Five Reasons It Was Important to Get Bin Laden

James Carafano / May 04, 2011

#1. Honor matters. In Osama bin Laden’s part of the world, “honor” equals “power.” When the U.S. takes out the chief of the world’s most well-known terror network, that is a deep humiliation to al-Qaeda’s reputation. As with kicking it out of Afghanistan, crushing it in Iraq, and preventing another 9/11 (at least 38 plots foiled since 9/11), the U.S. has destroyed its global aspirations. Indeed, bin Laden’s death was widely hailed across the globe as cheerfully in the Islamic world as it was in the West. Getting bin Laden greatly dishonored al-Qaeda. The last thing we should do is take the pedal off the metal and give it a chance to recover, strike back, and (as they see it) regain respect. (more…)