— By Adam Weinstein, Mother Jones
Bin Laden's supporters (and the president's detractors) share their frustrations online, while active-duty soldiers rejoice.
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CJ Grisham, a prolific conservative military blogger, tweeted in rapid succession:
Obama takes credit: "Today, AT MY DIRECTION." Spare me.
Let me summarize Obama's speech: me me me me, I I I I I, me me me me, I I I I, and don't forget me me me me.
I'm happy for our troops, not the campaigner in chief. I know the truth the Obama didn't mention tonight.
only the easily bullshitted have swung Obama's way. This doesn't fix our economy!
Moments later, he also retweeted a promotion by a T-shirt company: "enter coupon code SA10 for Bin Laden death discount on awesome #military shirts!!"
Grisham's feelings (about everything but the shirts) were mirrored by the IA Islamists. "The gist of [Obama's] speech unequivocally bares election-driven character," wrote Abu Abdallah al-Bulghari on IA. "That's what all we are to Kuffaar [infidels]: not friends (of course), not honest business partners, not enemies - pawns in their election battles."
Another user, Yahya, argued that the Pakistani army had actually held Bin Laden for some time before Sunday. "they were waiting for the right time to benefit americans to show him to world after killing him," he wrote. "nowadays american economy was so low that americans were near the brink of protests so now americans will forget there situation for while."
Free Republic user imfrmdixie agreed that Obama was playing politics, but added an Islamophobic twist. "Who wants to bet Obama didn't know a thing about this when it happened," he wrote. "He claims he all but pulled the trigger in his earlier Me! Me! Me! speech but I suspect we kept it from him out of fear he'd blab to his Muslim Brotherhood/AQ buddies."
Closer to the battlefield, though, active-duty US troops were a little more circumspect...and respectful. "What matters the most that someone who did so much damage to the United States 10 years ago is done," Army Maj. Eric Archer told Military Times from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. "We heard the news on the TV and everyone in the room, there was silence—it was electrifying, that this person that did so much damage and harm to all of us here was finally done, and I think that's the end state and that's what matters."
Another soldier at Bagram, Spc. William Baxter, had a much simpler thought for the Times' reporter.
"OK, he's dead," he said. "Can we go home?"
Adam Weinstein is Mother Jones' copy editor.
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