The son of a bitch is dead.
Ding dong.
Yesterday, nine years, seven months and 19 days after Osama bin Laden unleashed unprecedented death and destruction upon America, US Special Operations commandos brought the master terrorist to ground in Pakistan — shooting him to death and gaining a measure of retribution for the horror of 9/11.
President Obama summed it it up with eloquence last night:
“Americans did not choose this fight. [It] came to our shores,” he said. “Justice has been done.”
As indeed it has.
Obama explained just how: “Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against [a compund in Pakistan]. A small team carried it out with extraordinary courage. After a firefight, they killed bin Laden.”
It was an ignominious end that was a long time coming — and beyond well-deserved.
Born into a wealthy Saudi family, bin Laden was the principal architect of al-Qaeda — a loose network of Islamist terror organizations whose animus is directed principally, though not solely, against the United States.
The network was behind the bombing of USS Cole, at least two bombings in Saudi Arabia that killed US servicemen, and the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
But New York was — and remains — a particular al-Qaeda target.
There was 9/11, of course,
But before that, Al Qaeda was directly linked to the 1990 assassination of Jewish Defense League leader Meir Kahane and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Both Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush labored mightily to bring Osama to justice, but to no avail.
Bush, in a gracious acknowledgement of his successor’s triumph, warned that while “the fight against terror goes on, tonight America has sent an unmistakable message/
“No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.”
That effort saw US troops dispatched to the far corners of the Earth, but nowhere in greater numbers or to greater effect than to Iraq and Afghanistan.
And, more quietly, to Pakistan as well — where Osama finally collected his earthly reward.
He will, of course, be hailed as a martyr among those who would repeal civilization and return the world to the 9th Century — evil men who are responsible for untold suffering, men who will not stand down simply because Osama has been brought to justice.
But his death cannot help but to give pause to the enemies of civilization. Surely they sensed the eagle’s shadow as it passed over — and who knows, maybe some will pay attention to Obama’s closing words:
“The cause of securing our country is not complete, but tonight we are once again reminded that America can do whatever it is we set our mind to. That is the story of our history.”
God bless the perseverance of those who stayed after the master terrorist.
God bless the brave young men who carried out yesterday’s mission — they are the best the nation has to offer.
And God bless America.