Osama: The Navy SEAL assassination of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan Sunday was a huge boost for a sagging President Obama. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who is always tough on the president, was effusive with praise: “I give the president full credit for this, it took a lot of guts. He’s the commander-in-chief, he was the guy who put it on the line. There was no guarantee – none – that this would work. We could have had our helicopters shot down… It was a really delicate operation.” Democrats, meanwhile, quickly moved to score partisan points. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) released a statement including: “This was a ‘mission accomplished’ moment President Bush could have only dreamed of.” Look for White House allies to squeeze every last ounce of political capital out of Osama’s death.

Afghanistan: As Slate’s David Weigel notes, Osama’s assassination will make it much easier for the White House to continue with their scheduled July drawdown of troops from Afghanistan. It will be extremely difficult for hawks to question Obama’s assessment of our troop needs now that Osama has been eliminated on his watch. Also, look for the Left to ramp up pressure for an accelerated departure from the region.