German Chancellor Angela Merkel said when asked about the death of bin Laden, "I am glad that it was successful, the killing of bin Laden," she said.
The entire German political establishment - including the leadership of her own party - jumped down her throat:
That statement is now being heavily criticized in German political and religious circles, including among members of Merkel's own party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). And Germany's Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, of Merkel's coalition party, the Free Democrats (FDP), is calling on Western nations to temper their responses to the news of Osama bin Laden's death."We must be careful, that we in the West -- with understanding of the relief felt -- do not send images into the world that could again lead to incitement or to the heroization of al-Qaida," he told the conservative German daily Die Welt Wednesday.
[...]
A vice president of German parliament, Katrin Göring-Eckhardt, told the daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung: "As a Christian, I can only say that it is not a reason to celebrate, when someone is killed in a targeted way." Göring-Eckhardt, a member of the Greens, said bin Laden should have been arrested and put on trial.
Criticism was also lobbed from members of Merkel's own party. Siegfried Kauder, of the CDU, and the chairman of the legal committee of the Bundestag, told the newspaper Passauer Neue Presse: "I would not have formulated it in that way. Those are thoughts of revenge that one should not harbor. That is from the Middle Ages."
Well, when you are fighting people with the worldview of 11th century peasants, perhaps having a "Middle Ages" attitude is the way to win. It is either indicative of the cowardice of the elites in Germany - and probably elsewhere in western Europe - or Merkel got too far out ahead of her government on the issue.
Is anyone buying this idea that Islamic extremists can become MORE radicalized, MORE angry at the west, and MORE willing to sacrifice their lives in suicide attacks because it is perceived that we are gloating over Osama's death?
Yeah, it's a crock.
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