In the last few days I've had several discussions about the importance of the death of the former Libyan Leader, Col. Muammar Quadaffi. Sure, the generation prior to mine will cite Lockerbie, terrorist connections, his interest in WMDs, etc. as proof that it was about time he was gone. No doubt about it. The Libyan people began fighting months ago for their freedom. The day it was announced Qadaffi had been killed, pictures and video of his death began circulating the internet at a rapid pace. They were horrific, bloody pictures. I don't understand the need to show everyone pictures of his body, but that idea brought up a discussion between myself and a friend. She had asked me why there were so many pictures and video of Qadaffi and not Osama Bin-laden (OBL) when clearly Bin-laden was of more interest to the West. I was in the middle of cooking and G-man was fussing, so I didn't get to answer. I did spend the next few hours thinking it over though. In my opinion, there are two reasons: 1. OBL's death was caused during a very targeted military strike and pictures are usually classified, Qadaffi's death was caused by rebel fighters. 2. Showing OBL's lifeless body would cause more harm than the way it was handled. Allow me to go into a little more detail.
First, Osama Bin Laden was killed by a sanctioned military strike. Seal Team Six is a group of massive bad asses. This was a joint operation by the CIA and Seals. Neither organization is known to take pictures on missions and post them to twitter or facebook. They are covert. They depend on this for their lives. Whatever pictures were taken (and you can guarantee there were pictures taken), are well beyond top secret. On the other hand, Qadaffi was killed as a product of a grass-roots civil war. Those fighting against him were not special ops. They were regular people fighting for their rights. They stood up to their leader. These people relied on communication to have a successful civil war, so it's no wonder that the pictures and video practically went viral. In the eyes of those fighting, the proof that Qadaffi was dead was necessary to let the people know they have won, that their oppressor had been dealt with.
As to my second point: When OBL was killed, I don't doubt that there were those in disbelief. In fact, it was all over the media: "Why aren't we seeing pictures?" "The President will address whether or not we are to see any pictures of Bin Laden's body..." The President did the right thing. What purpose would it have served to show OBL's body? It would only anger Al-Qaeda and those that agree--even partially--with his ideology. The US would look like the big, bad bullies that we have become to many across the globe. Showing OBL's remains would have likely incited more violence. Yes, one can argue that just killing Bin Laden did that. It may have. One can be certain that disrespecting his remains by posting pictures would have made things worse...Much worse. In comparison, showing Qadaffi's remains will not anger as many extremists who are ready to attack others. The Libyan people released the photos, they wanted everyone to know what they had done.
On a side note: I believe both of these men should have been captured and been tried at the Hague. I know this isn't the most popular opinion, but it's true. I know it wasn't going to happen for either of them, but in a society that prides itself on doing the right thing, we should have at least tried. America, for better or worse, has this idea that we need to be the moral compass for the world. Sure, we didn't release the pictures of Osama, that was a great start. Just because the media was able to get the pictures of Qadaffi, does not mean they needed to show them on their various outlets.
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