World's Reactions to Osama Bin Laden's Death

One of the advantages of living in another country is seeing different points of views than the country I grew up in (obviously). While this last weekend was mostly dominated by talk of the "Royal Wedding," it quickly changed course and revolved around the alleged elimination of "The Most Wanted Man" in the world...or at least in the United States. Yesterday it was announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed in his Pakistan compound by U.S. Navy Seals without pre-knowledge by Pakistan itself and after Bin laden refused to surrender.

As I talk to classmates, neighbors and acquaintances, I find that they all generally agree that it's beneficial with Bin Laden gone, but they also comment on the seemingly pretentious and morbid reactions from Americans. This comes from it being reported that people were chanting "U.S.A, U.S.A, U.S.A." in front of the White House. Along with this were reports of remarks towards his death that do not acknowledge that despite the atrocities committed by him, he was still a fellow human-being and it is unfortunate that this is what the circumstances came to. Quite frankly, I would have to agree with them; from over here it seems heart-less, the way that Americans are being depicted responding to this event. Other comments regarded the fears of retribution not just towards America, but for the entire Western world. One thing that they don't comment on and that many are commenting on back home in the states, is whether or not this was a staged publicity stunt/opportunity for Obama and if Bin Laden was even found/killed.

All in all, it is really too early to tell the true feelings of most people because the majority, myself included, are still in shock and still asking questions trying to piece together, through the help of the media, what happened. At this point, I would hope that situations around the world will get better in response to this event, but as it has been shown with the protests rocking the Middle Eastern world, there is a lot of unpredictability especially when it comes to governments and their global relations.

An interesting video on the BBC website, depicts surprising remarks from the locals who lived near the "Bin Laden compound."