CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT

Americans have an innate and insatiable desire to know EVERYTHING. For many, life is a like a Hollywood blockbuster movie — it demands an understandable and clean conclusion.

Such is the case with this obsessive and crazed desire to know every single detail regarding the Osama Bin Laden killing. Americans want to taste every single morsel that led to his demise, including seeing photographic proof of a dead Bin Laden (no matter how grotesque it may be), as well as knowing the identity and backstory of each of the Navy Seal’s who took him down.  Some Americans are literally demanding that, above all else, their curiosity must be satisfied to their satisfaction, which is — for lack of a better word — “amusing.”

Americans are so obsessed with their self-invented right to know it all, that they’ve not stopped to consider the alternative:  is it more important to satisfy one’s curiosity, or to protect others?

While DEMANDING to see photos of a bludgeoned Bin Laden for the sake of some sick entertainment, has anyone stopped to consider how those photos could and would be used against the United States in areas of the world that don’t necessarily believe America is #1?  The leaked knowledge that Bin Laden never put up a fight, yet was still shot in the face anyway, combined with an image of him deceased and defeated, is all the propaganda tool Al-Qaida needs to recruit more foot soldiers.  Do we seriously need to fan the flames of hatred against the United States and hand deliver to the world a reason for thousands more to join terrorist groups and retaliate against us?? Even IF the photos could actually help us “heal” (as some say), is this “healing” worth Al-Qaida becoming more dangerous by potentially adding thousands to their ranks due to these images??

Now here we are strangely fooling ourselves it’s still 1950, with some Americans begging to hold a ticker-tape parade to honor the Navy Seal who pulled the trigger on Bin Laden, publicly recognizing him as a hero. WAKE UP AMERICA! The moment the identity of that soldier is made public, he, his family, and generations of his family to come will be immediately targeted and put into serious danger.  Al-Qaida won’t have to randomly target Americans to avenge the death of Bin Laden — they can just put out a hit on that ONE Navy Seal at his own home, or his daughter at her school, or his parents at their retirement home. And would our craving to know his identity really matter so much to us when he’s having to bury a loved one?  Or when his loved ones are having to bury him??

The death of Bin Laden is not a Hollywood movie — it’s real life.  And in life, some things are better left unsaid and undone. Thank you, Mr. President, for recognizing this as one of those moments, that we don’t necessarily need to see and know EVERYTHING, and for putting safety and common sense above foolish rationale and common curiosity.