In Switzerland, or more

Obey — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:39:50 +0000

In reply to How te rest of the world reacts to the killing on bin Baden

In Switzerland, or more precisely in Geneva, it's been on everyone's lips, and there's a lot of ambivalence all round. Geneva considers itself the little sister of New York for a variety of reasons - whether you work in the banks, at the UN or in academia you end up going back and forth alot. So there was a great sense of relief or closure or catharsis when people heard the news which cannot be just described as vicarious. Smiles of quiet satisfaction and such.

That said, there was also a lot of discomfort around the circumstances of his death, Obama's speech and the cheering in the streets in the US. There was an hourlong panel discussion on the local channel and the focus of debate was on two things:

(i) Whether Bin Laden was summarily executed and the extent to which that was problematic. There was virtually univocal regret that he was executed rather than taken alive, and broad agreement that contra Obama, by definition 'justice' is not 'done' by means of summary execution. They compared this action unfavorably with the Israeli operation to bring Eichman to Israel and try him in a court of law.

(ii) Whether the burial at sea was fully consistent with Islamic law and Wahabi tradition. Apparently it is not legal according to the Islamic scholars present, except by a very convoluted reading of the norms in question.

Tarik Ramadan was on the panel, and was up in arms about the execution, the celebration in the US, the burial, and ... well ... just very upset.

In Germany I haven't heard a

Beetlejuice — Wed, 04 May 2011 00:47:45 +0000

In reply to How te rest of the world reacts to the killing on bin Baden

In Germany I haven't heard a word from my neighbors...it's a non-issue. But I have to say, one person in the captions above referred to the humiliation of Saddam Hussain at the hands of Americans. That's the big issue between the US and the Arab world. Unfortunately, Arabs are only capable of retalatory terrorist strikes at the West, particularly the US, when a perceived injustice is felt. It's a reason why the Middle East needs to be left to their own devices and the West, specifically the US should avoid at any costs...let them come to us rather than we using our influence to steer them in our direction. If they want something then they will have to decide if it's worth the cost to their society. It's what Osama was fighting about in the first place...leave us be and let us decide what we want under our way of life without the trappings of the west.

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In Switzerland, or more

In Germany I haven't heard a