The Force of the Deed
By ROGER COHEN
NYT
NEW YORK — Watching the talk shows, thinking about the tumultuous last American decade, reflecting on the death of Osama bin Laden, I feel grateful for many things but not least this: the invisibility of the heroes.
For once it is the deed itself that speaks. The deed, so often lost in this age of celebrities and reality shows and Donald Trump’s monumental ego, stands unadorned. In its daring, its professionalism and its effectiveness, the deed is there, making words look cheap.
The deed was that of the 79 U.S. commandos, who have met with their commander-in-chief, President Obama, and who are known to one another, but are unknown to us. For secrecy is their covenant.
Dispatched from Jalalabad, Afghanistan, at night, into a triangular compound in the Pakistani military town of Abbottabad, they contrived, in 38 minutes, and despite the loss of one helicopter, to kill the charismatic face of Al Qaeda and gather the largest intelligence cache on this murderous organization ever found. It was an extraordinary achievement that put to rest a gnawing American self-doubt.
(More here.)
NYT
NEW YORK — Watching the talk shows, thinking about the tumultuous last American decade, reflecting on the death of Osama bin Laden, I feel grateful for many things but not least this: the invisibility of the heroes.
For once it is the deed itself that speaks. The deed, so often lost in this age of celebrities and reality shows and Donald Trump’s monumental ego, stands unadorned. In its daring, its professionalism and its effectiveness, the deed is there, making words look cheap.
The deed was that of the 79 U.S. commandos, who have met with their commander-in-chief, President Obama, and who are known to one another, but are unknown to us. For secrecy is their covenant.
Dispatched from Jalalabad, Afghanistan, at night, into a triangular compound in the Pakistani military town of Abbottabad, they contrived, in 38 minutes, and despite the loss of one helicopter, to kill the charismatic face of Al Qaeda and gather the largest intelligence cache on this murderous organization ever found. It was an extraordinary achievement that put to rest a gnawing American self-doubt.
(More here.)
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