It's Easier to Assassinate When You're a Liberal President

It's Easier to Assassinate When You're a Liberal President
City Journal ^ | 6 May 2011 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on Friday, May 06, 2011 8:55:44 PM by mandaladon

There was something quite Roman in the killing of Osama bin Laden, something reminiscent of the manner in which the Romans eventually dealt with a rogue’s gallery of charismatic tribal enemies—Spartacus, Vercingetorix, Jugurtha, Mithridates, Boudica, and others—all of whom claimed victory over the Romans and invulnerability from their global reach, only to be eventually defeated, forced to kill themselves, executed, or killed in battle.


The killing reminds us that there are official rules we cite and unofficial ones that, thankfully, we actually follow. Pakistan is to be praised publicly as a partner, even as privately it is recognized as the sort of enemy that allows bin Laden to build a mansion in a suburb inhabited by its retired military officers. So we swiftly invade the country, kill him, and then praise the Pakistanis for their help—with full knowledge that bin Laden couldn’t have been there for years without Pakistani government assistance. I have no idea whether disseminating such disinformation is sustainable.

The bin Laden hit came at an opportune time: the U.S. had been talking of decline and “leading from behind,” and yet just pulled off a commando raid beyond the capability of most other countries—at the same time that the Arab world has gone topsy-turvy, and its half-dozen ongoing rebellions and insurgencies have diverted the attention of the Arab Street. So Osama is dead and in Davy Jones’ Locker, while crowds chant against Assad and Qaddafi. The success of the operation should also raise “if you are going to take Tripoli, take Tripoli” questions, and may remind President Obama to finish his ill-conceived Libyan adventure, which can only succeed by achieving, either de facto or de jure, the mission objective of regime change.

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