by - May 03, 2011

After nearly 10 years, Osama bin Laden is dead.

U.S. soldiers completed a covert mission in Pakistan and killed the leader of al Qaeda outright.

And we call this justice.

Victory, certainly. Vengeance, definitely. But justice? I don't agree.

The way our country handled Saddam Hussein was justice. He was captured and stood trial before being executed. Our justice system did its job.

But this? This was not justice. This was vengeance in the name of countless lives lost.

Am I happy this monster has been removed from the Earth? Of course.

I just don't believe justice is the right word for this occasion.

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4 comments

  1. May I assume that you had no difficulty picking a lead story that day? :) I'm not going to weigh in on this debate, Ashton. I just wanted to use this as an opportunity to recall the glory days of my all time favorite news program, Channel 6 Action News (WPVI) in Philadelphia. For years I watched and studied that Philly news broadcast in an effort to improve my own newscasts at a station in the York-Lancaster-Harrisburg market. I noticed that Action News always began their 6pm cast with the dynamic anchorman firing off the three most important headlines of the hour, saving the most important headline for last. I also noticed that Action News followed religiously the "lead with local" rule which asserts that viewers of local news programs are primarily interested in events happening in their own back yards and how those events will affect them. My colleagues and I had a running joke. We made up fantasy show opener headlines for Channel 6 to illustrate how "lead with local" could be taken to the extreme.

    ANCHOR: World War III breaks out...

    A giant asteroid collides with planet earth...millions killed...

    but the BIG story tonight on Action News...a warehouse fire in South Philly!

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  2. You can always tell who wasn't old enough to remember 9/11. Also, last time I checked, Saddam stood trial in Iraq's system, not ours, made of 5 Iraqi's (one of which was a former Baath party member who got removed after it was found out he was involved in the party).

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  3. @Shady: That's how all of our shows start off... BUT we don't always follow the lead with local rule. It just depends on what's going on.

    @Richard: I think you're assuming I'm much younger than I am. I remember 9/11 vividly. And maybe it wasn't our justice system but it was a justice system nonetheless. I'm aware that my opinion is largely unpopular, but as a journalist I feel like I have this really complicated view of things and the way the world works. I'm not saying I don't agree with the methods in which Osama bin Laden met his demise. In fact, I'm glad the bastard is no longer on this earth. I was just simply saying that I don't think this was 'justice'. The manner in which this was carried out better suits my definition of vengeance.

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