OCRACOKE ISLAND: “Good riddance, although we should not rejoice in a death, any death,” said a tall, rough man with two dogs when asked what he thought of the US decision to eliminate Ayman al Zawahiri.

In Ocracoke, and in the nearby island of Hatteras, people paused to learn about how Zawahiri was killed by a US drone in Kabul before they resumed whatever Americans do during summer vacations — fishing, eating crab cakes and drinking beer.

Ocracoke is where the much romanticised British-American pirate Blackbeard (Edward Teach) was killed on Nov 22, 1718. But people on this island still talk about him, as do the residents of Hatteras. He is the local hero.

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The man with the two dogs, who only gave his first name Joe, has “friends and relatives who have served” in Afghanistan. That’s why he was keener than others to talk about the Afghan war.

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“This is a good use of technology. Instead of sending our young men and women in harm’s way, we should let the machines do this job.”

North Carolina, where the two islands are, is a big recruitment state for the US military, 4th after large states like California, Texas, and Virginia. So, it’s not difficult to find military veterans here and since the Afghan war is the longest in the US history, it’s not difficult to find those who have served there and are willing to talk about the war.

“Yes, it was a long war, and we should not have allowed it to drag on for so long,” said Shawn, one of those veterans.

“It’s all politics,” said Joe, adding: “Remember how they facilitated the Bin Laden family’s return to Saudi Arabia after 9/11?” Both thought that the United States had “enough power and technology to eliminate bad guys” and should use its power to “get rid of those bad guys”.

Liz, a visitor from Virginia but not a veteran, however, said international politics was “much more complicated than these two understand”.

“The use of power is important and necessary. But what’s even more important is to “understand the complexities of a dispute.”

The United States, she added, “had to retaliate after 9/11, so we did. But we also lost our focus when we got involved in the Iraq war.”

But all three agreed that “taking out Zawahiri was a good thing.”

Joe recalled how the then Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood had to kill Blackbeard.

Blackbeard, born in Bristol England in 1680, was a much-feared pirate who operated along the coasts of West Indies and the eastern shores of Britain’s North American colonies. Later in life, he gave up piracy and accepted a royal pardon. But had to be killed when he resumed his activities.

“There’s no place for pirates in today’s world,” said Liz. “They need to understand that they cannot beat the governments anymore. They are too powerful.”

When she learned that our group included Muslim journalists, she advised us to “educate your people on how raw power no longer works. If you need to be strong, build your economy.”

After this brief discussion, we went to the sea, first near Hatteras Tower, which is considered a major achievement of modern engineering. Built in 1870 on a small island, in 1999 it was moved 2,900 feet southwest from its original location to save it from a collapse.

The sea was rough and big. It was cool too, So, dipping in the water was pleasant on this hot summer day. But the big sea had no fish for us.

“We could not even get fried fish at Ocracoke. We would have been happy with okra (bhindi) and Coke as well. But those were unavailable. We only got ice cream.”

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2022