On September 11, 2001, I woke up early to prepare for school. As I was eating breakfast, I heard the news of the attack on television. And, I could not believe it, so I alerted my roommates. For a moment, we thought that it was a documentary or a hypothetical scenario created by CNN. However, after we had noticed the word “live” on the screen, we knew that it was for real. Immediately, some of my friends, “Star Wars” enthusiasts, yelled ”the empire strikes back”. For the entire morning, we began to do what college students always love to do: We argued. We looked at the issue from all angles. We all agreed that it was wrong to kill innocent people (there was no debate about this among us). However, we believed that Osama bin Laden had his own reasons for doing what he did. Some believed that the terrorist leader was stupid because he would never win against the U.S. by employing terror tactics because the U.S. is the only nation on earth that did actually drop atomic bombs on its enemy. 

Why is Osama bin Laden so mad? And, what is he afraid of? He is mad because the U.S. is wealthier and more powerful. He is afraid that the American culture and Western ideology will destroy his. For example, women have become more independent and empowered in his society. Young people in his society eat McDonald’s and drink Coke. They like to watch movies produced by Hollywood. They love ipods and iphones. They have not questioned the islam faith, but he knows that they eventually will. He wants to stop the trend, but he does not know what to do because he knows he is weaker. He is desperate. He is like a poor person who constantly complains about how others are richer than he is but refuses to improve his situation by working harder. Perhaps, this poor person has tried to work harder, but he is unable to catch up with the rich because when he is one million dollar richer, they on the other hand have increased their wealth by one billion dollars. Therefore, he starts to play ”dirty”.

I would like to share a childhood story with you because my older sister always reminds me of it whenever we talk about our past. When we were young, we were playmates. We collected things that were valuable to us. For example, we had rubber bands, marbles, pretty rocks and thrown-away lotto tickets. We especially loved the lotto tickets because they had beautiful pictures on them. We used them as our “money”. One day, we were playing cards, and I lost all of mine to my sister in one hand. Without hesitation, I grabbed her treasure box and threw it down the sewage moat. I was desperate, so I played “dirty”. Personally, I do not remember the story, but my sister does. I defend myself by telling my sister that my inability to recall the story shows that I did not mean to hurt her. My anger did it.

Osama bin Laden took down the Twin Tower and killed thousands of innocent people. He did terrorize the free world for awhile, but now what? The U.S. is still standing. When one building goes down, we build hundreds more. The loss of lives is irreplaceable, but it brings us closer to each other. We are more united than before. The American culture lives on. Life will go on. However, Osama is nowhere to be found. Many claim that he is still alive. But, who cares? Death and disease will get him. Undoubtedly, his ”anger outburst” will die with him, too. I condemn terrorism because I believe that it is an act of weakness and desperation. If a nation wants to compete with the U.S., then it needs to improve itself and stop blaming the U.S. for its condition. I have great respect for Japan and Germany because they have pulled themselves out of a deep hole after World War II. Similarly, China, India and Brazil are becoming stronger and stronger everyday because they have been playing within the international rules.

In conclusion, Osama lost the game because his life is finite. His short-lived “outburst” (I refuse to use the word “movement”) is not effective and a waste of his life. In the history of mankind, he will always be a terrorist and nothing more.