So the USA finally got their man. You have to admire their perseverance, even if you don’t like the way it ended. Personally I’d prefer capture and trial, instead of a Dodge-City-kill-the-bad-guy mentality.
After WWII the Nurembourg trials were really important. The allies who ran the trial showed they were different to the Nazis by their determination to reach a fair verdict in a court of law. Justice was seen to be done. The world learned of the Nazis’ atrocities and consequently their actions and philosopy were declared a stain on history’s page. Hitler was revealed (among other things) as an ego-maniac with disturbing sexual proclivities and serious tendency to mass-murder. No one – apart from a lunatic fringe – emulates him or his friends as heroes. It’s a pity there wasn’t the opportunity for Mr Bin Laden to undergo the same process.
I guess the US forces will eventually (if not already) undergo a bout of “if onlys”, but what’s done is done and we must now live with the consequences. I expect there’ll soon be a race to be the first to produce a movie: The Hunt for Bin Laden starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. There’ll probably be an atrocious made-for-television one as well. (First doesn’t always mean best.) It’s certainly a dramatic story.
I hope it’s the end of this saga, but I have an awful feeling it’s only Part One…To Be Continued. That’s often the way these stories go: The Son of…; Return to the…; The X Strikes Back… The only problem is, this isn’t a movie.