THE MOMENT WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

It hath pleased Almighty God to grant to American arms a most signal victory; Osama bin Laden is dead.

God save the United States.

After almost ten years, Osama bin Laden is dead, and dead at American hands.

On one level, the killing of bin Laden does nothing more than fulfill a visceral back-of-the-lizard-part of the brain need for vengeance.

On another level, bin Laden’s liquidation has sent a message to both friend and foe alike that the American people is not one to leave pressing business unfinished.

On still another level, it has demonstrated that America has not lost the ability to undertake great and risky enterprises when the cause is just.

And the cause is just.

For Osama bin Laden was not merely a criminal; he was not merely an enemy of the United States, he was also an enemy of all of civilized humankind, irrespective of race, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation.

So, on this night when the news of bin Laden’s well-deserved death at the hands of the nation he worked so diligently to harm, we may be excused for a sense of thankfulness that we have won a great victory.

But we have won a battle.  Whether we have won the larger war against violent extremism remains an open question.  

Avengers of bin Laden may emerge, and they will no doubt seek to harm this country and our allies, and we must remain on the qui vive against such efforts.

Nevertheless, tonight we may give thanks for those who undertook the operation, for those who planned it, and for those who never forgot how important it was to bring bin Laden to justice or to put him to death.

Tonight, we hear not only the chant “U.S.A,” but also “yes we can.”

Tonight, “yes we can” has ceased to be a campaign cry; instead, it has become an affirmation of what America is capable of.

So tonight, “Yes we can,” has become indeed a reminder that Yes We Did.
Tonight, therefore, let us come together to offer to the dead of September 11, 2001, the assurance that their deaths have not gone unavenged.

As we thank God for granting to American arms a signal victory in  the death of Osama bin Laden, we may -must- also beseech our God to grant to the dead of 9-11 rest and repose, and that light perpetual may shine upon them.

Requiem Æternam dona eis domine, and God Bless America.