Osama Bin Laden; Justice, Martyrdom, and the War on Terror

Osama Bin Laden, who vilified himself as the leader of Al Qaeda and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on America, is dead. Obama got him. At least, that's what the President says; there is hardly any mention of anyone else who might have helped the President. Osama got his due, justice was done, Al Qaeda is whipped and the war on terror is over.

However, we are already hearing that terror alerts are being issued and heightened, and that security is being tightened. We are being told to expect revenge attacks. The question is whether we will be seeing "revenge" attacks, or something else. It might be useful to try to see the death of Bin Laden through fundamentalist eyes, or more accurately, fundamentalist Muslim eyes. Fundamentalist is, after all, a relative term; it merely refers to one who firmly holds the core beliefs of his "ism". A moderate might have a warm feeling for those core beliefs, but won't commit to them.

Take the fact that Bin Laden apparently attempted to shield himself behind a woman. A conservative American will look at that act and see cowardice. A woman is regarded as an equal, and hiding behind the skirts of a woman is hardly honorable if Bin Laden claimed to be a fighting man at war with America. A Muslim fundamentalist, however, regards a woman as somewhat lower on the totem pole, pretty much as a possession. Would it be cowardice to take cover behind a sack of potatoes?

So what about Bin Laden's death? While we are viewing it as his just desserts for wanton murder, the Muslim world is much more likely to view it as martyrdom in a holy cause. Bin Laden had declared "holy war" (jihad) on America for the reason that America has refused to submit to Islam. That is a just war according to Islamic theology. In fact, Hamas is already referring to Bin Laden as a "holy warrior." If that's true, and it most likely is, then Bin Laden's death will no doubt inspire revenge attacks, but it may well inspire those in the world of fundamentalist Islam to greater efforts toward martyrdom themselves. We already know that the Taliban was ramping up its attacks in Afganistan, because April was the deadliest month for Americans there since the war started. Bin Laden's death may be a turning point in the war on terror, but it may be a turn in the wrong direction if we're not prepared.