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 Obama admin.Bush administration on 9/11 and the war on terror Bin LadenTerrorist Cowardice Anachronism Un-Islamic “the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States” (Bush 20/1/2004) “cowardly assaults” (Bush 11/9/2001) “like the fascists and totalitarians before them…” (Bush 6/11/2001) “the innocent victims of these terrorists include many Muslims” (Cheney 18/10/2001) US violences Heroic Determined Legitimate Just “We will win the war on terror – no doubt in my mind – thanks to the heroism of our fighting troops…and thanks to the hard work of government officials here at home” (Bush 10/7/2002) [we will] “…pursue those responsible for this evil, until justice is done” (Bush 13/9/2001).

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