Osama’s demise: an alternative view

by | May 3, 2011


Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching:

“Weapons are instruments of bad omen, not instruments for the noble. [The noble man] uses them only when he cannot help it. Quietness and peace are his highest values. He gains victory but he does not rejoice in it. Whosoever would rejoice in it would, in fact, rejoice in the murder of men. Whosoever would rejoice in the murder of men cannot achieve his goal in the world … Whosoever has been victorious in battle shall linger as if attending a memorial service.”

New York Daily News:

H/t Casper ter Kuile.

Update: Meanwhile, in Abbottabad, the Telegraph’s Peter Oborne has some breaking news:

The whole world may be alive with excitement as it digests the news that the biggest manhunt in history has reached its gory conclusion, but the most important death of the 21st century so far seems to have made little impact in Abbottabad.

There is no tension in the air, no menacing groups of young men at street corners, no religious slogans scrawled on the walls or shouted in the streets.

The shops are open, selling fruit, groceries and kebabs. The restaurants are full as local people sit in the open air smoking cigarettes and munching naan bread.

Er… thanks Peter. And we’ll have more from Peter Oborne a bit later in the programme.

Author

  • Alex Evans is founder of Larger Us, which explores how we can use psychology to reduce political tribalism and polarisation, a senior fellow at New York University, and author of The Myth Gap: What Happens When Evidence and Arguments Aren’t Enough? (Penguin, 2017). He is a former Campaign Director of the 50 million member global citizen’s movement Avaaz, special adviser to two UK Cabinet Ministers, climate expert in the UN Secretary-General’s office, and was Research Director for the Business Commission on Sustainable Development. Alex lives with his wife and two children in Yorkshire.


More from Global Dashboard

Let’s make climate a culture war!

Let’s make climate a culture war!

If the politics of climate change end up polarised, is that so bad?  No – it’s disastrous. Or so I’ve long thought. Look at the US – where climate is even more polarised than abortion. Result: decades of flip flopping. Ambition under Clinton; reversal...