Community Corner
Sierra Madre Residents Gather to Celebrate and Discuss the Death of Osama Bin Laden
Locals gathered at a neighborhood watering hole following Sunday's announcement to celebrate the news and discuss what it might mean for the world going forward.
Business picked up noticeably at Sierra Madre's on Sunday night following the announcement that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden had been killed in a U.S. raid in Pakistan.
"I only had about three people in here before the news broke, then it jumped to 15 or 20," said Bob, a well-known bartender at the .
As for his thoughts on the news, Bob offered a somewhat sobering statement: “You know, it’s always sad when anyone dies. But if anyone had it coming, it was this guy,” he said.
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Bob spent most of the evening jumping back and forth between the bar's three televisions sets, switching between news channels including CNN, Fox News, and Al Jazeera English. In fact, at one point in the evening the consensus among those sitting at he bar was that they wanted to see the coverage from Arab media, Al Jazeera in particular. After searching the Dish Network channel guide to no avail, one customer researched the issue on his smartphone and discovered that the network had been moved to channel 1420.
"I really want to see the reaction in Pakistan right now," said Mark, long-time resident Sierra Madre and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The Pakistani government is going to completely fall apart after this,” Mark said, “I know it, I’ve been there.”
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Mark, who did not want his last name to be used for this story, said that he was “happy and sad at the same time” when he heard the news. Asked why he was saddened by the news, Mark said it was because he hadn’t been there to aid in the mission.
“I joined [the Army] because of him,” Mark said referring to the slain Al Qaeda leader. “I had a good job here in Sierra Madre working as an electrician since 1982, and I quit right after 9/11 to go over there.”
Mark said he had been given numerous missions during his two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, that held the prospect, however remote, of killing or capturing bin Laden.
“I remember one mission where we trudged through four feet of snow trying to find this guy,” he said as the television news played loudly from the television overhead. “But all we found that day was half-frozen villagers.”
Despite his being pleased at the death of bin Laden, Mark told Patch that his experience in Afghanistan left little hope in his mind that this news, or any for that matter, would have a positive impact on the country or the ongoing U.S-led war.
“I remember holding an Afghani child in my hands,” Mark said, “he’s never going to have enough to eat, he’s never seen a television or a computer… this kid’s never had a bath. And I’m just thinking to myself, this kid has no chance. He’s going to end up in a Saudi-funded madrasah because that’s his only option.”
Mark paused after this comment and took a sip of beer before reaffirming his last thought.
“I think the problem in Afghanistan really goes back to the Saudis,” he said. “Afghanistan does not have a chance. God has written that country off.”