Forces of Good Arising

There is jubilation around the Western world today because of the news that Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan earlier.  He and his son were both killed which conveys both a practical and a symbolic meaning.  As a practical matter, his progeny cannot carry on the vision of hatred he espoused.  As a symbolic matter, both the head and the tail of the dragon have been cut off.

This news comes just a couple of days after the news that NATO successfully destroyed one of the housing compounds being used by the Gaddahfi family for command and control operations which, coincidently, also housed one of Gaddafi’s sons and several of his grandchildren.   From a karmic point of view both of these men who have been responsible for so much misery in the world are reaping what they have sewn.  Their words and actions, although shrouded in platitudes and idealism, have proven to be divisive, hostile and the violent.  They both became human manifestations of evil in the world.

But, the forces of good are arising.  With the sustained effort of the U.S. military and NATO and the combined efforts of several Western powers and our allies we have begun to chip away at the source of this manifestation of evil.  Although this sounds very hawkish; and for my regular readers, it may sound a bit out of character, it really is not.

As Sun Tzu (500 – 320 B.C.) states:

“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”

There are many people in the U.S. that argue that we should not be engaged in either Iraq or Afghanistan.  I believe that we never should have invaded Iraq in the first place; however, now that we are there, we have a responsibility to withdraw our troops in a manner that enables the forces of good to prevail. This is not to discount the need for continued diligence with respect to corruption and non-transparent transfers of resources between and among the military, its contractors and its partners on the ground.   Similarly with our engagement in Afghanistan and our ongoing support for Pakistan; although the reason for entry was much more clear cut.

Now, with this news, many hundreds of thousands of Americans feel vindicated.  The sense of loss that the national psyche felt after 9/11 has, somehow been vindicated.

It is my hope that this feeling of fulfillment does not translate into an abandonment of the Libyan people and the Syrian people and the many other young people in the Middle East and North Africa in their struggle for democracy, basic human rights, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.  Let us not abandon them now.

Let us keep the forces of good arising.

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