UW Foreign Policy expert Jeremi Suri says the killing of Osama Bin Laden may give a boost to the American public’s feelings about the War on Terror.
“It’s hard to generalize from one action but this does restore some confidence particularly in the capabilities of our intelligence agencies and their ability to work with intelligence and diplomatic organs.”
Bin Laden, the 9/11 mastermind, had been hiding for nearly 10 years before being killed by US troops in Pakistan. President Barack Obama made the announcement late last night.
Professor Suri says this is the first incident in a long time which shows a Democratic president scoring a major foreign policy victory against a foe who evaded the previous Republican administration. He says in this event, Obama has achieved a “major symbolic victory that will pay big policy and political dividends.”
Meanwhile House Republican Paul Ryan of Janesville said in a statement, “After ten years of dedicated effort across two administrations, we have struck a major blow against al-Qaeda and achieved a momentous turning point in our nation’s ongoing War on Terrorism.”
Democratic US Senator Herb Kohl, “We have dealt a big blow to al Qaeda, limiting their ability to cause us any damage in the future. We should be proud that we have brought an evil man to justice.”