Osama bin Laden is Dead

U.S. news sources are reporting that Osama bin Laden is dead. He was apparently killed in U.S. air strikes a week ago but news of his death have been withheld until his body was identified and confirmation of his death could be conclusive. Read more below.

Osama bin Laden was the head of the al-Qaeda terrorists network and mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Those attacks were the worst attacks on the United States in its history, bringing down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and damaging the Pentagon in Washington, D. C. as well as killing the passengers of United 93 flight that was brought down when the passengers of that flight prevented the terrorists from taking it to whatever its destination might have been.

What does it mean that Osama bin Laden is dead? It means that al-Qaeda will have another leader immediately and the Global War on Terrorism will continue unabated. However, the death of Osama bin Laden is no less an event that is one to celebrate.

From ABC news:

His place in American history is relatively new, but in a short time he left a violent mark.

In 1993, bin Laden was linked by U.S. officials to the bombing of the World Trade Center that killed six people. He is also believed to have orchestrated at least a dozen attacks, some successful, some not. Among the worst of these were two truck bombings, both on Aug. 7, 1998, of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Clinton responded with cruise missile attacks on suspected al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. In November 1998, the U.S. State Department promised $5 million to anyone with information leading to bin Laden’s arrest.

Despite attempts to apprehend him, bin Laden eluded the American government and continued plotting against it.

The same group, with bin Laden at the helm, is widely believed to be responsible for the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole.

Then came the stunning Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. On a clear, late-summer morning, two hijacked commercial jets flew into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. About an hour later, another hijacked airliner slammed into the Pentagon in the nation’s capital. A fourth hijacked jet did not reach its target, crashing in western Pennsylvania instead.

When the massive towers collapsed in flames, nearly 3,000 people perished. Among those lost in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania were the 19 hijackers, most of whom have been linked to al Qaeda operations. Bin Laden denied involvement in the attacks, but he praised the hijackers for their acts. The U.S. government nevertheless regarded the terrorist leader as its prime suspect and stepped up the manhunt.

In March 2005, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf admitted that bin Laden had been in Pakistan in the spring of 2004 and was almost captured. Intelligence officials said they believed he was hiding in the rugged mountains that straddle the border with Afghanistan. The U.S. government even launched a series of television and radio ads in Pakistan trumpeting the $25 million reward for his capture.

In January 2006, a purported Bin Laden audio tape was released where a male voice threatens the United States with more attacks on U.S. soil.

It is fantastic news that this mass-murdering terrorist is dead. All credit for his death goes to our fine men in uniform who have worked and sacrificed tirelessly over the past 10-years to bring the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks to justice. There is nothing but good that can come from the death of Osama bin Laden. Still, we need to always remember that another leader is always in the wings when in comes to al-Qaeda and another other terrorist group.

Although, I see the fact that Osama bin Laden is dead as a good reason to bring our Soldiers home from where ever they are in the world. We had no choice but to go to war, but then it was executed in a way that left our Soldiers in the situation of doing social work in foreign lands as opposed to being Soldiers and working under conditions of Rules of Engagement that were nothing if untenable. Bring them home now. The Global War on Terrorism will continue as they (the Islamists) continue to be at war with us), but until we can allow our Soldiers to fight and defend themselves, they don’t need to be put in harms way. They need some respite. Osama bin Laden is dead. Let this be the point at which we bring our Soldiers home.