Osama Dead - Victory in Sight

Perhaps no one really believes this or understands it yet, but the manner of Bin Laden’s death is also very important.  With it, just as with the death of Che Guevara, a legend also dies, ignomously in a short fire fight trapped in his den at the hands of a US combat unit.  This will end the allure of martyrdom for millions of young Muslim boys because the end was both bad and the outcome of Bin Laden’s war on the USA so clearly final.

It has been made clear that his act of terror was another exercise in outright suicide, even though he put it off for a decade.

The organization has been gone for some time now and only finds expression through copy cats.  I suspect even that will largely end now.  After all, the Islamic world has far bigger issues to address in the challenge of eliminating dictatorships and establishing democratic forms.  That will draw down all their energies.

So most will agree that it is too early to declare the war of terror either over or won, we can expect the threat level to drop off sharply if not completely.  I think imitating Bin Laden’s fate will hold little attraction now he has been killed and thrown in the ocean to feed the fishes.

I may be wrong and optimistic, but I do think it is over but for a little mopping up which just became much easier.

The real counter to radical Islam for Muslims everywhere has been the actions of Al Qaeda, just as the counter to fascism globally was the actions of Hitler.  What is rising now are Muslim societies truly inoculated against such radicalism.  This is a reason for real optimism.

Bin Laden's Death Climaxes Decade of Detective Work

Monday, 02 May 2011 10:19 AM

By Henry J. Reske

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/BinLaden-detective-al-Qaida/2011/05/02/id/394784?s=al&promo_code=C2F8-1

The effort of U.S. forces to find and bring Osama bin Laden to justice for murdering thousands of innocent Americans was years in the making and often marked by dead ends and frustration. However, the tide turned in August when bin Laden’s trusted courier was located in a secure and large compound just 35 miles from the Pakistani capital, The New York Times reported. 

Intelligence operatives surmised that such a compound was not designed for a courier, no matter how trusted, and spent weeks monitoring the site in Abbottabad before determining that the al-Qaida leader was the main resident. The trigger was pulled Sunday and he was shot in the head while he tried to resist the assault, the Times reported.

American military and intelligence forces chased bin Laden for nearly a decade after losing him at Tora Bora, in the mountains of Afghanistan. The courier first became known from detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, four years ago, according to the Times.

The years of sleuthing led to the million-dollar mansion in Abbottabad, set on a hilltop and surrounded by 12-foot-high concrete walls topped with barbed wire. The compound was built to hide bin Laden in 2005, the Times reported.

President Barack Obama began a series of meetings in March to plan for the operation, the Times reported. The meetings continued even as the White House worked to deal with a possible government shutdown over the budget. The final meeting took place Friday morning, when the president signed off on the operation before traveling to Alabama to view the devastating tornado damage, according to the Times.