US Wins a Battle in the War

Hats off to the Obama administration for successfully tracking down and killing Osama bin Laden.  It’s a relief, especially to 9/11 families, that Americans ultimately delivered his death.

But cutting off the head of the snake won’t change much in the overall war.  Al Qaeda is a decentralized terror network and its ‘franchisees’ across the Middle East are highly autonomous.  Killing bin Laden isn’t likely to disrupt al Qaeda’s operations.

News of his death though is a huge morale boost for the US and our troops.  We are engaged in multiple fronts in the region and our leadership is utterly ambiguous on our mission and how to define victory. 

But the death of bin Laden will renew American support for our goals in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This is the perfect opening for the administration to define victory and lay out a clear strategy to achieve it.

But make no mistake, news of bin Laden’s death will be propagandized in the Middle East.  Hamas has already condemned the killing of a ‘holy warrior’.

I found an interesting survey from March 2007 revealing that only two percent of Pakistanis believe that al Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.  Far more Pakistanis believe it was either the US government or Israel to blame.  In Egypt, 43 percent believe that Israel was behind 9/11.

What’s even more disturbing is that only 56 percent of Britons and Italians finger al Qaeda as the perpetrator.  In Mexico, 30 percent blamed the US government while 33 percent cited al Qaeda.

Our strategy must include more than just securing and holding ground.  We can’t win the war if no one can agree on the facts.  Let’s hope that our leadership doesn’t fumble this rare opportunity advance our foreign policy objectives.