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Politico...
Osama bin Laden’s
death brings celebration, unity – and questions
By Ben Smith & Glenn Thrush
5/2/11
Photo: ‘Yet, his death
does not mark the end of our effort,’ President Obama said Sunday. |
Reuters
The daring U.S. military operation that killed Osama bin Laden early
Sunday morning in Pakistan brought a decisive end to the chase that
frustrated three American presidents and symbolized the inability of
history’s greatest power to defeat small groups of extremists.
President Barack Obama’s announcement Sunday night touched off a wave
of public elation, as chants from a raucous crowd outside the White
House alternated between “U.S.A.” and “Hey, hey, hey, goodbye.” Family
members of bin Laden’s American victims wept with joy and relief. And
the news produced something approaching national unity at a divided
moment, as Republican presidential candidates put aside their criticism
to praise the administration and the military for a daring strike
inside Pakistan.
And yet the president’s late night statement, perhaps his purest moment
of connection with the American people, left unresolved the lingering
question of whether – after the emotional satisfaction, symbolic echo,
and propaganda victory – the death of Al Qaeda’s hunted leader would
bear heavily on U.S. national security.
“The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date
in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda,” Obama said. “Yet his death
does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that Al Qaeda
will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will —
remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
For Obama, who has been sharply criticized for his lack of decisiveness
in the early stages of the Libya operation, and dismissed as a military
naif by conservatives — the decision to approve the raid on Abbottabad
was an enormous risk. There was no guarantee bin Laden was actually in
the compound, and no assurance that the Navy SEALs helicoptered into
the compound wouldn’t share the fate of the eight service members who
died in Jimmy Carter’s “Desert One” failed attempt to rescue American
hostages in Iran three decades ago.
“I give the president full credit for this, it took a lot of guts,”
said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.),
whose district was home to dozens of New York City firefighters and
cops killed in the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept 11th 2001.
“He’s the commander-in-chief, he was the guy who put it on the line.
There was no guarantee –none - that this would work. We could have had
our helicopters shot down… It was a really delicate operation.”
Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat who represents nearby Queens, was more
pointed: “This was a ‘mission accomplished’ moment President Bush could
have only dreamed of.”
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