Osama bin Laden. Dead May 1, 2011.  Nearly 10 years after the surprise attack on Sept 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden is dead.  A senior U.S. official told CNN Sunday near midnight that Sept 11 financier bin Laden was killed by the US military in a mansion outside of Islamabad, Pakistan. It was long since believed that bin Laden was hiding out in that country following the 2001 bombing campaign that began the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.  With bin Laden’s passing, and Saddam Hussein long gone, Americans’ next question will be whether we can finally end this war on terrorism and bring the troops home.  President Barack Obama and his generals will have a harder time convincing Americans in the months ahead that a military presence of any size is warranted in both Iraq and Afghanistan now that the phantom menace and leader of the main anti-US and anti-Western terrorist organization is no longer around to lead.  At 23:25 on CNN, pundits were working viewers up to the “new bin Laden” — a more social networking savvy version of the Sept 11 mastermind and leader of Al Qaeda. While there may be other names, few will be able to match the cheerleading, financing, and organizing power of Osama bin Laden.  President Obama was supposed to address the public about what precisely had happened in Pakistan as early as 22:30 in the East Room. It will be a scene former President George W. Bush had probably ran through his head a hundred times, and hoped it would happen on his watch. Obama made the death or capture of bin Laden his top focus of the war on terrorism.  Roughly a hundred people — most of them American University and George Washington University college students — gathered outside of the north lawn of the White House waving US flags and singing the star spangled banner and jumping around on the news of bin Laden’s death.  Obama did come out to address the public at 23:35 to confirm the death of bin Laden.  “The images of September 11 are seared into our memory,” the president said at the start of his speech.  Obama said that Osama bin Laden had openly declared war against the US and US assets around the globe. “Over the last 10 years, our soldiers and intelligence officials and allies have made great strides” in the war on terrorism. Obama said that intelligence reports confirmed bin Laden was found in Pakistan in August. After months of review, Obama ordered the attack last week and the military launched the operation Sunday. There was a small fire fight, before bin Laden was gunned down by US military personnel. They have the body in custody. There were no American injuries.  “We must reaffirm that the US is not and never will be at war against Islam. Bin Laden was not a muslim leader. His demise should be welcome by all who believe in peace and human dignity. It’s important to note that our counter terrorism with Pakistan lead us to bin Laden,” he said, adding that Pakistan officials agreed that bin Laden’s death was a positive for the country as well.  “We can tell families who have lost lives in the war on terrorism that justice has been done,” Obama said. “The cause of securing our country is not complete…let us remember that we can achieve many things not because of wealth and power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.”  In a statement from former president George W. Bush, he said he was phoned by Obama to discuss the success of the attack. “The fight against terror goes on, but this shows America that no matter how long it takes…justice will be done.”  — Post Pres. Barack Obama’s address —  Peter Bergen, a CNN National Security Analyst who once interviewed bin Laden in 1997 in Afghanistan, called it an historic military operation. He said he knew the region where bin Laden was found called Abottabad, a mid-sized city outisde of Islamabad. Bergen wondered if there was a tip that led to the US and Pakistan to bin Laden, or if he was moving around too much and got caught.  “The big question is whether or not he will end up being the martyr he desired to be,” Bergen said during a sit-down interview with Wolf Blitzer at midnight. “Killing bin Laden is the end of the war on terror. There is no one to replace him in Al Qaeda. Bin Laden was the guy who fought against the Soviet Union and the United States. No one in the network is like that; at best they are just there for propaganda,” Bergen said.  According to CNN, Pres. Obama had roughly 5 national security meetings over the last two months in the build up to Sunday’s raid on the Pakistan mansion where bin Laden was living. Early Monday morning, administration officials began debriefing reporters on the mission. There were some surveillance giveaways, such as trash burning from the mansion whereas neighbors would just put out the trash and not burn it. Plus, the massive home had its own security, was valued at $1 million, yet had no internet or phone service. The entire operation only lasted about 40 minutes and began by the air with helicopters. The US Navy Seals were the main gunslingers in the misssion.  By 00:25 EST, hundreds more people were standing outside the White House gate on the north side waving flags and singing songs celebrating what, for the generation x and younger, is akin to the death of Hitler and the end of World War II.
US confirms killing and death of the face of global terrorism, America's public enemy No. 1, Osama bin Laden. Is the war on terrorism dead, too?