After a near decade long manhunt, American special forces located and killed the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network and mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden.
While President Obama addressed the nation Sunday night, crowds of people gathered outside the White House, at Ground Zero and at city centers around the country. Media outlets, eager to report reactions to the announcement, streamed live video of the masses resounding with celebratory patriotic cheers and college game fight songs.
Other people have reacted with less exuberance, demonstrating a sense of relief to the end of his reign of terror but not seeing the need to throw a party in the streets. A popular reflection in the blogosphere has been the sentiments of Mark Twain, “I never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.”
A man, with the blood thousands on his hands, is dead. What is the appropriate response?
What was your reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden?
May 2, 2011
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