Bin Laden is Dead!

Best news possible. It has little operational significance, but it still is a great and good thing. Congratulations to both Presidents Bush and Obama, and to the men and women of our military.

ABC News reports:

Osama Bin Laden was killed not by a drone strike, but up close during a firefight with U.S. troops. He was not living in a cave when he died, but in a million-dollar mansion with seven-foot walls just 40 miles from the Pakistani capital, where U.S. forces killed him Sunday. 

The U.S. had been monitoring the compound in Abbottabad for months after receiving a tip in August that Bin Laden might be seeking shelter there. He had long been said to be in the mountainous region along the Afghanistan, Pakistan border, hiding in a cave as the U.S. sought to kill him with drone strikes from above. Instead, he was in a house eight times larger than its neighbors, with a seven-foot wall and valued at $1 million. The house had no phone of television and the residents burned their trash. The house had high windows and few points of access, and U.S. officials concluded it had been built to hide someone.

According to U.S. officials, two U.S. helicopters swept into the compound at 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Twenty to 25 U.S. Navy Seals under the command of the Joint Special Operations Command in cooperation with the CIA stormed the compound and engaged Bin Laden and his men in a firefight, killed Bin Laden and all those with him.

Read the whole thing here.

CBS News video report here.

Obama's announcement:



Perhaps the best thing about this is the way that the nation is drawing together to rejoice. Sure there are carpers in the blogosphere, but they are of no consequence. This is a great triumph for our nation, our military, and our political leadership, both in the previous administration and the current one.

I am glad to see that Obama makes the point that this is not the end -- that the war continues. All credit to him for his persistence in the face of intense political pressure from elements of his own party to quit.

Note to al Zawahiri -- you're next.

President Bush's statement:

Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001.  I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission.  They have our everlasting gratitude.  This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001.  The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message:  No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.

From NRO Corner