Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Photos: To Show Or Not To Show..... THAT Is The Question (A Pretty Simple One, If You Ask Me)

Here's the thing.... I don't need to see an actual photo of Jesus Christ nailed to the cross to know He died and rose again.  So I don't care whether or not I see a picture of (I refuse to use his name)'s brain matter running down his face to prove he is dead.  As far advanced as photo editing is today, I fear I may wonder if the photo is valid. And that saddens me. My faith is in God, and in my government, whose members took an oath to speak and spread the truth.... So I choose to believe them. However, I didn't lose a loved one on 9/11. Or in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya, Nairobi, Tanzania, and Dar es Salaam. Or to any other terrorist action carried out by al-Qaeda.
Those who did are singing a different tune. And rightfully so. So does the White House, out of respect, owe it to the families whose loved ones were brutally attacked and murdered at the hand and command of this man to show them proof that he is dead?  Is simply saying he's dead enough for them?  And not just those families, but the whole nation..... we may not all have lost people that day, but we ALL lost a part of our country, a part of our security, and a part of ourselves, that September day.  For those who need to see it, is it really too much to ask? Especially given that the story of how the operation went down has changed multiple times in the last two days...
I'm not President Obama. I'm not Leon Panetta. I'm not Hillary Clinton. And I don't envy the position they and others are in right now. I fully respect the gravity of the situation and the decisions that come with it, and I can't say with any certainty what I would do were I in their shoes right now.
That being said...... here's the thing. We're being given two separate, understandable reasons for why the photos will not be released. *Pause for dramatic effect.*  But are the reasons really valid? Let me break it down.

Reason # 1. The photos are too gruesome:
Really? I mean...the dude was shot in the face. I think we get that. The thought that President Obama would like to spare the American people the damage of being subjected to a gnarly, gruesome image is sweet and all, but when we all KNOW and expect a photo of a gunshot wound to the face to be less than pleasant and ask / demand to see it anyway, what's the problem? 
*We're talking about people who buried PARTS, not bodies, of their loved ones who were killed on 9/11, if they were lucky. IF THEY WERE LUCKY. Most of them have lived 10 years without complete closure because not even a bone, a tooth, a hair of their loved ones were recovered to be buried.
*We watched, some with their own eyes and some on live TV, people JUMPING TO THEIR DEATHS from the towers of the World Trade Center because they didn't want to burn to death.  We saw bodies strewn everywhere, covered in ash, dismembered, beheaded on the streets of New York. We watched towers fall with THOUSANDS of people trapped inside, knowing none would survive.
*We see images everyday of bloodied, dismembered, and dead soldiers and civilians in the Middle East.
*We saw gruesome images of Sadaam Hussein's sons after they were killed.
*We saw Sadaam Hussein's limp, dead body after he was hanged.
*Should I even mention the movies & video games the entertainment industry gives us these days???
Clearly, gruesome images are not a rare sight for us.... So why not?  Well, apparently because:

Reason #2. We don't want to inflame and anger the Muslim world.
Again.... REALLY??? Okay, for starters, any peaceful, loving Muslim that we're concerned about offending WON'T be offended by a picture of a man who distorted their religion, used it for evil, and changed the world's view of it.  Period.  I'm not saying that as a Muslim, it's just a hunch (What is a hunch, anyway? Note to self: Look up origin of "hunch".). Now, if the concern is over inciting radical Jihadist Muslims like al-Qaeda, Taliban, Muslim Brotherhood, etc.... ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW??? Yeah, let's look at that:
*We watched al-Qaeda slit American journalist Daniel Pearl's throat and then decapitate him ON A VIDEO THAT THEY RELEASED ON THE INTERNET.
*We're talking about a group of people whose MISSION IN LIFE is to kill us, destroy our country, and eradicate the world of every Christian, Jew, man, woman, and child who doesn't follow their screwed up, hateful form of religion. So, frankly I don't care if a photograph offends them. And the White House shouldn't, either.  What courtesy have they ever extended us by NOT showing gruesome images of the thousands they have brutally murdered???
*We're talking about a group of people who parade the dead, dismembered bodies of their victims in the streets in celebration; who proudly post pictures in their media and on the internet of slain Americans, Christians, and Jews. 
*We're talking about a group of people who use women and children as human shields. Who use children as "martyrs" to carry out suicide bombings. Who shot a missile into an Israeli school bus full of children last month..... Really??
Radical Islam is Radical Islam. Guess what. They're already angry. They already hate us. They already want to kill us. They already wage war against us. They already hijack our planes. They already blow up our embassies. They already kill THOUSANDS of our soldiers. They already bomb buildings, trains and subway stations. They already spread their message of hate for us "infidels" and proclaim their intent to destroy us. SO SHOW THEM THE FREAKIN' PICTURE!!!
Sorry, I got excited. But really... show them that we aren't scared. Show them that we can win. Show them that THEY should be afraid. Show them OUR victory!
Look, I can understand not publishing the photos in every newspaper, magazine, publication, or on every website in every country in the world. Sure. But these photos are a reeeeeeeeally big deal to the families of a LOT of 9/11 victims. Why not invite them to the White House or some other location, show them the proof their hearts yearn to see, have a brief memorial for those who died at the hands of this evil man, and give them the closure that they need and deserve? 
It's the right thing to do... and America hasn't done a lot of that lately.
Please, Mr. President. Please. Please hear their cries. Give them what they need. Please do the right thing.

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