The death of Osama Bin Laden is much more of a figurative victory for the United States than one which has any actual effect on Al Qaeda; this is not to diminish its importance but to put it in perspective. Bin Laden had not been actively running the organization for some years now and served as little more than a figurehead. As a criminal he was still very important, and thus a certain degree of justice has been done.
For Obama, this is a great political victory. I couldn't help but chuckle while listening to the Morning Joe podcast as someone proclaimed that this event transcended politics. I can assure you it does not. While this may be a way of uniting the country under a single banner for a week or so (more on the pros and cons of that to come), Obama must be sure to put his stamp on this very quickly, with his late hour speech being a good first step. To put it bluntly, I find those like the man on Morning Joe, who believe that this is not political or that there are "no winners and losers" in this (aside from the recently departed, who clearly is not a winner) to be naive. Whether this is due to not understanding the situation or simply wishful thinking remains to be seen.
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