Walk Like An Egyptian

Can one joke about the killing of Bin Laden? Yes, of course, humour is a great leveller.

This joke on Twitter kills two dowdy birds with one stone . " I hear Donald Trump's  demanding bin Laden’s “long-form death certificate.”

What genius, linking possibly the most absurd man in the world, with the most hunted, and making a nonsense of Trump's Obama's citizenship farrago.

Honestly, I don't know what to make of the news that the US got their man. Except possibly that's how it's seen by many Americans: thro' the lens of  John Ford's camera.

10 years is a long time.  "Revenge is dish best served cold": how appropriate since it is claimed the expression was taken from the Afghan Pashtuns in the 1800's.

But does killing bin Laden achieve anything?

It does an unpopular President no harm at all. It is all of a piece with the current narrative of Middle Eastern/Arab dictators (and supporters of terror) getting their comeuppance. It fills the Americans with pride and a sense of belief at a time when Americans feel weakened, vulnerable and worried.

I'm not sure a pumped up US military and public is necessarily a good thing.

For many of the relatives of the victims of 9/11 and, possibly, 7/7 it may provide closure.

I can't see it helping Pakistan. The country and its leaders (rulers?) are seen by many as a basket case. Having bin Laden living in a huge compound next to a major military academy doesn't help.  As a minimum, if you wanted to build something like that so close to a strategic establishment, wouldn't you need to submit a planning application?

And of course our politicians will want to bathe in the reflected g(l)ore(y).

What a week! A high society wedding, the death of a national hero and the killing of a bogey man.