BY ADEYEMI OSHUNRINADE

As the nation prepares to remember the innocent lost souls of 9/11, it is the question no one wants to hear or answer. It has become the song in the mouths of hardcore conservatives, they chew it daily with the release of the controversial book “No Easy Day” by Mark Owen, an account of the raid that killed Bin Laden; the question they now use as a political tool has been WHO KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN?

The reaction by all who sympathize with the victims and their families should be what the heck? Or are you kidding me? It is surprising that at this time when the entire nation is coming together to remember the victims and eulogize them for the life they lived, some have seized the opportunity to politicize how the terror mastermind and leader of Al Qaeda was killed. The issue of who killed Bin Laden has become a Republican v. Democrat matter, with the Republicans claiming the President does not deserve credit for the exit of the terror leader, that all he did was to execute a plan put in place by the Republicans under George Bush.

The question is why do we care much about such things? The fact is the world has been made more secured, with the absence of the terror leader and to the families of those killed on 9/11 justice has been served at least to a certain extent since nothing would be enough to replace the lives lost on 9/11. With that in mind, it is questionable why some in Washington would inject partisan politics into what should be a time for the entire nation to unite in remembrance of the dead.

There is hardly any nation on earth not represented on 9/11. Besides Americans killed in the attacks, there were also foreigners from Africa, Asia, Europe and other parts of the world who were massacred on that fateful day; many arrived to work as usual in order to put food on the table, they were husbands, wives, brothers, sisters and parents who left their homes with no inkling they would never return. Families and friends waited forever without hope of seeing their loved ones again; and many children who lost their parents, had their hopes of ever having a father or mother walk them down the aisle destroyed.

On 9/11 America cried for justice and it became the responsibility of whoever is in charge as President to make sure Al Qaeda answer for its atrocities and the gruesome massacre of 9/11. No doubt former President Bush did his best; many members of the terror group were either arrested or killed while he was in office, U.S. intelligence was exhausted in an effort to kill or capture Bin Laden but all to no avail. It took ten years, America and the rest of the world waited for answer until May 2, 2011 when Bin Laden was killed by Navy Seals in Abbottabad Pakistan.

The rest is history, the entire world is aware Obama is the President with the responsibility to make America safe by finding Bin Laden; he had the authority to decide on the execution of the plan that led to his death and had he failed to execute his authority properly, he would have carried the blame and bear the political consequences. Even though, there was a plan in place set up by the Bush administration, it is reminiscent of the past. Every American President leaves one project or the other for the incoming President to complete; it is left for the new Leadership to ensure proper execution or deal with the backlash.

True there was a plan in place but for ten years it failed to capture or kill Bin Laden, until Mr. Obama came to office. He demonstrated the courage of a leader, took the right decision and with the resources he had, he delivered justice on behalf of the victims with the help of the Navy Seals, the Defense Department and the CIA. Had Mr. Obama failed to properly use the resources within his reach, he would have faced the music bitterly. This brings to mind the saying “Give credit to whom credit is due.”

The point here is it is unnecessary to put to debate the question of who killed Bin Laden, 9/11 memorial should be about unity in remembrance of the innocent victims. It should be a time to pay respect to the injured, the first responders and families of those who paid the price of freedom. As we remember the victims this day, we must not forget the servicemen and women who served in Iraq and those currently serving in Afghanistan, some have paid the utmost price to defend the nation and the least they want is for Washington to politicize their patriotism.

Dr. Adeyemi Oshunrinade [E. JD] is the author of ‘Wills Law and Contests,’ ‘Constitutional Law-First Amendment’ and ‘SAVING LOVE’ a newly released Work of fiction. Follow on Twitter @san0670.

Categories: Disaster, Politics, U.S. War on Terror

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