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Hello and thanks for watching
The author Mark Twain once said, "I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure".
Most of the world's three billion inhabitants read the news of the death of Osama bin Laden with great pleasure today. A man who made it his life's mission to keep the rest of the human race in terror, wondering where he will next strike will not have an opportunity to hurt other people again.
Bin Laden's death says to those who would continue on the path of terror that if you pursue that route, we will find you to quote Humphry Bogart's iconic character Rick from Casablanca, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and forever. Those who would try to avenge Bin Laden's death with further acts of terror should keep that in mind.
I note with a further sense of satisfaction that Bin Laden shares the same date of death as Adolph Hitler. If there is an afterlife with two separate destinations, one for the good and one for the evil, then I have no doubt that Bin Laden and Hitler are somewhere close together wondering where the off switch is for the heating system.
Indeed if Dante Alligheri were penning the Inferno today, I believe that he would have Hitler and Bin Laden sharing space in Satan's mouth in the ninth circle of hell next to Judas Iscariot.
Reports indicate that Navy SEALS team six, operating out of Ghazi air base in Pakistan were flown in helicopters to Abbottabad Pakistan where they found Osama bin Laden hiding out in a compound.
The battle lasted less than an hour and when it was finished, 22 people were killed or captured. Bin Laden was killed by two shots to the left side of his head. At the end of this video I have some tribute music for the men and women who took part in this operation either directly or in a supporting role.
The reaction all around the world was swift and almost completely uniform. Presidents and Prime ministers from Russia, the United Kingdom, France and Turkey, just to name a few, applauded the death of this monster. In fact to this point, only one group has reacted negatively to the news and that is Hamas. The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, condemned the killing of bin Laden.
I interpret that as meaning that Hamas is not ready to be part of a solution in the region in terms of a Palestinian state. They should either retract that statement and apologize, or the Palestinian authority should cut all ties with them.
Now, along with most people, I was frustrated at how long it took to bring bin Laden to justice. But if there is a silver lining in how long it took, it is this. Bin Laden's big dream was to provoke a war between east and west that would usher in a new Caliphate.
The Caliphate was a vast region that at its height, streched from Northwest Africa to Asia Minor that observed Islamic law and was all under the control of a single muslim leader called a Caliph.
Not only did this not happen as a result of bin Laden's terrorism, bin Laden had to spend that last year of his life watching mostly secular uprisings begin and in some instances take control in places like Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and other countries.
Within 72 hours of 9/11 I wrote in my blog that I hoped that whatever the goals were of those who perpetrated that mass murder that the United States and other countries would try to make sure those goals were never realized. I hope those of you watching don't mind me saying that it is with great pleasure, as Mark Twain put it, that I see that my wish has come true.
In passing let me thank and congratulate President Obama, the armed forces and intelligence community in general and the Navy and SEAL Team 6 in particular.
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