Wizards of Oz

"Life is fraughtless ... when you're thoughtless."

28.5.12

Memorial Day

2.5.12

Cross-Cultural Worries


In the early morning hours of May 2nd, 2011 (Pakistani time), Operation NEPTUNE SPEAR (a kill-or-capture mission targeting Osama bin Laden) was successfully conducted. And now that we are nearing the anniversary of that operation, the Homeland Security channels are buzzing with warnings of "retaliatory acts". Nothing substantiated, of course, but warnings nonetheless.

Isn't it odd that our security and intelligent apparati bring this up now, one Gregorian year after the event? Rather than the Hijri anniversary, which came and went uneventfully a couple weeks ago?

The death of Osama bin Laden was on May 2nd, 2011 -- which is the 28th of Jumada al-awwal in the Islamic Year 1432. And the 28th of Jumada al-awwal, 1433, occurred on April 20th, 2012.

A colleague aptly characterized this as our penchant for "worrying cross-culturally".