I still have my copy of the Buffalo News from September 12, 2001. Now I have another to keep with it.
No, I'm not delusional enough to believe that Osama bin Laden's death "ends" anything. It may mark a turning point in some ways against a particular enemy, but history is long, isn't it? Yesterday's events sprang from that awful day almost ten years ago, but bin Laden was out there before that; he was created, in a sense, by the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia after the first Gulf War.
And the first Gulf War came about, in part, because of American support of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s...and that came about because of British Imperialism...and that came about because...well, it all goes on. In a way, yesterday's events can be traced back to Suleiman's victory at the Horns of Hattin, and before that.
But at least Osama bin Laden exists now only in history. No, he won't be forgotten. But he's another name for the history books now.
Was it Georg Hegel that stated: "We learn from history that we do not learn from history." I kind of think that is where your posting is leading to?
ReplyDelete