Editorial: Killing is not the answer to world peace

Can the death (killing) of one man change a world?

Time will answer that question.

Clearly, the confirmation of Osama bin Laden having taken his last breath May 1 in Pakistan will reverberate throughout the world.

Bin Laden, 54, was the mastermind behind 9-11 nearly 10 years ago.

“Justice has been done” is what President Obama told the world when he took to the airwaves about 8:40pm Sunday night.

Crowds gathered outside the White House – cheering, singing the national anthem.

Bin Laden, as some have said, was the face of terrorism. His image will not be erased for years to come. One has to wonder whose face might become the poster child for terrorism as the world moves forward.

Terrorism should never be tolerated. Differences among people will always exist. Hijacking planes, flying them into buildings and killing more than 3,000 innocent people is such an incredibly heinous crime that no explanation for why it happened will ever be acceptable.

The United States government is not perfect. No religion is perfect. No person is perfect.

But does violence and killing really solve anything?

Does this one death justify the killing of thousands on Sept. 11, 2001? Obama, and apparently the United States government as a whole, say “yes”.

But this murder with the blood on the hands of the United States does not change the philosophy of bin Laden’s followers.

It is simplistic to believe negotiating and compromise will foster amicable relationships. But it has also been proved that invading countries that never had weapons of mass destruction is a senseless waste of American lives. The money and other resources spent in Iraq and Afghanistan are secondary to the thousands of soldiers and civilians who have lost their lives.

An eye for eye – is that what the United State has come to?

Lake Tahoe News is not a supporter of terrorism at any level. It is also not a supporter of violence.

Killing people one does not agree with (even if for incredibly good reason) is not the way people in a country that believes in human rights should ever behave.

The United States has a penchant for switching teams. There was a time when bin Laden was the good guy according the federal government; same with Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

Lake Tahoe News is no friend of these terrorists. But what Lake Tahoe News wants is for the citizens of the United States to become actively engaged in what the federal, state and local governments are doing. The government is the people. Does what the government at all these levels is doing represent you? If not, what are you going to do about it?