“The Legacy of Bin Laden” by Immortal Technique
The rapper takes an insightful look at what the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death means for the U.S. now and from a historical perspective in this critical breakdown…
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When the announcement came late last night that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by the United States, many took to Twitter, the streets, and the airwaves to offer snap judgments, brief thoughts, and celebration. Immortal Technique, instead, took a different route. The always critically thinking, socially conscious rhymer decided to reflect. He reflected on the news and what it meant for this country and the world, and he translated those reflections onto digital paper.
This morning, we saw Tech tweet the following: “I wrote a very long essay about Bin Laden and Afghanistan and our involvement with it, but I doubt any of you really want to read it all. There is no link. It’s not posted it’s just sitting here. I haven’t posted it anywhere yet.” We wanted to give a platform for the response of one of hip-hop’s most politically aware minds. Tech in turn bestowed us with this potent, lengthy essay that you’ll find below.
We encourage you to prove him wrong in doubting that anyone will read his words.
In a world that has been flooded by news, there is usually nothing that rises far above the smoldering lava of sensation—that which consumes all truth and absorbs all lies mixing them into a fiery lake or stew of bubbling nonsense. So much so, that to discover glanced over facts, to question people of importance within government or the machine itself leads to the branding of one as a “conspiracy theorist.”
Truthfully, there are many people who lived life with doubt over the facts surrounding 9/11, who felt afraid to express it, probably because they feared being accused of “hating America,” of being “with the terrorists,” hence sympathizing with the people who were responsible for killing all of those who died on 9/11. You talk to people like this at work, you see them walking by you everyday, you can read their rants on message boards or in chat rooms around the world, insulting people who present their doubts. Some choose to not question anything to fit in, others just figure their opinion is irrelevant and doesn’t change anything. After all, there is such thing as human error and no matter how much the government or people in it stand to gain, they could have a made a mistake, by mistake, and not on purpose. Some secrets are best kept secrets in the interest of national security. However, if national security means protecting the abuse of power and the negligence of authority, then it is not the security of a nation that is being protected, but the indulgences of the corrupt.
Of course, the counterpart to this position, which creates the fervor of hatred and disrespectful debate, is the believer of all conspiracy theories and repeater of random information with only websites as sources. The angry person who blows up a postal truck because they think that their tax dollars shouldn’t go to excessive spending, or things like bombing people or paying mercenaries triple for what soldiers should be doing. This person is sometimes purposefully placed in that position and given a platform as a deterrent for the people who actually have a truth to be heard and taken seriously. This is what we term an agent provocateur, a mole planted to make the real issues lose credibility mixed in with insanity.
Not all people who doubt the official version of the story are raving lunatics, though. Some have an honest distrust of their own government. Some are veterans of a war like Vietnam who know that the people who run the United States of America are very capable of lying even to the best and bravest of those who risk their lives to defend the dwindling freedoms that we enjoy. Others are youthful minds, seeking to present themselves as different than the bland and overwhelmingly planned out and boring existence that chokes anything original or radical around them.
For the rest of us that are caught in between, it creates a crushing vice. The overflow of information, whether it was naturally evolving or a deliberate blurring mechanism put into place, distorts everything. And so for the sake of logic and truth, and to put the recent events surrounding Osama Bin Laden in perspective, I have decided to address several points about America’s tumultuous relationship with him.
1. First Impressions
There are people in this country who, when they speak, give you the impression that we never negotiate with terrorists; that our mission is to overthrow dictatorships; that we help the people gain true freedom; and that we do not torture people… But without lending any weight to conspiracy, there is documented evidence that at Guantanamo Bay, at Bagram Airforce base, and other secret locations we have tortured thousands, many wrongly accused, to obtain information. We have supported many more dictatorships than we could ever possibly overthrow because it was necessary for us to be able to have access to natural resources including their cheap labor. Why else would the clothing manufacturers in Honduras quietly lobby for the coup in 2009 and support it? Because the people who make their clothes might Unionize. Collective bargaining, health standards (not even American ones, but that of the nation they are in), humane conditions, all mean cutting into the profit margin and, in case you haven’t noticed, that matters more to corporations than people’s lives. Why do you think a dictatorship like Mubarak’s or the King of Saudi Arabia’s never received the same vitriol and hatred as the democratically elected regime of Hugo Chavez? Because it is not Communism or Socialism or even radical Islam that this country is opposed to. It is any form of government, any regime or any person that stands between the United States and it’s interests that should be considered marked for death. (By the United States, I mean the entities—be they corporate or of some other means—that are responsible for our elected officials being in the positions of power they hold.)
