Osama bin Laden killed

President Obama just announced that U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in a firefight in Abbottabad, Pakistan. I envy the American soldiers who killed bin Laden. The controversial intelligence methods allowed by Presidents Bush and Obama were vindicated. As President Obama emphasized tonight, the war goes on. But today is a victory.

9/11 changed my life - I captured my contemporary reaction in an opinion for my school newspaper. The kids attending college now were 9-12 years old when it happened, just old enough to understand the difference between the world on 9/10 and the world after 9/11. 9/11 defined their generation.

P.S. Team America - Fuck Yeah! Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue. Have You Forgotten? (The answer is we didn't forget.)

P.P.S. Professor Nacos reacts to the news.

P.P.P.S. Jon Stewart nails the propriety of celebrating bin Laden's death. My take:

As trite as it sounds to anyone who hasn’t served, our soldiers really do put their lives on the line with the American people and American nation in their hearts. Celebrate our first responders and military. As long as we don’t do any Terry Jones bullshit, I promise you they’ll appreciate it. They deserve to see the American people celebrating.

Let the President be dignified. For the American people, keep it real. Show the world that we the American people are not ashamed nor apologetic of ourselves, our nation, and our place in the world. We are not the meek and chastened people that our nationalistic, chauvinistic competitors and frenemies would prefer to supplant in the world order. Show the world that the American people retain the same competitive fighting spirit, the same fire in the belly, that built our nation by conquering great challenges and celebrating victory over our enemies.

Do it for our soldiers who are ‘over there’ competing for you. Celebrate loud enough for our soldiers to hear us in Afghanistan and everywhere else they’re serving in the world. Many of them are our age. They’ve earned hearing and seeing the members of their generation celebrate them as heroes.

P.P.P.P.S. From the Bush White House's September 2001 archive, remember when President Bush officially declared the War on Terror.

Eric