"If the aim was to show us that state terror was more powerful than individual terrorists, we already knew that," says Tariq Ali of the U.S. special forces action that reportedly killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. As Americans celebrated outside of the White House and gathered at Ground Zero to remember those lost, Tariq reminds us that bin Laden's death will not make the U.S. safer. He joins Laura via Skype from London to discuss the ramifications of bin Laden's death, on U.S. foreign policy and specifically the relationship with Pakistan, as well as to question the use of the word "justice" to describe a unilateral military action. After the news of Bin Laden's death hit late Sunday night, Laura headed down to Ground Zero to catch up with the New Yorkers who gathered there to remember the collapse of the Twin Towers. A few of them shared their reflections with her, and we share them with you. "Bin Laden's ideology is not the ideology of the masses, of the Arabs, of people in central Asia, of Muslims," notes Sonali Kolhatkar of the Afghan Women's Mission. But, she notes, the danger is that now by killing him we have made him a martyr and inflamed anger again among people already feeling marginalized. Sonali joins Laura via Skype from California to discuss the impact of the war and bin Laden's death on Afghanistan, and the standards that should be applied when pursuing people like bin Laden or Libya's Qaddafi. And finally, Laura reflects on the past ten years and the U.S.--and the world's--desire for closure. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Laura Flanders talks to creative thinkers and change-makers from the worlds of politics, arts and the new economy. The smartest conversations, with the smartest thinkers and doers of our time, distributed in multiple formats on a variety of platforms. Keep abreast of fresh content by following GRITtv, the site Flanders founded, on Twitter @GRITtv.