I believe

We have now all seen the images of celebration that flooded our televisions following Bin Laden's death. As a result, there has been an appropriate questioning of the celebrations, at least in social media circles, and many people feel uneasy cheering the killing of even our worst enemy. These images, and the resulting discussions, have been bouncing around in my head and a couple of ideas keep reoccuring.

I am glad that Bin Laden is dead and I have felt a certain sense of pride that US Soldiers tracked him down after all of these years.

I am ashamed of this quiet pride I have experienced.

Most of my thoughts have been echoed in others' responses online and I am cheaply reminded that there are not that many original thoughts floating around; in my head, on facebook and twitter, or in the comments of most online articles.

If you watched the network news, you would likely have only seen the young flocking to the streets to celebrate. But that is not the whole picture. That is simply a fragment of our community's response. If the cameras panned out further and further, maybe they could show the conflicted expressions on the rest of our faces. The rest of us, whose breath still catches when we see images of the towers collapsing and our fellow citizens running. The rest of us, who want our soldiers home and no longer dying for wars that cannot be won. The rest of us, who want Iraqi and Afghani children to be able to experience a childhood without war.

I do know this. The next time I see some news report showing images of dark-skinned people chanting and burning effigies of our leaders or the American flag, I will know that is not the full truth. For every chant of war or revenge, there is uncertainty, an unspoken fear, and a silent prayer for shared peace.