Bashir, i do hope too that Somalia can gain peace and stability, without the afflication of rampant wahhabism and terrorism.

But otherwise, your article is at best naive, at worst, intentionally blinkered.

If Osama Bin Laden had never been, or never been radicalised, things would not have been that different, in my opinion. Bin Laden was radicalised by a combinant of the toxic Wahhabism born in the desert wilderness that was once the stomping ground of the Saudis, prior to their elevation by the British, and by the fact that many Muslim lands continue to be oppressed across the world - whether by the Mubarak/Assad/Hussein types or India/Russia/Israel.

Chechnya, Palestine, Kashmir, Pattaniya, Moroland, Turkestan are all home to native Muslim populations are military occupation and oppression - this was the case prior to Bin Laden, and continues to be now. Add to this the oppressive nature of many Muslim governments, some of which were established by the West, or supported by the West, others which are simply corrupt, oligarchic and undemocratic. All of this was the bed that Bin Laden was planted in - if it had not been him, it would have been someone else. He was a product of his time, not the originator of his time.

Had the Arab Spring happened in the 70s, would history have been different?

I agree with jon underwood that the article is naive. Worse, it is seriously ill-informed.
Bin Laden came to prominence in the 1980s when he joined the American and Saudi financed mujihideen forces being trained in Pakistan to wage guerilla war against the Soviets then in Afghanistan and further into the Muslim areas of adjoining nations including the then USSR, India and China.
Al quaeda is an arabic term meaning the "data base", i.e the names of radical Muslims who were prepared to fight against infidels around the world. None of this is new. It is spelled out in such books as Scott's American War Machine, Coll's Ghost Wars and Brezenski's Grand Chessboard.
The weight of evidence still favours the view that bin Laden died from his many acute medical problems in December 2001 (see Griffin 2010).
The more one hears about the latest exercise in American lawlessness the less credible it becomes. Almost every facet of the original story has been changed. The rest such as claimed DNA evidence (not produced) photos (not produced) autopsy (not possible because already dumped at sea) and the fantastic explanations put forward (respect for Muslim tradition etc) do not pass the laugh test let alone the smell test.
As expected however the terminally compliant corporate media faithfully reproduce the official lies, just as they did with JFK, the Tonkin Gulf incident, Iraq's weapons of mass destruction etc ad nauseum.
The latest fiction has some potentially alarming portents. I suspect the real reason for the current claim is to set the stage for another false flag attack, allegedly in retaliation by outraged "al quaeda" types, thus setting the stage for an attack upon Iran, Pakistan, (take your pick).

You can find a long, but far from comprehensive, ongoing list of the deaths, injuries and distress caused by religion here:

http://religiousatrocities.wordpress.com/

Very few of them have anything to do with Osama Bin Laden.

Quote: ...Bin Laden's departure closes a dark and painful era of division and hostility between the west and the Muslim world.

In your dreams! Read the news. Look at the comments in Muslim blogs. The fact is that the Muslim world will continue to hate and attack the West. That is the way Islam is, that is what it teaches and that is what many Muslims do. Those that do not oppress and kill (like you) just look the other way and make excuses. Read the Quran. It says "fight them (those evil nonMuslims) until they submit". That statement is not qualified in any way. It is an open-ended command to make war (jihad) on nonMuslims.

As to the "Arab youth inspired revolutions" or "Arab Spring" happening this year - nothing good will happen. Those Arab countries in revolt will not become democracies much less respect human rights. Look at Egypt - the military is in charge. It is Nassar all over. What we will see is one group of vile, corrupt people being replaced by another group even more violent and corrupt, probably the brotherhood.

Muslims are incapable of democracy, respecting human rights or living in peace with others. Even if they achieve these goals for a while, it will not last. Look at Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey. These are going downhill, becoming more fundamentalist.

As I have said before, it was a sad day for the West when they let massive numbers of Muslims immigrate. This will cause pain, suffering and death.

Mr. Goth, I looked at your blog and I am not impressed. You need to visit the real world. You describe the horrors of Somalia, but refuse to link any of those actions to islam and its teachings - except to say it is all a big misunderstanding. As to the youth of Somalia, they will continue to radicalize. Most of them will chose hate and death over liberty, happiness and productive lives. They will respond to the siren call of the radicals because the radicals understand islam better than you.

Bad times are coming.

Osama bin Laden’s death will not cause any improvement in relations between Islam and the West, because Islam’s own holy teachings demand that Muslims be hostile and aggressive towards non Muslims. Osama bin Laden was simply doing what Allah commanded all Muslims to do.

Another factor which ex Somali Bashir Goth might consider when opining about whether there can be any improvement in the reputations of Muslims in the west, is the self continuing problem of serious criminal behaviour engaged in by too many Muslims who live in Western countries. It is not just the fact that there have been three Somali “beauty pageants” in Melbourne which have turned into riots, complete with numerous stabbings. The problem goes much deeper than that.

There are the little problems of Salmon Rushdie, the Danish cartoons, and Islam’s problem with Freedom of Speech. Then there is the problem that 50% of the inmates in French prisons are Muslims, and the French police will not even enter some Muslim arrondissments of Paris without armoured cars and sub machine guns, for fear of being attacked by “Frenchmen”. France may just as well haul down the Tricolour in those areas and haul up the green flag of Islam.

And Islam has a big problem in Sydney, when Australia leading Muslim cleric goes around telling his flock that Australian women are “cat meat”, implying that they deserve to get raped, and if they are raped by a Believer, it is all their own fault. The continuing problem of young Muslim women being admitted to Bankstown hospital for the treatment of “complications” arising from illegal circumcisions, might also join your list.

Last but not least, you could address the totally unacceptable behaviour of gangs of young Muslim men who seem to delight in intimidating young Australian couples in nightclubs and on beaches. But I don’t think that is going to happen. The young Muslims are simply emulating Osama by doing the bidding of Allah and His Prophet.

I'm not sure that Bin Laden's death may end a painful era for the Muslim world as I don't think that Western interference is going to stop any time soon. The solidarity of any community is enhanced if it perceives a common outside threat. Westerners political interference as well as the impact of Western culture is the basis of fundamentalist hostility. Until that is lessened nothing will change.