We [For]got Him: Narrative forgetting and bin Laden’s death

1. We [For]got Him:Narrative forgetting and bin Laden’s death Lee Jarvis (Swansea) and Jack Holland (Surrey)

2. Overview • 3 aspects in the narration of bin Laden’s killing: • The operation: success and desirability • Bin Laden: the man and his life • Consequences of his death • 2 observations: • Continuity with the ‘war on terror’ • Internal discontinuity in recounting of this event. • Gradual ‘forgetting’ of bin Laden and his death. • 1 argument: • Both contributed to this killing’s legitimisation. • Implications of forgetting for (liberal) violence?

3. Aims and methodology • 2 literatures: • (i) Discursive and/or performative productions of (counter-) terrorism • (ii) Social and narrative memory (and forgetting) • Attempted contributions: • Empirical: bin Laden’s killing is as yet under-explored • Conjunctural: war on terror’s longevity • Conceptual: legitimisation of violences via memory & forgetting • Methodology: • Emphasis on White House, DoD, intelligence community • Bin Laden’s death (May 2011) to 2012 State of Union • Incorporates 9/11’s tenth anniversary.

4. 1) Killing bin Laden (successfully) • ‘Dead’, ‘deceased’, ‘eliminated’ • ‘…killed by US bullets’ (Senior Defense and Intelligence Officials, 2 May 2011). • ‘Removed’, ‘got’, ‘gone’, and ‘lost’ • “…finally where he belongs” (Gates, 27 May 2011). • The mission’s success: • Heroism: • “…a small group of brave men, dropped by helicopter, half a world away in the dead of night” (M. Obama, 7 May 2011). • Professionalism: • “…the entire world saw the precision and skill of our military” (Panetta, 8 August). • Determined: • “The number one priority was to get Osama bin Laden” (Biden, 6 May 2011).

5. 1) Killing bin Laden (legitimately) • Justice • “Justice has been done” (Obama 2 May 2011). • Precision: • Minimising of “collateral damage” (Brennan, 2 May 2011). • Global support: • “Americans and people around the world are glad he’s gone” (Carney, 4 May). • Also, treatment of bin Laden’s body: • “…the respect that was shown to him and his body was far greater than the respect that Osama bin Laden showed to the victims on 9/11 or any of his other victims” (Carney, 4 May 2011). • Legality: • Far sparser: ‘laws of war’, and imminence of al Qaeda’s threat. • Obama “…had the right and the imperative to do this” (Carney, 9 May 2011).

6. 2) Obituarising bin Laden • An active terrorist: • “…the most infamous terrorist of our time” (Obama et al 20 May 2011). • “…bin Laden remained an active leader in al Qaeda, providing strategic, operational and tactical instructions to the group” (Senior Intelligence Official, 7 May 2011). • Of contingent connection to Islam: • “…a mass murderer of Muslims” (Obama 2 May 2011).

7. 2) Obituarising bin Laden • Further discrediting… • Cowardly: • “…living in an area that is far removed from the front, hiding behind women who were put in front of him as a shield” (Brennan 2 May 2011). • Cosseted: • “living, relatively speaking, high on the hog” (Senior Defence Official, 2 May 2011). • Narcissistic: • “…you can see that his beard has been dyed black…He jealously guarded his image” (Senior Intelligence Official, 7 May 2011). • Anachronistic: • “…he was a relic of the past, in many ways… a representation of everything they don’t want” (Carney, 3 May 2011).

8. 3) After bin Laden • Bin Laden’s death as a: • “monumental event” (Carney 4 May 2011); “extraordinary event” (Biden 2 May 2011). • Four consequences posited: • 1: Impact on al Qaeda: • “the most significant victory yet in our war to defeat al Qaeda” (Obama, 2 May 2011). • Decapitating, “the head of the snake” (Brennan 2 May 2011). • Should “…send a signal to every member of al Qaeda and every affiliate” (Senior Defense Official, 2 May 2011). • “al Qaeda, bin Laden – old news” (Brennan 2 May 2011).

9. 3) After bin Laden • 2: (Inter)national security • “bin Laden will never again threaten the United States of America” (Obama, 18 May 2011). • “…the world is a safer place today, not only for the American people, but for all people” (Biden, 4 May 2011). • 3: US/Pakistani relations: • “…it’s a relationship we just have to keep working at” (Gates, 24 May 2011). • 4: For America(ns): • “…a historic week in the life of our nation” (Obama 6 May 2011). • “…a reminder of what we’re about as a people” (ibid). • “a moment long in coming, for the 9/11 families, for this city, and for our nation” (Lynne 11 May 2011).

10. Remembering (and) the war on terror

11. Forgetting [and] bin Laden’s death • On forgetting: • Forgetting, frequently, forgotten in memory research: methodological and normative reasons. • Yet, growing literature on types, stimuli and impacts of forgetting. • Bin Laden’s death: • Forgetting via covert and overt silences (Vinitzky-Seroussi & Tegger 2010). • Explanations and implications? • WoT’s earlier departure from bin Laden as yardstick. • Nation-building: a space to revisit 9/11. • Events: Arab spring, withdrawal from Afghanistan, and ‘business as usual’. • Legitimacy to his killing.

12. Conclusion • Explorations of terrorism and discourse: • (Re)writing of bin Laden, his death, and its significance in the aftermath of these events. • Continuity of war on terror discourse. • Explorations of memory and forgetting: • Gradual de-emphasising of bin Laden’s centrality to this story, and of the facts of his killing.

13. Thank you for your time