The death of one man made world headlines.  Of course that man was reviled in the U.S., of course he led a terrorist group that perpetrated the worst terrorist attack ever and on American soil to boot.  Of course he was evil, no question.  Of course he deserved justice, but is that what he got?

Seeing pictures and video of Americans in a blood-lust frenzy over the death of Osama bin Laden reminded me of videos showing the end of World War II.  In no way can the two be compared other than the partying people outside the White-house.  On the one hand Americans celebrated the end of the worst conflict in world history which toppled one of the worst regimes in world history.  On the other they celebrated the death of a single individual who was vilified.  They celebrated as if his death meant an end to terrorism.
  
America views this killing of bin Laden as justice, as a requirement of their anger and pain.  It was not justice.  It was a revenge killing pure and simple.  There was no apparent attempt to capture and subdue him.  There will be no trial, no evidence in clear terms, no jury, and no judgment.  Only a bullet to the head.
When the American government speaks of Justice is that the kind of justice they would have enforced on their own by outside governments?  Likely not.  They would speak of brutality and perversions of justice.  And now that they un-ceremonially dumped bin Laden’s body into the ocean what does that say?  

Now that bin Laden is dead what will his legacy be?  Americans are right that their country is the most powerful nation on earth, but it is still reeling from 9/11.  With the Patriot Act civil liberties have been curtailed.  As examples look at the boarding of any airplane on American soil which now requires all passengers to have full body searches.  Ample red tape has been cut so that the government and law enforcement can more easily wire tap, track and monitor Americans.  This is bin Laden’s legacy.

With two wars draining government coffers by trillions of dollars the American government has less cash on hand to deal with the financial woes it currently faces.  S&P’s recent downgrading of U.S. finances is but a reflection of American government fiscal imbalance.  Imagine if the U.S. didn’t go to Afghanistan and Iraq?  Imagine if those thousands of American military lives, and military pensions and death benefits to the spouses of those lost lives, did not have to be paid?  America’s hampered ability to right its financial course is due, partly, to 9/11 and American government response to that event.  This is bin Laden’s legacy.

Now that bin Laden was summarily executed, much like western hostages by Islamic extremists, except there was no video footage (that we know of), bin Laden is now a martyr.  Like Che Guevara before him, bin Laden’s image may be used as a recruitment banner for other extremist organizations within Islam.  This is bin Laden’s legacy.

Bin Laden’s goal was likely not to attempt to utterly and completely destroy the U.S.  It was to erode American freedom and attack its economic strength.  Bin Laden likely knew full well how the U.S. would respond to an event like 9/11.  He counted on it.

Where does America and the world go from here?  Who knows, but if the past is any indication, there will be more terrorist attacks, not less.  There will be more financial problems, not less.  There will be more freedoms lost, not less.  These too, will be bin Laden’s legacy.