Residents react to news of bin Laden’s death

Ken Oikonen is shedding no tears for the death of Osama bin Laden.

“He caused a lot of pain, a lot of heartache for a lot of people (taking down the World Trade Centre) and the Pentagon. I think today for the relatives is kind of a mixture of being glad that they got him, but it still doesn’t bring back all the people that passed away on that tragic, tragic day on 9/11,” the Thunder Bay resident said Monday.

Bin Laden, perched atop the FBI’s most wanted list for his connections to several deadly terrorist attacks, had eluded capture for more than a decade, was killed Sunday by American special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

“I’m one guy that now he’s gone, I’m glad,” Oikonen said. “I don’t think it’s going to end. I think you’ll always have to be on guard because they may try to retaliate, obviously. The war’s not over, far from it, but they cut off the head. He was the guy that planned 9/11. It took a long time, but they did get him, hats off to the Navy Seals.”

Kelly von Bargen said she found out by word-of-mouth, as news of his death spread rapidly late Sunday night.

Not that she’s too concerned.

“It doesn’t affect me really at all,” she said, readying to vote in Monday’s federal election. “I don’t really think we should be fighting those wars. I’m surprised it’s still happening 10 years later. I don’t think it’s going to affect my voting or how I choose to live my life every day.”

However, despite her confidence, von Bargen said repercussions from the Middle East are a very real possibility.

“The U.S. is calling it a win and hopefully and end on things. It’s probably going to cause al-Qaidi to disband a little bit. But I think there’s other major issues happening in the Middle East and I don’t think this is the end of it,” she said.

Like Oikonen, Eveyln Ide said she can’t say she was sorry at the news. His death, while symbolic, won’t have much of an impact on the war on terrorism, she fears.

“I really don’t feel that it will stop the terrorism at all,” she said. “There may be a backlash, possibly. It’s hard to say. They think in different terms that we do in North America.”

However, she’s not worried about any retaliation reaching the shores of Lake Superior.

“No, they don’t know we exist,” she said.

John Gernat is glad bin Laden is gone.

“He killed a lot of people. Maybe they’ll stop the war all the Canadians and Americans have been fighting,” he said.

Jerzy Jakubowski said the U.S. strike was good, though it took a little longer than he liked to have seen.

“It would have been nice if it could have happened the first or second year, but anyway, it’s good. Terrorists should be gone. We should not have terrorists in the world. They are terrible for everybody, for business, for the economy, for peace in the world,” he said.

Nationally the RCMP on Monday said they are reviewing and assessing bin Laden’s death to determine if there’s any possible impact on Canada.

A phone call to the Thunder Bay International Airports Authority to ask about any potential delays or heightened security measures was not immediately returned Monday afternoon.