Bin Laden’s Death

Dallas Peace Center Hopes Bin Laden's 

Death Is Turning Point

On May 1, President Barack Obama announced was made that Osama Bin Laden was killed in a military operation.  He declared that "justice has been served."  If this is so, then we need to reflect on the price of that justice, and our opportunities for going forward. The death of Osama Bin Laden should be used as a turning point at which we can put away our instruments of war in Afghanistan and use diplomacy to further address concerns and grievances.
  
As peacemakers, we deplore all violence in all of its forms. Even though we understand why it was necessary to apprehend Osama bin Laden, and stop the violence he was inflicting, we do not see this as a moment of celebration.

"If the US is acting on its own form of justice through the use of violence, without the rule of law and a due process, then how is this going to stop people in other parts of the world from doing the same thing," asks DPC President of the Board Dalia Abdelhady. "We need justice for all, including our enemies."

Because of America's rush to war, more than 7,000 American and coalition soldiers, along with tens of thousands of Afghani and Pakistanis, are dead. The only way to change our mourning to joy is to learn from this terrible chapter in our history.

With less than 125 Al Qaeda operatives left in Afghanistan, according to government sources, and the death of the Al Qaeda leader, now is the time to re-think US strategy in Afghanistan by encouraging our congressional members to accelerate the drawdown of U.S. troops and bring the war to an end.

"I could celebrate a plan that would redirect our country towards seeking out the causes of violence, so that we will not again come to the place where our nation devotes a trillion dollars and thousands of lives in order to terminate one man's life," said DPC board member Rev. Diane Baker. "I pray that instead we could imagine using a trillion dollars to enrich the lives of our own citizens, and the lives of billions of our neighbors with whom we share the planet."

Part of this enrichment should surely be the education of our populace on peaceful conflict resolution. Although nothing excuses acts of terror, in order to achieve a comprehensive defense against terrorism our country must stop celebrating our kill, and assess our own role in growing terrorists.