Game Over, Dude...

I am glad Osama bin Laden is dead. I don't rejoice in the taking of life, but I think that this was one person who really needed to be killed to give justice to the other people who died because of him. Both the "good" and the "bad" have had big losses because of this man. Strapping bombs to a 12 year old child is just the worst of it.

I do not think it will make much difference to Al Qaida or anyone else intent on killing and other acts of terrorism, but as the figurehead, having him gone is going to slow things down eventually.

What we must address, after the "retaliatory" efforts to "avenge" his death is to re examine what we are doing in the countries that we have entered to fight these battles. Tribalism is a very, very old lifestyle and until we of the Western countries try to understand it more and work with it, rather than against it, wars in those regions of the world where it still is prevalent are going to continue more or less forever.

Tribalism, unless worked with and to some extent changed, will keep these countries from ever being really safe, fairly primative with a few "rulers" of really rich people. Thinking that the present uprisings in Libya, Egypt or Tunisia is going to bring democracy is a farce. All it will do is introduce more radical Islamists to the fore, crush any dissent, particularly religious dissent and make the region even worse than it is now. The UN will have little or no say in keeping order. What is bad now will only become worse. Tribalism is just as much alive in those countries as any other place. Egypt did have some liberalism under Mubarak, but I believe that these will be quashed with the new leaders. The new leaders will be under the "watchful eye" of the Muslim Brotherhood. May as well say just another version of the Taliban. Anyone who thinks differently, particularly those of us of the West, are just deluding ourselves.

Islam is much like Communism in that if it cannot convert openly it will go covertly - although in the case of Islam, probably more violently. Peace, as Mao Tse Dong is attributed to saying, comes through the muzzle of a gun. The West is not yet won.