In a speech broadcast nationwide at 8:35 PST this evening, President Barack Obama confirmed that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed Sunday by US Military Special Forces operation in Pakistan.
“Justice has been done,” Obama said in his speech, which was about 10 minutes long.
From Washington D.C., where crowds gathered in front of the White House, to Ventura, where firecrackers were let off in some neighborhoods, people celebrated bin Laden’s death.
“I feel like it’s long overdue justice, in a court he would’ve received the death penalty a thousand times over,” Foothill sophomore Cameron Lee said.
“This proves that the war on terrorism isn’t just some money-wasting farce,” said Danica Pinner, a sophomore at California State University of Northridge and Ventura High School alumna.
“Now that bin Laden is dead I can honestly say I feel relieved,” Foothill junior Riki Schmitt said. “I wish this would end the war, however, I know there are many more like him out there.”
Foothill junior Joseph Malach held a similar opinion, adding that, “Osama’s death can only possibly be the beginning to the end of this war, but it’s definitely not the full on answer to the problem.”
However, former Foothill student Haley White and University of California at Berkeley freshman and Foothill alumna Katie Miller feel uneasy about the news.
“The terrorist attacks on September 11th were horrible. There’s no denying that, 3,000 people died. However, the U.S. response was to invade Afghanistan, leaving thousands of innocent people dead. Not to mention nearly a million dead Iraqis,” White said. “I guess the question we should be asking is if this one life was worth all the others.”
Miller felt that, “Bin Laden’s death may mean a lot to the American people but my (probably uniformed) opinion is that it will not weaken his cause, and may possibly even strengthen it.”
For many, the night brought back memories of September 11, 2001, the day a terrorist attack planned by bin Laden was carried out on the Pentagon and the Twin Towers, killing about 3,000 people.
Malach remembers sitting in his living room watching the first tower fall and “not being able to comprehend with my young mind the depth of the situation.”
Foothill junior Kevin Kunes observed that his elementary school history book, which showed the Twin Towers, had become outdated.
“I don’t remember seeing images of the towers. I just remember seeing a man falling down the side of a building doing flips in the air,” Foothill junior Addison James said.
Foothill alumna Elizabeth Roemisch shared that “I don’t think I understood at the time what had actually happened. But I remember a lot of red, white, blue, and tears in the weeks to come.”
Foothill health and history teacher Claire Adams hopes that the news of bin Laden’s death will allow “the families of the 9/11 victims [to] find some peace tonight.”
