We received the following message from the director of the US National Counterterrorism Center:
It's a scene you never forget. The intensity. The focus. The stillness of a room. The weight of one mission.
Five years ago, I watched in the Situation Room along with President Obama, Vice President Biden, and members of the President's national security team to see if U.S. Special Operations Forces could deliver the justice that every American had been waiting to see for a decade.
Today, I recounted the behind‐the‐scenes moments that led to that historic mission.
You can read that here.
Thank you,
director
national counterterrorism center
Our response follows:
Thank you for the message,
The killing of OBL was anything but “historic”, in the sense of having any impact on the world history.
The 9/11 and the way the US government reacted to it did have major impact on the world history:These are the “historical” changes that have taken place in the world following the 9/11. And the situation is still evolving.
- the Iraq war and the changes it produced in Iraq and the surrounding countries,
- the emergence of the IS as a world phenomenon,
- the Russian come‐back as a major player on the world scene,
- the loss of public trust by the main political parties in the US and Europe, as evidenced by the emergence of non‐establishment politicians like Donald Trump, and European equivalents.
The killing of OBL was certainly spectacular, but it had no historical impact.
Had OBL remained alive till the present day, the world would have been the same as it is today.
His killing had no more effect on the world history than the dangling of G.W. Bush from a helicopter above a naval vessel with a placard “Mission Accomplished” following the US invasion of Iraq.
Spectacular? Yes.
Historic? No.