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Must Read Op-Eds for May 2, 2011

Here are the major opinion columns and editorials from today.DEATH OF BIN LADENBy Ross DouthatThe New York TimesTen years later, we’re still waiting.

Here are the major opinion columns and editorials from today.

DEATH OF BIN LADENBy Ross DouthatThe New York Times

Ten years later, we’re still waiting. There have been many plots, certainly, foiled by good intelligence work or good police work or simple grace and luck. There have been shoe bombers and there have been underwear bombers and Times Square bombers — and others still, presumably, that were cut short before they reached the headlines. ... In [bin Laden's] cracked vision, America was the weak nag, and Al Qaeda the strong destrier. But the last 10 years have taught us differently: In life as well as death, Osama bin Laden was always the weak horse. 

AFTER OSAMA BIN LADEN...By Nicholas KristofThe New York Times

It has been nine years and seven months since Osama orchestrated 9/11, but an American team finally killed him. His body is in American hands. This is revenge, but it’s also deterrence and also means that bin Laden won’t kill any more Americans. This is the single most important success the United States has had in its war against Al Qaeda. 

 


 

 

AFTER OSAMA BIN LADEN...BY Nicholas KristofNew York Times

Finally, what does this mean for President Obama’s political prospects? I don’t think very much. November 2012 is a long way away, and the main political issue is likely to be the economy. After all, George H.W. Bush was a hero after the Gulf War victory in early 1991, and by Nov. 1992 was defeated by Bill Clinton because of the economic slowdown. 

THE PURSUIT OF BIN LADEN By David IgnatiusWashington Post

And it will be crucial, in terms of the future, how the American operation plays in Pakistan and other Muslim nations. Al-Qaeda had lost its momentum long before the death of its leader. It burned too hot; it made enemies everywhere it gained a measure of power -- in Iraq, in Afghanistan, even in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The Islamic world increasingly turned away -- not from Salafist Islam of the sort that al-Qaeda practices, but from the terrorist tactics that ended up killing far more Muslims around the world than Americans. 

PROUD OF THE UNITED STATESBy Eugene RobinsonWashington Post

In the days to come, there will be time to consider the nuanced implications of Osama bin Laden’s demise at the hands of the CIA. Will anti-American anger threaten to send unstable Pakistan out of control? Will al-Qaeda’s younger, more decentralized leadership feel not bereft but empowered? In a few days or weeks, I might care. But not now...tonight, I am proud. “Obama Nixes Osama” would be an appropriate tabloid headline, but I have to give props to Bush as well. We got the son of a bitch. Well done. Well done, indeed. 

OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD, ‘JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE’By Jonathan CapehartWashington Post

Nine years, seven months and 20 days after two airliners were flown into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania — talking 2,977 lives — the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 was killed in a covert operation authorized by the president earlier in the day Sunday. A victory over evil has been secured. As the president said, "Justice has been done."