The End of Osama bin Laden

            Almost ten years after he perpetuated the worst attack on U.S. soil, Osama bin Laden is dead. A victim of his own creation, bin Laden was killed during a firefight at his million dollar compound near a Pakistani military school. Perhaps we would have more closure if he were to be brought to the United States and tried at the site where the Towers fell before a panel of the 9/11 families, but it’s hard to say bin Laden didn’t get what was coming to him. He deserved nothing better than to be made an example of: that nothing in this world goes unpunished and evil men always get what they deserve.

            Today I’ve heard people congratulating both presidents Obama and Bush on bringing justice to the world, but this statement is ludicrous and tragically flawed: Bush doesn't deserve half the credit he's getting. Bush let bin Laden slip away in December, 2001 at Tora Bora, and even went so far as to say “I truly am not that concerned about him [bin Laden]” in March of 2002. For years, Bush led us all on a wild goose chase trying to catch a man who simply faded into shadow and dust every time he caught whiff of the U.S. poking around in his area of the world. The compound (Abbottabad) that bin Laden was found at was built in 2005; why we spent this long digging around uselessly in the desert and didn’t bother to check there first will always be beyond me. All the credit belongs to President Obama. In less than one term, he delivered on his promise to find bin Laden and send him to hell.

            The dark days that have been looming over the United States for almost a decade have now started to dissipate. Al Qaeda will not disappear overnight, but for now we can all breathe easier. The manhunt for the most wanted man in the world has ended, and al Qaeda looks a little bit weaker in the sunlight now. The Towers are still gone, and the bloody rubble remains as fresh in our minds as ever. But the air feels just a little bit fresher today, and the nighttime not so scary anymore. Good riddance to that asshole. Our occupation in the Middle East seems just as complicated as ever, but maybe now the War on Terror doesn’t seem so insurmountable. After all, we just won the battle that most didn’t think we ever could.