The Way I See It
We, the survivors of Osama

We, the survivors of Osama

The war against terror has united us - we are all victims, regardless of where we come from.

Sahar Aman May 03, 2011

It has been almost a decade since 9/11 and now that Osama Bin Laden is dead, politicians will have meetings, intelligence services will brief each other, armies will re-strategise - but what will the rest of us do?

We, the survivors of terrorism, the people who mourn loved ones on a daily basis and the people who live alongside drone attacks and bomb blasts - do we rejoice or do we look back over the last ten years and try to remember a world before all of this?

My heart feels heavy - because even as I write this I know somewhere, children, men and women are still being trained to become terrorists. Bin Laden may be gone but the havoc that he started ten years ago is very much present.

Why do we accept the way the world has become, because some people have given up hope?

Why have our choices always been wrong?

Today I mourn for soldiers, families, friends and those who have lost loved ones to acts of terrorism around the globe. But I also choose to see the broken hearts of the women whose sons, husbands, fathers and brothers have left them for a life of terrorism.

We are all capable of cruelty. This war,,, the war against terror is not just being fought by men with guns. It is being fought on our streets and in our homes - between families and friends and neighbours. It is being fought in our hearts and our minds. Its’ victims are not just on the battlefield or in the aftermath of an explosion. This is not just a war between the leaders of countries and terrorist regimes.

It is our world war and whether we realise it or not every single one of us is part of it.

This the time to eradicate the differences that we have accepted in a bid to be alone and angry.

Are our future generations, the children of our children doomed to live in a post 9/11 world forever?

WRITTEN BY:
Sahar Aman The author is the editor-in-chief of an online travel magazine, Days to Come. She tweets as @sahar_aman (twitter.com/sahar_aman). Follow her on Instagram: sahar_aman (www.instagram.com/sahar_aman/)

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

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COMMENTS (15)

Raj | 13 years ago | Reply @ Faiza..osama ‘if’ dead will always live in our hearts! He was a mujahid and we are proud of him. May Allah forgive his sins and bless him in jannah! Ameen..." Chadarassa killings had not happened when you wrote these comments. I wonder nobody of your family member were among 89 killed by the followers of your hero OBL.

Tony Singh | 13 years ago | Reply @Nobody: Roshni's point of view has some truth there. Wonder what is your take on America's foreign policy of last 60 years. Are their actions not responsible directly/indirectly that has led the world to such precipice. For the world to be a safer place, Americans will have to look at their foreign policy. We in India do not suffer from their domination as yet (thanks to our very independent foreign agenda). But you have to look at USA's Vietnam war, Middle East policy(wherein till the other day they were best buddies with Mubarak and Gadaffi). The argument that American foreign policy is in the best interest of Americans does not hold water here. It has not given them and the world peace which we all yearn for. At best it has only served its Military - Industrial complex by selling arms and ammunations to both the conflicting parties. It is easily said that we should not deal with American arm merchants, but they will force you to deal with them by creating a conflict where none exist. (Example - In Syria, Iran and Lebanon) and will remain silence where their Military- Industrial commerce is harmed (Example - oppresive regimes of KSA, Behrain and Yemen - all big market for big American toys. KSA just signed $80 billion worth of armament contract with USA citing Iran bogey) Till the rest of the world keep aside their differences, and challenge US and its partners on econmic and technological front, I am afraid no peace will prevail for a long time to come.

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Fahad Raza | 13 years ago | Reply Osama destroyed WTC.... I wont buy that ....specially if its from the government of USA under Bush 2000-08 I think the reason is there are many unanswered questioned in this whole 9/11 saga and many proofs like the first ever building(S) to be brought down by inflammable jet fuel .... no video of a huge plane hitting pentagon and Wtc 7 sturcture brought down on its own without a single hit..by anything.... what I can buy is Osama's death yea.... because Pakistani taliban's are pissed good he is gone but he behind 9/11 is far from truth.. God bless you Sahar Aman if you wanna believe ......its ok i understand. survive @UGHHHTHOOOO no use wakin the dead souls

Sahar Aman | 13 years ago | Reply @UGHHHTHOOOO: If you re-read my article you'll see I'm not really interested in the politics of it all - rather what we as individuals can do in a post 9/11 world, i.e. show some empathy towards other people's opinions. Nor is my article interested in Obama's re-election campaign, as you will see I haven't talked about that. Whether Osama is dead or not is not really the point - the matter has 'officially' been laid to rest by the 'West' at least and my concern is more to do with small changes we as individuals can make - there is such an obvious lack of compassion in our world. If would like to read my full article I can e-mail it to you. Thank you for your comments - I appreciate your passion for the subject. @ Everyone else - thank you for comments, I appreciate your thoughts and encouragement.

