
was it worth the manpower, the further deaths after 9/11, the effort and the time of countless people across the world that was spent over the past decade looking for this one man when it was well known that he had legions of followers and supporters at his beck and call? wouldn't all of that have been better used for other causes? some community out there must have surely been deprieved of basic food and shelter at some point during the past decade. some sick kid out there needed a gazillion-dollar surgery to save their life must have surely been in existence during the past decade. you get my drift..

so i may come across as callous to those who have been affected by 9/11. i can honestly say i will never be able to truly comprehend the amount of grief, anger, hurt and other emotions experienced by this group of people but hearing the stories, and merely the mention of the date sends chills down my spine still. yet, placing myself in the shoes of someone who had lost family or friends during 9/11 as best as i can, i cannot come up with a reason to go out there and party like there's no tomorrow just because they say bin ladin is dead. at best, i can heave a great big sigh that something has been done, that closure has been achieved. and then i would start worrying about the repercussions of the news. i would think that the harder the party-goers party, the more the gloaters gloat, the more angry the supporters and family of bin ladin will get.. which could possibly translate to something more vicious for everyone else that doesn't belong to "them" ... so, all the more reason not to party, whoop and celebrate but instead, spend the time reflecting in my own private domain and  enjoying the closure.