Bin Laden dead but terrorism not defeated: US media

WASHINGTON (AFP) – “We Got Him!” the tabloid New York Post trumpeted in its headline Monday, echoing the jubilation across America after President Barack Obama announced that a US military commando raid had captured and killed Osama Bin Laden.

The even more emphatic New York Daily News posted a full-page photo of the Al-Qaeda leader on its front page, superimposed with the words “ROT IN HELL!” in oversized print.

Bin Laden was killed Sunday in a daring raid by US forces in Pakistan, triggering celebrations across the United States a decade after the September 11, 2001 attacks leveled the World Trade Center in New York and damaged the Pentagon.

US newspapers on Monday trumpeted his death, but said the Al-Qaeda leader’s demise in no way means that the United States can slacken its resolve in the fight against terrorism.

“Bin Laden’s name will go down on a very short list of global villains who presented a serious threat to the lives and liberties of Americans,” The Boston Globe wrote on its editorial page.

“His death, more than that of any single enemy of the United States, is cause for rejoicing.”

But, the newspaper warned, “the movement he led will continue. Al-Qaeda is not defeated. Other extremist groups will step forward.”

Still, the daily said, “the figure most responsible for the targeting of the United States by Islamist terrorists is gone. All Americans can rest easier, and share a special sense of pride in their country.”

The Los Angeles Times concurred with the Globe that the fight against global terror must remain a top US priority.

“Bin Laden’s death will not end terrorism, do away with Al-Qaeda or conclude the global war that began after 9/11 because too many people in too many nations accept his delusion that the United States is implacably at odds with the values of Islam,” the paper’s editorial board wrote, adding that the aftermath of the Al-Qaeda leader’s death presents US leaders with thorny new challenges.

“Bin Laden’s death will create new tensions in US diplomacy. Pakistan reportedly assisted in locating Bin Laden and thus in assassinating him. But relations with Pakistan are badly strained, and now the threat of retribution to that regime is real,” the LA Times wrote.

The Detroit Free Press wrote that global terrorism’s most iconic figure is now gone, but stressed that the Al-Qaeda leader’s demise should not be viewed as a purely symbolic event.

“Bin Laden’s death should mean a palpable disruption to the operation of Al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the attacks and remains one of the most pernicious global threats,” the Free Press wrote.

“It is also a victory for American intelligence and the military operation in Afghanistan. Bin Laden had apparently been hiding in plain sight, stowing in a mansion not far from Islamabad, Pakistan, rather than cave-hopping in the rural parts of the country, as had long been believed,” the newspaper said.

“Finally hitting a target that had been so elusive for so many years proves the effort, at least on one level, to be worthwhile,” the daily wrote.

But, the newspaper added, “the money being spent, the lives being lost, and the ill will being fueled by the perception of American imperialism — none of it is made any easier by bin Laden’s death,” the Free Press wrote.

“The campaign against terrorism is just beginning to bear fruit — and sustaining that campaign will require political and diplomatic persistence as well as tactical victories like the one that erased bin Laden,” the daily said.

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