Sunday night is not usually a big night for news in the United States, but tonight, May 1st 2011 brought one of the biggest pieces of news in a long time. Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11 and the leader of Al-Qaida was killed in Pakistan.
According to the president, American intelligence learned of a possible lead to Bin Laden in August of 2010 and have been working since then to accomplish the mission. A small team of U.S. forces launched the attack on the terrorist camp where he was hiding, and killed Bin Laden in the ensuing firefight. The body of Bin Laden is in U.S. custody and no American were wounded during the operation.
This is a major victory for America in the war on terror. According to President Obama, the killing of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s struggle to defeat al-Qaida” (CBS News). You might disagree, but we can all agree that this is the most significant achievement, at least symbolically, in the war on terror thus far. Almost 10 years after our country suffered its most horrific terrorist attack, the person responsible has been killed, and as President Obama said “Justice has been done.”
The war on terror will continue undoubtedly. Al-Qaida is notorious for their lack of central leadership and many cells will continue to operate and possibly plan retribution attacks for the killing of Bin Laden. This victory remains a significant event however, one that will help to heal our nations psychological wounds after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and one that will hopefully help to bring a sense of closure to the families of those who were lost on that tragic day.