Completely wrong on both accounts - UBL is very much alive and being hunted by brave warriors risking all 24-7 (just as is Zawahiri, M. Omar,J Haqqani, G Hekmatyar and several other HVTs we are hunting in the Stan/Pak border regions).
Furthermore killing UBL will have a much larger impact then most acknowledge.
Killing UBL is needed for simply the justice of it - For those lives lost due to the attack on this great nation on Sept 11th, 2001 - But also for the lives lost of brave warriors who have been hunting him since late 2001 - The risks that have been taken in tracking him down (along with killing over 3/4 of al-Qeada's top leadership) most are hardly aware of - These men deserve to see the job finished.
However more importantly (to a degree) is that most underestimate the value that UBL still manages to hold (within the radical Muslim street throughout the ME...but also importantly within the Afghan/Pak border regions)...and simply because he has managed to stay alive (along with Zawahiri) - Another "aura" of sorts has managed to build up around him precisely because of this fact. He remains alive.
Killing him would radiate a resounding defeat throughout not only the Afghan/Pak border region....but throughout the radical Muslim street as well. Some like to talk in circles about how the "cause" is larger then just one person (and this is certainly true...without question)...but killing UBL will be an endgame outcome that will stick in the world's collective mind (including those radical Muslim wannabes)...UBL is dead. The United States tracked him down and killed him. Full-stop, end of discussion (no amount of psycho babble will be able to deny this fact).
Killing UBL will also recapture the 10 second mindset of a majority of Americans. It will not only remind them of the WOT....but it will reshape their mindset that the American military (headed by CIC GWB) is methodically and deliberately tracking these SOB's down!! (just like he has quietly and steadfastly said over these past 5 years).
The American public will see it as a complete victory (one in which the fact-less MSM can't spin negative no matter how hard they will try). The American people deserve this victory.
And when we get it...we'll cherish it. And that in itself will provide a new rededicated "will" by the American public not just to this CIC but to this whole just cause (to continue to see this WOT through).
Lastly our warriors deserve it (which goes along with point one).
So -
1. Justice is owed.
2. Killing UBL is a resounding defeat that the radical Muslim street will not only feel...but won't be able to deny or spin. A sense of the inevitability of defeat will only further drape itself over them
3. His death will bring clarity back to the American publics mindset in this WOT - While at the same time bringing back a level of loyalty and respect to our CIC for quietly and steadfastly showing the resolve he has for the last 5 years.
4. His death = complete victory (in one aspect of the WOT) - A victory that can't be denied.
5. Our warriors deserve it and a good morale boost while not needed is always welcome...and this one will have certainly been earned / owed.
DevSix ---- well said!
The Democrats will just whine that if a Democrat was President, Bin Laden would have been killed less than a week after 9/11. They care nothing about Bin Laden. Most of them think Haliburton hijacked those planes.