The death of Osama bin Laden, the leader of the fanatical death cult of Al Qaida, has sparked celebrations across the United States, and well it might. I do not usually feel elation at the death of a human being, but today is different.
Sure Al Qaida continues in various guises in various places: a hydra headed conspiracy that only a couple of days ago sent a 12 year old boy to blow himself up. What did that kid need virgins for? He was one himself. I felt a powerful surge of loathing for the villains who put him up to such a crime and hoped that they would shortly face an unpleasant fate themselves.
Ultimately it was Osama bin Laden who was the author of such wickedness. The charge sheet for such a monster is long indeed- and it does not stop with the murder of thousands of innocents on September 11th 2001.
So although, of course, the war continues, and may even be redoubled; yet the death of bin Laden is of more than symbolic significance. Eventually the Al Qaida conspiracy will be only as significant as the murderousness of the assassins in previous centuries- and the removal of the talismanic leader of the death cult is a hope for the West and a setback for our enemies.
It is a day to reflect, take stock, but acknowledge that the battle that seemed so hopeless in the sands of Iraq five years ago, or over the last decade in Afghanistan, has taken a decided turn for the better.
A good day.
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