Osama bin Laden: Dead

In a surprise announcement last night, President Obama gave a speech that every American has been waiting to hear: Osama bin Laden is dead.

The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks had been evading capture for almost ten years ever since President Bush gave the orders to the U.S. military to invade Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban and to dismantle the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

According to President Obama, bin Laden was killed in a Navy Seal operative shoot out where he was hiding in a mansion in Pakistan, presumably where he has been hiding since fleeing Afghanistan. His body has been disposed of at sea.

While the death of Osama bin Laden immediately sparked celebrations nationwide and should offer some closure to the families of the men and women killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this does not mean that al-Qaeda is gone.

Immediately following the news that bin Laden was killed, the terrorist group, Hamas, publicly condemned bin Laden’s death saying "We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.”

In other words, there will be a high level of alert, as this news has likely infuriated al-Qaeda and followers of radical Islam. Al-Qaeda has already selected its new leader to succeed bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and most likely, al-Qaeda will continue in its pursuit to do harm to America.

On a side note, while the entire Middle East region is increasingly becoming destabilized, it was interesting to know that Ali Abdullah Saleh, the President of Yemen, after indicating for weeks that he would leave power at the height of protests, refused to cease power on the same day that bin Laden was killed. Yemen just happens to be a country that is infested with al-Qaeda.

For the moment however, this should be an exciting day for Americans and to offer some closure to those families affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is one step closer in combating Islamic terrorism in the Middle East. But when will the battle actually end? We may never know.