A decade ago in the terrible aftermath of one of America’s darkest days, President George W. Bush vowed that “I don’t know if it will be tomorrow, or next month, or next year, but we will get him.” Five years later, tough interrogation by the CIA of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and another Osama bin Laden henchman turned up the nickname of an especially trusted courier of the al Qaeda leader. There followed another five years of tedious but extraordinary intelligence work by the agency, legions of military and civilian analysts, and other experts that culminated in Sunday night’s bold 40-minute raid by a contingent of 40 U.S. Navy Seals on a compound north of Islamabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was killed in the firefight that ensued, then buried at sea after U.S. forces confirmed that they had in fact killed him and not somebody else. The operation took a mere eight hours.
Every one of these Seals and their compatriots in the operation deserve this nation’s highest award for their courage and fortitude. And President Obama will now forever be justly known to history as the American chief executive who finally avenged 9/11.