Actually, we have always “negotiated with terrorists.” Iran Contra. “The Surge,” not in troop strength, but also the surge in money we paid armed militias and armed gangs to not fire at American troops. Etc… So it’s clear, we only care about one kind of terrorist. Our terrorist. That person or organization is our dog, and our dog alone. When others use such tactics against us, it is evil, unkind and inhumane. But when we use these approaches against enemies who have already been demonized, then we find some gentle complacency over it instead of the anger and betrayal at our American standard of war. For nothing damages the American pride more than to acknowledge that underneath the stars and stripes, we can be just wicked as everyone else in the world.
wow. long read. but the ending gave me chills
Those were my exact words! Chills! So worth it.
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Strong read but you know people will instantly shove aside without even reading the whole thing.
There was a brief moment last night as I was watching the news, where Immortal Technique popped into my head. I was wondering to myself what he may have been thinking as he watched the news. Im glad you guys posted this & actually reached out to him. This guy is wise beyond his years, and even though I may not always agree with him, it’s always interesting to hear what he has to say… No to mention his music is dope as fuck!
I almost find it surprising that he didn’t start throwing a bunch of crazy conspiracies around but rather just gave us a little history about this whole thing… The 5th section called “What to believe” is a great way of doing it! He simply asked questions, without coming off as a fucking psycho conspiracy theorist, and even made it a point that people often mix up the 2. Personally, I believe the government on this one, & I also congratulate Obama on going through with it…. If you guys actually read how it went down, the you know that was one of the best chess moves in history!!! Obama proved himself again!
Agreed. What did you read about Obama’s “chess move?” Do you think you could post some info on it because one of my friends says that he had nothing to do with the process. I’d like some ammo to shut him up. Thanks
Are you serious? Osama died back in December of 2001. Do your homework. Quit sucking the governments tit.
damn that is hands down the realest shit i ever read
Tim Osman may be “dead”, but nothing will get better. It’ll only get worse.
In history class we had a discussion about Bin Laden’s “death”.I asked my teacher how do we really know that he is dead? I started to ask him a bunch of questions about Bin Laden’s body being dumped into the sea and asking where is the proof. He looked at me & told me I was starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist just because I ask questions and don’t believe everything the news tells me. My friends are just like my teacher. Sometimes I feel like the only young person that gives a damn about being told the truth. But the article was Amazing & the conclusion was great.
Keep asking questions. I’m a senior in high school, about to graduate, and I’ve slowly transformed into the person that I am today. The pace was sped up over the past year or so, I’ve become much more knowledgeable about many different things… (and hey, Immortal Technique, Lowkey, etc. are great teachers via music :D) Anyway, yes, continue asking questions. I know how it feels to be ridiculed simply for asking questions..one of my friends asked me “why do you care so much about world issues?” :-/ I was kind of speechless. Meh…you just have to press on and keep asking those questions, continue trying to educate others, and continue spreading information and knowledge. You’re not alone in this.
Thanks. It feels good to know that another young person feels the same way.
a recent study suggested that 1 out of 2 conspiracy theorists is gay, which one of you is it?
me :) and proud of it
I’m a Junior in high school and when we discussed this in class, I as well started asking questions, and not to my surprise, the rest of my class looked at me as if I was dumb. Thankfully, my teacher isn’t too tied down by the governent and system and has his own beliefs and actually agrees with me on some of the “conspiracies” I bring up in class. But for the students at my school, I’m POSITIVE I’m the only student at school that actually concerns myself with history and such outside of what we’re told in the classroom. It amazes me how oblivious the majority of people are to the facts.
