The End of Osama

After a ten-year manhunt, Osama Bin Laden is dead, killed by a joint CIA and Navy Seal attack on his fortress mansion outside of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

That sentence includes a lot of stuff that raises questions that won't be answered right away. Most of the world is pleased to know that he is gone. Some are not happy and some are threatening revenge. But the attack was quick, well executed and over in 40 minutes.

The individual Navy Seals were trained and ready and eager to take out Osama. The operation came off with only a few minor glitches. President Obama didn't personally pull the trigger but he put the operation in place and decided to take the risk of sending US soldiers into Pakistan without that country's knowledge to attack Bin Laden's compound. He and his advisors were tied into the operation by video as it took place and the pictures of that group clearly shows the gravity of the situation...especially since one of the helicopters was disabled and had to be destroyed on the ground. 

The operation not only killed Bin Laden and removed his body but also resulted in the capture of a tremendous amount of intelligence information from computers and other items in the compound. This information is probably more important than the actual elimination of Bin Laden.

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President Obama deserves a lion's share of the credit and most Americans are recognizing his role in this. Fox News, always a group of idiots, managed to get the news headline wrong and didn't recognize their error -- "Obama Bin Laden Dead".  That's giving them the benefit of the doubt because they can't pass up a chance to smear the President.

The Bush team has been busy trying to paint themselves as heros and it has been very self-serving. They are using this as a rationale to support their practices of torture and water-boarding. Time will tell whether any of that actually provided useful information...most experts say it doesn't help and we know that some information obtained this way is false.

I, of course, missed the news as it was happening but there were spontaneous celebrations in New York and at the White House that went long into the night. I found out about it in the morning and everyone looked exhausted.

It was a good day for the USA but I don't think this really changes much.Terrorists are still out there.  It is the end of a chapter and it may bring "closure" for some people who lost friends and relatives in the 9-11 attacks. The psychological impact is important. Napoleon said "Victory comes to those who persevere" and I would have to agree.

Actual picture of deceased Osama Bin Laden:

(Top secret)