Local Leaders Hail the Killing of bin Laden, Remember His Victims

Barry Jantz was in the backyard with his daughter. Ralf Swenson was at home watching 60 Minutes. Mary England got a call from a friend to switch on CNN.

La Mesa civic leaders were spending a quiet Sunday night like many others when they first heard the news that American forces had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Their reactions ran the gamut.

Deena While, the Readers Inc. bookstore owner in The Village, wrote: “My first reaction is GREAT! Let’s end the war and get our troops home—but I'm sure that ain’t gonna happen just yet.”

Genevieve Suzuki, a La Mesa lawyer and writer, said she was sitting in the living room with friends visiting from Hawaii, their toddlers playing in front of the TV, demanding to use the Wii.

“We tried to explain how important it was to listen to the president of the United States,” Suzuki said. “While my immediate relief was tempered by the knowledge that one ugly head will surely grow in bin Laden’s place, I felt as though vengeance was had by his death.”

She expressed pride in the Coronado-based Navy SEALS, saying: “When I was a young intern at Newsday in New York, one of my favorite go-to spots was a cafe at the bottom of the World Trade Center. Seeing the twin towers crumble that Sept. 11 broke my heart. Bin Laden's death helped assuage a little of that hurt.”

Jantz, the former La Mesa councilman who now works as CEO of the Grossmont Healthcare District, said his wife shared the news of the terror leader’s death.

His first reaction? “Great! Then I wondered if Donald Trump was taking credit.”

Jantz said that in September 2001, his daughter was 7 months old,  “and I remember how afraid I was for her future. The U.S. military have kept her and us safe. We should all be proud.”

As superintendent of the Grossmont Union High School District, Swenson has many children to worry about—and noted the youthful throngs celebrating the news.

“That was a very young crowd in the streets of Washington last night,” he said.  “Most of our students were in second grade or younger when the attacks of 9/11 occurred—they have spent their lives in a world shaped by the terrorist threat created by bin Laden and al-Qaida. That those young people showed the exuberance that they did upon this news tells me how clearly they understand the implications and how proud they are of our country.

“The news took me back to the morning of Sept. 11, 2001,” he said.  “I had an ominous sense that our country was going to be deeply impacted by the attacks of that day—and for years to come.

“We have been—two wars continue to this day—and our lives each day include concerns about our safety and the realization of the fact that real threats to our lives can be brought to our shores.”

He also saluted “our country’s resolve to destroy this evil man and his organization, and I am proud of and grateful for the brave American servicemen who led the raid on his compound in Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden.”

Swenson said the lust for revenge may drive al-Qaida to try to strike against American interests here or abroad, “but the head of that snake has been cut off, and its capacity will surely diminish. The strength and resolve of our country has once again prevailed, and our enemies must realize the danger that lies in forgetting how strong and committed our nation is when it comes to standing up and fighting for what is right.

“As the president said last night: God bless America!”

Village bookstore owner Craig Maxwell said he was greatly relieved by the news.

“Killing bin Laden was way overdue,” he said. “However, I hope that this victory—crucial though it is—doesn't lead us to misunderstand our enemies. Immediately following the president's announcement, I overheard a few media types and White House [reps] talking about having beheaded the al-Qaida monster. Nonsense. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that this organization is a many-headed hydra that cannot be dispatched by a single blow.”

Mary England, a Lemon Grove councilwoman as well as the head of the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce, said she was in her home office working when a friend called her to turn on CNN.

“It was amazing as I watched the people rally around the flag and sing the Star Spangled Banner at the White House while waiting for the president to speak,” England said via email. “It is a time to be thankful for those brave souls that went undercover and executed the raid that killed him.”

But she said the president’s announcement “can never erase those horrific images that we all carry with us from 9/11. The senseless death on our soil of over 3,000 innocent people, including those paramedics, police and firefighters that courageously gave their lives as they tried to give assistance to the victims will forever be a testament to the heart and soul of our nation.”

Maxwell had questions about the fact that bin Laden was living in relative luxury, close to the Pakistani capitol.

He said this “should remind us that it would be impossible to overestimate the duplicity of some of our so-called allies in the region.”

And Ray Lutz, the La Mesa native who ran for Congress last year as a Democrat in the 52nd Congressional District, said in a response to La Mesa Patch:

“What really gets me about all this coverage is that with the giddy pleasure of seeing a man killed, we forget that we had no hard evidence that 1) this was in fact, Osama bin Laden, and 2) he was the mastermind behind 9/11.”

Lutz said he had just arrived home on a drive from Sacramento after the Democratic State Convention when his son told him the bin Laden news.

He said that given other terrorist attacks bin Laden admitted to, “perhaps he deserved to die. But he was never linked to 9/11 with hard evidence. The proper way to handle this would be through indictments and a trial.

“What actually occurred is that President Bush, in his ultimate wisdom, decided that it was our right to take him out ‘dead or alive.’ Frankly, I don’t trust President Bush with the most simple decisions, including whether it was best to continue to read My Pet Goat [when he was informed of the World Trade Center attacks].”

But chamber president England was still basking in the early glow of achievement and mourning the original victims.

“Although we can not bring [9/11 victims] back, we shall always remember them, and today is a new beginning—our nation has told the world that we have never forgotten those that caused us harm and we continued our pursuit to bring them to justice! Today justice was served!”