But I agree, keep questioning and sticking to your beliefs, don’t let any criticism put you down or make you step down.
And btw (allhiphop>xxlmag), I’m gay too, and proud as well :)
ha
lulz
You are one of us dude…People are like sheep.They believe everything and it suits them that way.its the way they grew up.Theyve only learned how to study for school and etc and never investigate about the world and the real truth
To both of the young brothers asking questions… don’t ever stop! When it was my time in high school, me and my friends were the ones asking questions about death squads in El Salvador trained by U.S. soldiers and CIA tools at the School of the Americas, and a pending U.S. invasion of Central America. We were questioning the morally bankrupt and intellectually crippled foreign policy of the nascent Reagan administration and his gang of cowboys in the basement of the West Wing… not that much has changed in the last 30 some years… If I have any regrets, it’s that my generation wasn’t strong enough or smart enough to stop this shit in its tracks. So it’s up to you now… Don’t ever stop questioning; in our Republic it’s our only weapon, keep it strapped with the safety off…
Haha same here I ask questions but I already knew the answer to it. Always like hearing the opinions of others. The thing I hate the most is the people who here music like Immortal Technique but don’t have clue what the song is about. Hope Immortal Technique writes a book or something like that.
You ask questions that you already know the answer to? That means you aren’t asking the right questions.
They’re called rhetorical questions. The answer to the question is obvious they’re just designed to make people think or to showcase a thought process.
Ask questions! Keep asking questions!
I feel excatly the same way you feel.me and my friend are the only people who are willing to ask this questions. i asked my teacher to play a song by tecnique since she played a patriotic song in class. She said no.
The rest of the students are very empty minded and like tecnique said it in this, they used what the news says as their talking points.
Its a shame that people are not imformed and refuse to inform themselves.
but your not the only one, theres more people out there hungry for the truth than you think.(:
It’s funny – the Republicans reiterated this exact argument (re-phrased a bit though) about Obama’s birth before he released his birth certificate.
Oh, the irony.
@ gwen… i know how you feel, at just 22 years old all of my peers are distracted by nonsense. If i were to judge the future based upon the youth i would say we dont have one. look to older people for wisdom, they dont just speculate on some things but in many cases have experienced it, and when a peer comes to you with something thought provocing, try to facilitate that thought process regardless of the implications that may arise. it is better to ask questions and be wrong, then to assume you are correct and be quiet.
much respect and love to this man… great read
Thank you for this.
this “war on terror” is far from over. thousands/millions will be slaughtered as blood thirsty men from both sides refuse to see eye to eye that they are both the enemy.
those celebrating osama’s “death” refuse to understand that, even though osama is/was a horrible man – and murdered men in the name of jihad or himself – he didn’t deserve a celebration. millions will spring up in his place.
i agree with you immortal tech – what we know as “conspiracy theorists” is just scratching the surface.
This kind of thing really shows how incredibly different separate artists can be. Some artists talk about shooting cops. Some artists constantly battle other MCs for money. Immortal Technique makes great music and writes a lengthy essay regarding his views on the supposed death of a terrorist and how he feels it will affect the world as a whole. Both of these artists may use the same medium(hip hop) from time to time, but they have two completely separate approaches. One is angry and only expresses his anger through music and violence. The other, Technique, examines worldly affairs and contributes many facts and opinions through literature. I believe that any artists, regardless of their medium, could learn something from this man. I believe that everyone can learn something from everyone. People just need to start relying on their selves more. The fact that a news station like fox exists and thrives is only a reflection on the intelligence of this nation as a whole. Peace!
You’re telling me Immortal technique isn’t in the violent rapper list? That is pretty stupid.
If you think Tech is on the violent rapper list then you just don’t understand. You’re taking what he says out of context and truly don’t grasp what he is doing. To call somebody stupid over something you can’t contemplate is pretty ignorant.
you seem like the kind of guy who hasn’t heard “The Poverty of Philosophy” yet
No. I think that he is definitely violent. That is what makes him so real.