Disturbed

The news this morning is disturbing to me, for lots of reasons.  First, I want to say that Archer and I lived in upstate New York on 9/11.  I was working for a non-profit, and Archer was a Ph.D. student.  I knew several people (primarily through the board of directors) who were killed, and Archer had 5 students who lost parents.  Add to that the fact that my father was a fire fighter, and 9/11 hit close to home for us.  In fact, I had panic attacks for months after 9/11. 

Today's news is disturbing because I find it hard to swallow people's reactions.  My aunt, who is a devout born again Christian, thanked God on her Facebook page for yesterday's events.  It seems very odd to me to thank God for the killing of another human being.  Was the killing justified? I find it hard to say no, but I also find it hard to say yes.  Did it accomplish anything?  I can't see that it did.  The 3,000 plus individuals who died in the States on 9/11 are still dead.  There are still wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which we can connect directly to the events of 9/11.  The Middle East is still in turmoil, and this man's death* will not end the terrorism that he started.  Someone will simply take his place.  So while justice may have been done in some small way, I'm don't like the fact that a man's death has been made into an international celebration.  It all seems oddly political to me. 

*I'm purposely not using his name as I don't want traffic from this post.