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Osama bin Laden Killed in Pakistan

Ending a ten year man hunt, the killing of Osama bin Laden in a city just north of Pakistan’s capital will unite the U.S. at a time of bitter political divide, says the Washington Post’s Dan Balz. 

What’s the Latest Development?

America’s most notorious enemy, who had until yesterday evaded the most determined of efforts to bring him down, was killed in a firefight just north of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. Osama bin Laden has been the central figure of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, allegedly inspiring attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the U.S.S. Cole and, most notoriously, the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. And though word of the killing spread first through Twitter, President Obama announced the event on live TV after former Presidents W. Bush and Clinton, as well as Congressional leaders, had been notified. 

What’s the Big Idea?

After ten years of psychological angst, the U.S. can exhale and know that justice has at long last been achieved, says Dan Balz. But while this closes one chapter of America’s struggle against terrorism, bin Laden’s death poses new questions. How will the killing affect America’s already-waning support for the Afghan war, which the President has proven willing to escalate? Will Pakistan continue to support unilateral American military operations within its borders? And given that bin Laden’s influence in organizing terrorist operations has been on the decline in recent years, what effect will his killing really have on national security?

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