Osama bin Laden

There was great rejoicing throughout America and other parts of the world on Sunday, May 1, 2011, when President Barack Obama announced that a commando team had killed Osama bin Laden, the world's Most Wanted terrorist in Pakistan earlier in the day. Students gathered in front of the White House to celebrate while people in New York gathered to the World Trade Center site. People were calling each other and writing on Facebook about the event. It was big news!

I found my reaction to the news to be very interesting because I accepted the news with a lot of mixed feelings. I was glad to hear that OBL was dead and have no regrets that he was shot in the head and is no longer living.

I am grateful and pleased to know that President George W. Bush's promise was fulfilled. On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists flew two planes into the two towers of the World Trade Center, another plane into the Pentagon, and still another plane headed to Washington before Americans forced it into the ground in a Pennsylvania field. Following that attack, President Bush promised, "We will not waver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail." OBL learned the hard way that he could run and he could hide, but we would eventually get him!

I am sorry that the death of OBL did not happen during President Bush's term in office because I believe that he deserves a lot of the credit for success of the commando raid. I do not like the arrogant way that Obama took all the credit for the accomplishment. President Bush set up the policies and procedures that led to the important intelligence that led to the commando attack. I'll give Obama credit for actually ordering the attack and not letting OBL escape once again! I do not think that his "victory tour" was needed or showed good common sense.

I am proud of the United States military and particularly those involved in this commando raid under the direction of the CIA, and I am grateful that no Americans were injured or killed in the raid. In my opinion, we have the best military in the world, and this precision attack in Pakistan illustrates how really good they are. Way to go, Troops! May God be with you always!

I wonder what difference the death of OBL will make to our American way of life. He has been in hiding and somewhat marginalized for nearly ten years. He was not able to communicate with telephones or the Internet but was forced to use couriers to carry his messages. From information gleaned from the equipment taken from the Osama compound, we know that he was actively guiding the terrorist network. We can assume that we struck a blow against the terrorists, but we know that someone else will take his place and the attacks will continue against the West unless we stop them.

Even though President Bush and President Obama have been very careful to state that we are not at war with Islam, we must admit that most of the Islamic world is at war with us. The death of OBL will not change this fact. I found it very interesting that OBL was found in a populated part of Pakistan and not in a cave in a remote area. I feel certain that many people in Pakistan knew where he was and did not divulge the information even though there was a bounty on his head. What does this say about our "allies" in Pakistan?

The death of OBL does not change the fact that many Islamists in the Middle East are threatening to wipe Israel off the map. It does not change the fact that Iran continues to enrich uranium for building nuclear weapons. It does not change the fact that many of our leaders are still bowing to Islamic demands - such as burying OBL within twenty-four hours of death.

The death of OBL does not change the fact that our nation is spending more money than we take in, the fact that we are borrowing money from our enemy, the fact that our children and grandchildren will inherit enormous debt.

The death of OBL does not change the fact that we have a progressive socialist as our President or the fact that his policies are destroying the American way of life. It does not change the fact that we need to find a leader with conservative principles and courage to run against Obama in 2012.

The death of OBL does not change the fact that we have to endure x-rays and groping every time we get on an airplane. It does not change the fact that we have to prove that we are American citizens in order to enter any federal building in the nation.

We can rejoice that the Most Wanted terrorist is dead, but we must realize that it isn't going to change a lot of anything. We must continue in our cause of liberty. We cannot waver, we cannot tire, we cannot falter, and we cannot fail in our quest to preserve our peace and freedom!