Tuesday May 3, 2011 year: 131 No. 62 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern
Terror ties bin Laden’s rise, demise Students share memories of September 11, 2001 & May 1, 2011
S A
E C
E D September 11, 2001
D E
May 1, 2011 All photos courtesy MCT, MOLLY GRAY / Managing editor for design
LAUREN HALLOW Senior Lantern reporter hallow.1@osu.edu On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, current Ohio State students were in sixth grade history classes, driving to school with their moms and hiding under windows in their schools. Fast forward almost a decade later, and those same students were sitting in front of their computers, watching as their social media feeds announced the death of a man that caused those events to be seared in their minds forever. “I was in sixth grade, it was during morning meeting and I remember our teachers telling us we were going on lock-down so we all huddled in the classroom on the ˜ oor below the windows,” said Amanda Gibson, a thirdyear in zoology. “Once word got around that everything was safe, the buses came and we left school early, my parents explained what happened to me.”
In an announcement Sunday night that many said will be as memorable as when the World Trade Center towers fell, President Barack Obama announced to the nation and the world that Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida and mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was dead. “I was studying and found out on Twitter,” Gibson said. “After that, we turned on the news and watched Obama’s speech. Then I listened to cars beeping, people screaming and music playing after that. But I had to continue studying.” Michael Cox, a ÿrst-year in psychology, said he knew 9/11 was a big deal when he wasn’t allowed to go out to recess. He didn’t realize the gravity of the events until a few years later, he said. “(Bin Laden) was the poster child of 9/11, essentially,” Cox said. “I think (his death) deÿnitely brings a lot of closure, and I think there’s going to be a lot of families happy that he is dead.” Although Cox was in bed by the time of Obama’s late-night televised
speech conÿrming bin Laden’s capture and death, other students heard the news and found ways to commemorate the monumental event. Matt Keaton, a ÿrst-year in psychology and political science, was in his dorm room in Haverÿeld House discussing Obama’s announcement with other residents when he saw Facebook posts about students heading down to Mirror Lake. Keaton, who jumped with some other students from his ˜ oor, described the scene as “insane” and said he believed students’ joy is directly related to the Americans’ anguish nearly a decade ago. “I think that catching Osama has been something that’s been in the back of everyone’s minds since 9/11,” Keaton said. “They were waiting for this day to come.” Keaton was in fourth grade, riding to school with his mom when he ÿrst heard of the events.
continued as Remembrance on 3A
Bin Laden’s legacy ‘will live far beyond the man’ MOLLY GRAY Managing editor for design gray.557@osu.edu Osama bin Laden was the face of an organization that radicalized roughly one-ÿfth of the Islamic faith, convincing young men and women to sacriÿce their lives for a fatwa — an Islamic religious ruling — in which he declared that the United States was evil and had to be taken down. As the world watched al-Qaida grow over the last 30 years, many wondered how he did it. “No one else in al-Qaida has the charisma and the ability to hold that organization together as did Osama bin Laden,” said Peter Mansoor, associate professor in history and former executive ofÿcer to General David Petraeus. With his death Sunday, the question now remains, what will become of the militant Islamic terrorist group? Bin Laden’s “death does not mark the end of our effort,” President Barack Obama said on Sunday evening. “There’s no doubt that al-Qaida will continue to pursue attacks against us.” The president announced Sunday evening that the United States found and killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was the founder and leader of al-Qaida, which ofÿcially came into being in the 1980s and turned against the United States shortly thereafter. The death of bin Laden “certainly is a blow to the psyche of the organization. There is no doubt about it. However in terms of the long-term viability of the organization it does very little,” said Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of research for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, based in
Washington, D.C., and a former counterterrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “This is something that I think most Americans need to be very aware of.” Bin Laden formed the radical, anti-Western group in Pakistan, the country in which he was killed 30 years later, despite the fact that he is a Saudi and his right-hand man, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, is Egyptian. Bin Laden ÿnanced the group from his personal funds as the son of an oil tycoon. “Bin Laden was very wise in the way that he constructed his organization in terms of its survivability,” Schanzer told The Lantern. The group originated with a structure similar to that of a corporation, with bin Laden and his close advisers at the top. Subsequently the organization fostered autonomous organizations throughout the Middle East that supported the anti-Western and anti-capitalist ideology of al-Qaida but had local objectives. Finally, bin Laden and the organization were successful in radicalizing individuals and small cells that now act independently of the corporate structure. “If you think about these layers that have been created over time, the legacy of bin Laden will live far beyond the man himself,” Schanzer said. His death as the ideological center and commanding leader leaves a gaping hole in the operation. Most experts, including Schanzer, believe that Ayman Al-Zawahiri, will become the next leader of the militant group. “He has been making more of the statements after attacks and failed attacks by the al-Qaida network and he probably knows more about the operations from the top than anyone,” Schanzer said.
continued as al-Qaida on 3A
ETHAN GRAVES / Lantern photographer
Ohio State students celebrate at Mirror Lake early Monday morning after learning of Osama bin Laden’s death.
Some students elated, others frustrated over celebrations of bin Laden’s death WHITNEY KINDELL AND JENELLE COOPER Lantern reporters kindell.14@osu.edu and cooper.1995@osu.edu Just past midnight on Sunday, thousands of Ohio State students celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden. While some jumped in Mirror Lake or set off ÿreworks, others were disappointed with the reactions of their classmates. “I mean, I think it’s a good thing. That’s what our military is for, to eliminate threats and obviously, (bin Laden) was a threat, but most of those students who jumped last night were not directly involved with 9/11,” said Greg Lavins, a second-year in
French and sociology. “It’s kind of sad celebrating someone’s death with beers and Facebook photos. Someone died. We killed someone.” From a psychological perspective, the jubilation was not a surprise and could mirror OSU sports, said assistant professor of psychology Kentaro Fujita. “With his assassination … it kind of represents, symbolically I guess, for many people a tangible sign that people are making progress,” Fujita said. “This has been the goal of the United States for some time. I think for a lot of people, given how important this goal has been for the country, their celebration
continued as Jump on 3A 1A