A Victory for Obama--and America

It is far too soon to judge the long-term significance of America's successful operation to kill Osama Bin Laden. Will al Qaeda begin to crumble now that its charismatic leader is dead, or will we endure new terrorist attacks, perhaps on U.S. soil? Will the poisonous relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan now heal, or will there be new strains, especially if it turns out that elements of the Pakistani government were harboring bin Laden? Questions abound. Yet it is already clear that assuming the facts hold as we know them now, President Barack Obama and his national security team have been enormously strengthened in the near term