When a terrorist dies, is it OK to gloat?

NEW YORK - When Hyojin Jenny Hwang wrote on Facebook that she was saddened by the sight of young Americans like herself jubilantly cheering Osama bin Laden's death, the angry response was swift, even from friends.

"One friend told me she felt judged for feeling happy," said the 30-year-old mother from New Jersey. "And another one simply unfriended me on Facebook."

As the hours passed, though, and the initial giddiness settled a bit, Hwang, who says she feels strongly that a death should not be celebrated, received messages of support from people similarly unnerved by the scenes of euphoria. Those scenes have included chants of "USA! USA!" at the White House gates and ground zero; signs such as "Obama 1, Osama 0"; or T-shirts now available online, saying "GOT HIM!" and illustrated by a stick figure of a dead bin Laden.

It's one thing to be satisfied that the world's most wanted terrorist has been killed by a U.S. Navy SEAL unit in Pakistan. But where does satisfaction end and gloating begin? It's a question being posed online by ordinary Americans, religious figures, various commentators and several 9/11 widows. And it's bound to be on President Barack Obama's mind as he treads that fine line in a visit today to ground zero.

Could Obama's visit in itself be interpreted as gloating? The president, who decided Wednesday not to release gruesome death photos of bin Laden so as not to "spike the football," seems well aware of the dangers. He planned a somber and quiet New York visit - no speech, the White House said, just laying a wreath at the World Trade Center site and meeting privately with families and first responders.

"The president thinks it's entirely fitting and appropriate to visit the site ... in the wake of this significant and cathartic moment for the American people," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

The trip had support from the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who said the president "should be here meeting the families," and from the tabloid Daily News, which called the visit "most welcome at this hour of national unity and uplift."

It was impossible to tell whether those Americans feeling uneasy with Sunday's scenes of celebration were in the majority or minority; the few polls conducted since the news broke haven't asked the question. But for three women who lost husbands on Sept. 11, the jubilant scenes were disturbing.

Kristen Breitweiser said they brought back images of bin Laden supporters celebrating in the streets on that infamous day in 2001.

"Forgive me, but I don't want to watch uncorked champagne spill onto hallowed ground where thousands were murdered in cold blood," she wrote Monday on The Huffington Post. "And it breaks my heart to witness young Americans cheer any death - even the death of a horrible, evil, murderous person - like it is some raucous tailgate party on a college campus. Why are we not somber?"

Another 9/11 widow, Marian Fontana, wrote on Salon of how her son, Aidan, who was 5 when his father died, had gone to school on Monday and called at lunchtime, wanting to come home.

"Everyone is talking about bin Laden. In every class, they are happy he is dead, but I don't feel happy," she said he told her.

Online, some Americans said they saw absolutely nothing wrong with Sunday's outpouring.

"If you cannot cheer about the demise of a truly wicked man who took so much from us, what do you celebrate?" asked Edward Hannigan, 45, of Chico Hills, Calif., editor of an online music magazine, on Facebook. In another post, he added: "I'm damn happy he's dead. And on top of that, I hope it hurt. A lot."

But Donna Guhr, a waitress in Crestone, Colo., refused to cheer. "Out of ALL the people here in my town I've spoken with I only know two people who agree with the celebrating," she wrote, also on Facebook. "Gives me hope."