There's some debate as to whether or not we should be celebrating anyone's death. There's even a Martin Luther King Junior (mis-)quote being circulated on the topic.
It's interesting that some of the complaining on these lines is coming from the extreme theocratic Right, who seemed to have no problem with the idea of starting a crusade and torturing enemies to find him. They're pointing their fingers at celebrating liberal moderates and smirking, "You're no better than those you decry." It's a false equivalence, since the Right tend make such anathema enemies far more easily than the Left. You can piss off the left in the same way, but you have to work at it harder to piss off a liberal than a conservative.
There's also a few liberals who are seem genuinely worried that such celebration is a bad thing. They probably should be worried about those who celebrate; it's usually a sign of a lack of empathy. Contrariwise, they might also consider that some empathy may be foolishly placed.
For myself: yes, killing Osama bin Laden is on some level a failure. It would have been a lot better if we could have figured out a way to convince him to change his mind, and to in turn persuade the Taliban to step up and face the challenges of the 20th century (no, I have not forgotten what year it is) like education for women, liberty of religious conscience, and so on. On the other hand, while that might have been possible in some abstract sense, apparently no American was sufficiently clever to see how to accomplish that... or at least, if they did (unlikely though I find it), they also in their cleverness decided there were better uses for their efforts. I'm inclined to believe that the world is a slightly better place with Osama dead than it is with him still wandering about. Yes, there's the risk that he'll be a martyr. Yes, both Afghanistan and Pakistan are still wretched messes. Yes, it was unlikely he could be a further threat. Nonetheless: while imperfect, his death is still an improvement.
Of course, I consider myself more a pragmatist than a liberal.
While I don't have a problem with celebrating "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead", I found a nice classical bit by Petrarch on the subject. In the interest of elevating the literary tone of the debate, I repost it here. First, Omnia dicta fortiori, si dicta Latina:
De Inimici Morte
Gaudium: De inimici morte letus sum.
Ratio: Sperare de inimici morte aliquid seu cuiuspiam hominis vel gaudere, illi forsitan sit permissum, si quis usquam esset immortalis: sperare autem alterius mortem, que tibi possit ante contingere, vel gaudere id hosti evenisse, quod tibi necessario eventurum sit, stulta spes, inane gaudium.
Gaudium: Gaudeo de inimici morte.
Ratio: De tua alius mox gaudebit.
Gaudium: De inimici morte gaudeo.
Ratio: Si quam vestre conditionis memoriam haberetis, nunquam homo de morte hominis gauderet; quando enim, queso, duorum, qui simul ad supplicium ducerentur, alter alterius de morte gaudium cepit, sciens sibi idem supplicii genus instare et non potius in illius morte suam cogitans ingemuit?
Gaudium: De inimici morte gaudium sensi.
Ratio: Quotiens putas optata mors hominum voti compotes torserit et optare vitam frustra ceperint qui non frustra mortem prius optaverint, dum intelligere incipiunt in suam se perniciem optasse? Sed precipites sunt affectus viri: quicquid vultis, valde vultis, quod de Marco Bruto dixisse Iulius Cesar fertur. Immo vero nimium vultis nec fervens desiderium moras fert, itaque quicquid vultis, statim vultis: hinc non modo vota impia, sed venena, sed cedes et quicquid homo in hominem struit, nocentissimum animal in suam speciem. Multa vero optatis que, si in consilium ratio esset admissa, timeretis; et varietas votorum male electionis argumentum est nec prius ad rectum redit impetus quam inconsulti affectus infaustis castigentur effectibus.
Gaudium: De morte hostis gaudeo.
Ratio: Si est hostis inglorius, de ipsius morte gaudere turpe est et dolere superfluum; sin illustris, honestus piusque est dolor, etsi non propter hominem at propter virtutem, que in dies rariora habet hospitia. Sic Metellus Macedonicus Africani iunioris, sic Cesar Pompeii, sic Alexander Darii mortem flevit.
Gaudium: Gaudeo de inimici morte.
Ratio: Quomodo de illius morte gaudeas quem diligere iubearis, non ut hostem, sed ut proximum eiusdem opus opificis?
Gaudium: De inimici morte gaudeo.
Ratio: Non audis forsitan an contemnis consilium notissimum sapientis: "Noli" inquit "de inimico tuo mortuo gaudere, sciens quoniam omnes morimur et in gaudium volumus venire"? Sanum prorsus seu consilium seu preceptum!
And again in translation, for those who did not give enough attention to our Latin studies:
JOY: I am glad about the death of my enemy
REASON: To be pleased by the death of an enemy, or for that matter, the death of any man, is permissible perhaps to one who is not mortal, if there be such a one. But to hope for another man's death, which could happen to you before it happens to him, or to rejoice that death came to your enemy, which needs must also come to you, is a stupid hope and an insipid joy.
JOY: I rejoice in my enemy's death.
REASON: Soon someone else will rejoice in yours.
JOY: I rejoice that my enemy is dead.
REASON: If humans would keep in mind their condition, no man would ever rejoice in the death of another. Whenever, I ask you, do two who go together to the gallows rejoice in each other's death, knowing that they are both to suffer execution--rather than deplore it, since they see their own death in the death of the other?
JOY: The death of my enemy gives me pleasure.
REASON: How often do you think the wished-for death of a man has served to obliterate those who prayed for it, and they, who had not wished in vain for his death, dis wish in vain he were alive again as it began to dawn upon them that they had wished for their own deception? The passions of humans are too precipitous; whatever you want, you want it badly--which is what Caesar is reported to have said of Brutus. You always want too much, and your ardent desire does not let you wait. Whatsoever you want, you want here and now, which causes not only wicked wishes but also poisonings, murders, and whatsoever man designs against man--a creature most viscous toward its own kind. You wish for many things which, were reason admitted to your thoughts, you would fear. The variety of your wishes is an indication of your bad judgement. Nor does your impulse to do right return unless your mindless passions are chastised by your hapless deeds.
JOY: I rejoice that my foe is dead.
REASON: If your foe was insignificant, it is shameful to be glad about his death and superfluous to bemoan it. If he was noble, it is correct and decent to be sorry, if not for the man, for the sake of his virtue which every day finds fewer dwelling places. Thus Metellus Macedonicus lamented the death of the younger Scipio, Caesar that of Pompey, and Alexander that of Darius.
JOY: I rejoice in my enemy's death.
REASON: How can you rejoice in the death of one who you have been commanded to love, not as a foe, but as your neighbor, created by the same craftsman who created you?
JOY: I do rejoice that my enemy is dead.
REASON: You do not seem to have heard or to care about the generally known advice of the Preacher:
Rejoice not at the death of thy enemy:
knowing that we all die
and we are not willing that others should rejoice at our death.
which is very sound as advice and as a rule of life.
Even generally sound advice may have a few exceptions, however.