On April 29 it seemed the world was bathed in sunshine and joy as many people around the globe watched and celebrated the union of Prince William and Kate Middleton. But in just a few days, those bright and happy moments were completely overwhelmed by the rather grim and morbidly sensational announcement by US President Barack Obama that Osama bin Laden had been killed.
How quickly the waving Union Jacks and giddily ecstatic smiles of all those embracing the marriage of two handsome, intelligent, fortunate and smart young people were replaced by the American Stars and Stripes, masses celebrating outside the White House and in New York and the faces of startled and excitable news broadcasters on BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, NBC, ABC, E.tv, and hundreds more news channels detailing Bin Laden’s downfall.
The world, which could not get enough of William and Kate – who had eclipsed for a while the nefarious deeds of Libyan head honcho Muammar Gaddafi – now simply could not pull its gaze away from the sensational assassination of Bin Laden. How did it happen? How was it planned? For how long had the Americans known that Bin Laden was bundled away in remote Abbottabad in Pakistan? The news about how US intelligence forces had latched on to a Bin Laden courier flew around the world on satellite TV, Twitter, web etc.
Then came the controversy of multiple accounts of how he has killed, that Bin Laden was unarmed . . . and most striking, that members of the US High Command had watched his killing as it happened. Many also asked questions about how Bin Laden could have been living in a Pakistan city without the knowledge of the Pakistani military and intelligence community.
Some also asked the question: Was the hit on Bin Laden’s compound delayed, so that Britain could have its moment in the sun before the US swooped to avenge the September 11, 2001 terror atrocities?
Suddenly, issues like who had designed Kate’s wedding dress, where Harry partied in the early hours of April 30, why Princess Eugenie was wearing that daft hat and debate over whether Posh looked fab or silly, seemed rather unimportant.
The big debate now raging all over the world, dividing workplaces and even families, is, “Was the US right to take out Bin Laden. What right does one nation have to order its forces into another independent state and kill another person? What right does any person have to take the life of another?” I can tell you that that debate is currently going on between friends, colleagues and family members . . . it’s rather vigorous and there’s no sign of agreement any time soon.
Speaking of death . . . but on a completely different track, the golfing world was reeling on Saturday at the sad news of the passing of Spanish maestro Seve Ballesteros. Seve died aged 54 after severe deterioration in his condition in his long fight against brain cancer. He had had multiple surgeries to remove a malignant brain tumour in 2008, and his condition had rapidly worsened in recent months.
A lovely quote from Tiger Woods about the man who used to tear up the Million Dollar Challenge at Sun City with his swashbuckling style: “His creativity and inventiveness on the golf course may never be surpassed.”
Gary Player commented on the five time major winner: “He was a man who got into trouble. Only, for Seve, there was no such thing as trouble. He could manufacture shots like a genius.”
The world will certainly miss the handsome Spaniard, who learned to play golf with just one club (a three iron) and seemed to fear no shot. – Garth Johnstone