Plain Dealer – Osama bin Laden’s days of defiance are over. His ability to plot and inspire new terror campaigns is at an end. Gone is the mastermind of 9/11, the founder of al-Qaida as a terrorist franchise, the man who directed jihad at American interests but killed fellow Muslims more readily, the chief financier and crafter of modern terrorism’s false messianic message.

That in itself is cause for the spontaneous joy and feelings of profound relief, closure and vindication that enveloped Americans after President Barack Obama told a stunned nation Sunday night that bin Laden was dead.

We are one nation again. Partisanship is muted in the celebration of a glorious moment, whose roots stretch back to the terrible 9/11 attacks. “Unity” is the watchword — not just of the response, but of the operation.

Osama bin Laden was brought down through the bravery and skill of a small U.S. special operations force backed by seamless intelligence work, cooperation among national security agencies going back to the George W. Bush administration and the instincts of President Obama, who knew when to act.

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