Osama bin Laden is dead

[smc]

Originally Posted by TracyCoxx

Yes, there will always be more. But Bin Laden was the frontman for Al Qaeda. He's the one people know and who unites radical muslims for his cause. His replacements may be able to do that too, but I don't think as well. If we had decimated Al Qaeda and never found Bin Laden it would feel like an empty victory. But we have cut down Al Qaeda pretty good and we have killed UBL.

I think, perhaps, if we end the war in Afghanistan but keep a base there, and call the war on terror over then this just might be a point in time when radical muslims might think twice about getting into the fight and go play scrabble or something. And I'm not suggesting that we stop looking for Zawahiri and other high value targets or let our guard down wrt Al Qaeda because they, and others like them will always be there. Officially the war can be over. Unofficially we can keep going after these guys.

But if not now, then when should we declare victory and end the war? As you said, there will always be another one out there to resume the fight. It's time for the world to attempt to move on.

While I do not agree that we should keep a base in Afghanistan (it is not the right of the United States to do so, and I do not believe the majority of Afghanis would support it no matter what the Kharzai client government desires), I agree with TracyCoxx that the U.S. war in Afghanistan should be ended ... right now.