By CHUCK RAASCH, GANNETT WASHINGTON BUREAU Published: 2 May 2011 00:59
WASHINGTON - The face of global terrorism is dead. In an historic address from the White House late May 1, President Barack Obama declared that U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan, almost 10 years after bin Laden masterminded the deaths of more than 3,000 Americans in attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001.
President Barack Obama announces from the White House that Osama bin Laden has been killed near Islamabad, Pakistan. (Getty Images)
"On nights like this we can say to those families who lost loved ones to al-Qaida's terror, justice has been done," a serene-looking Obama said in a short statement from the East Room.
Just outside the White House gates, a growing crowd, some waving U.S. flags, chanted "USA, USA" and sang the national anthem even before Obama spoke. Former Bush administration national security adviser Fran Townsend told CNN it was "an enormous moment for the country."
Obama said the United States had been acting on intelligence to track bin Laden to a compound inside Pakistan, and that an American force of undisclosed size killed bin Laden in a firefight, and recovered his body. Their story will now be the most sought-after in the world, and is almost certain to provide a heroic counter narrative to the bitter politics that have wracked Washington for months - and perhaps provide a jolt to Obama's falling approval ratings.
Obama cited these forces' successful action, and the broader efforts of the U.S. military and intelligence unit, in urging Americans to summon the unity that existed after 9/11.
"Today's achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people," Obama said.
Bin Laden had largely vanished from the headlines, but his ability to elude U.S. authorities over nearly a decade, and two American presidents, had left the events of Sept. 11, 2001, an open chapter in American history.
These dramatic events did not close that chapter, but they did put a fresh and emphatic stamp on the U.S. response to global terrorism. Terrorism experts warned of retaliation from the remnants of bin Laden's al-Qaida network, but the news that the mastermind of 9/11 and other attacks on Americans was dead was greeted with profound relief.
"It was a moment we had been waiting for, for so long, it almost didn't feel like it was going to happen," said Dan Byman, senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and a staff member on the government's 9/11 commission.
He said the announcement would bring "long overdue relief," but "short-term risks" for the United States, because bin Laden left a "very formidable organization.
"We may see retaliatory attacks in the short term," Byman predicted. "We may see an organization that is going to try to prove it is still relevant."
Anticipating a response in the Muslim world, Obama asserted that the United States was not at war with Islam.
Bin Laden "was not a Muslim leader," Obama said. "He was a mass murderer of Muslims."
His death, the president said, "should be welcomed by all those who believe in peace and human dignity."
While Americans celebrated, others cautioned that the end was not near.
"It is a very dramatic, watershed moment," said Martin Indyk, vice president for foreign policy at at the Brookings Institution and former assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs. "Cautionary note: Al-Qaida still has the capacity to operate. It has a deep bench of terrorists and an infrastructure not just operating out of Pakistan."
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., expressed satisfaction in the death of bin Laden but cautioned the fight against terrorism is not over.
"This is great news for the security of the American people and a victory in our continued fight against al-Qaida and radical extremism around the world," said Boehner. "We continue to face a complex and evolving terrorist threat, and it is important that we remain vigilant in our efforts to confront and defeat the terrorist enemy and protect the American people."
McCain said he was "overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist. ... I commend the president and his team, as well as our men and women in uniform and our intelligence professionals, for this superb achievement. But while we take heart in the news that Osama bin Laden is dead, we must be mindful that al-Qaida and its terrorist allies are still lethal and determined enemies, and we must remain vigilant to defeat them."
But for one night at least, Americans here and elsewhere were celebrating the death of a man who had caused what Obama said was "a gaping hole in our hearts."
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