UGHHHTHOOOO | 13 years ago | Reply Dude, WAKE freaking up! This is nothing but a ploy for Obama to get his popularity up. I love your blind beleif in what is told via CNN and BBC. Its election time and obama has been under fire ever since Trump started throwing mud at him. America was just waking up and realizing Obama had done NO good in the last year or so. Just a few days ago, he released his birth statement to prove he is american and days later THIS! Just wish you people stopped had the courage and the sanity to wake up and smell Americas faeces splattered all over our faces. And those tribune writers who are outrightly saying Pakistan and a few places and a few hotels are unsafe and dangerous are complete traitors. We've bent backwards every way possible for the US. We have Raymond Davises running around, you really think Osama had been running free all this time in Abbotabad without being questioned. They probbably attacked an empty house, pretended to drown an already dead body and convinced extremely smart people (obvious SARCASM) like you that he was dead.

Srinath | 13 years ago | Reply A moving narrative from a generation which wants to move on. . The rest of the sub-continent and the world have an enlightened self-interest in not just survival but blossoming of Sahar and her generation, Wishing them all the best.

faiza | 13 years ago | Reply osama 'if' dead will always live in our hearts! He was a mujahid and we are proud of him. May Allah forgive his sins and bless him in jannah! Ameen

Deen Sheikh | 13 years ago | Reply @Roshni: You got a problem against burgers, firstly its a derogratory term to use on your fellow people just because they come from a different school of thought and oh yeah FYI we are here to stay whether you like it or not.

Nobody | 13 years ago | Reply @Roshni: OBL is almost single-handedly responsible for the murder of innocent muslims and non muslims alike. You cannot argue or ignore the fact that he has wreaked havoc among the muslim world, more than he has in the west. Take Pakistan for example, looking around you, does it not give you an idea of what he's directly or indirectly done to the world just by looking at one country alone? His evil ideology has spread and that, my friend, is worse than what the US has done (although far be it for me to defend the actions of the west on all fronts either). So in your position to argue against the 'osama bad USA good' idea, don't forget what this man is responsible for even within our own country, and across the globe. The world is better off without him, but so many more like him have strengthened their resolve over the past decade so the fight is nowhere near over.

sundar | 13 years ago | Reply Ms Aman your narrative is lively, genuine and touches heart. Directly or indirectly this guy is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of innocents both muslims and non-muslims. He is also responsible for making lives of countless muslims living hell.

Roshni | 13 years ago | Reply If tribune has guts than publish this. SHAME ON SUCH BURGER MENTALITY than again running from ur country to IoM what can one expect. So what about osama all he did was fight occupation forces who occupied muslim lands in Arabs and than later came to afghanistan pakistan iraq libya yemen. he never condoned murders of innocents and was different than paki american so called talibans and collateral damage of civillians which was even done by USA too so on that basis why is he called bad and usa is good. was he ever convicted in a court of law? NO why? what about innocent until proven guilty or is the fear of usa n its propoganda 2 much for some

Meerza R Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Congrats CIA finally subdued its agent gone rogue & causing Collateral damage, rest all is crap. Period

A | 13 years ago | Reply we, the 9/11 generation, have to work for these effects to finish. people have to get a chance to get education and then THINK why is it that some people just ignore human right and islamic basics for the sake of blowing their own trumpet of nationalism, martyrism and false ideologies!?!

SULTAN | 13 years ago | Reply i appreciate the way you portraited the aftrmath calamnity that occured due to the 9/11 attack.that is the source of mourn throughout the dacede, and the same mourn will remain now we are confused how to rejoice.there are no suitable ways of rejoice according to you.you are right.thousands lost their loved ones due to the attack. now just have a glance a bit broader ,the effects are realised in palastine,millions lost their loved ones and are still losing.just see in iraq ,millions are still losing their loved ones ,in afghanistan millions lost and still in progress,pakistan ,an independent state ,facing drone attaks and terrorist blasts , millions losing their loved ones.now thanks god,usama being cought ,now it seems no one will lose their loved ones any more. now not only the 9/11 attack victims will be rejoicing ,rather the whole world would be rejoicing. i think you agree with me sir..have a good day

TightDhoti | 13 years ago | Reply I would hope that people like Hamid Gul and Ansar Abbasi considered the sentiments you share above. They are still peddling there, OBL is a hero for taking on America narrative. Countless die, as long as America is put in its place, all is well.

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