Originally Posted by Bluesman

Different question, I think. We're not talking about some sweeping startegic move here, affecting the tribal areas, or greater Pakistan, or the Muslim world. We're talking about doing what we're sworn to do: bring Osama to justice, or bring justice to Osama. No boots on the ground needed, presumably.

Look, this act, which you so flippantly dismiss as 'kill[ing] a few high level AQ/Taliban leaders' is rather more than that, and it is strategic in its implications all on its own, whether they're replaced or not (they will be of course). There are benefits both tangible and intangible for us doing what we said we'd do, and demonstrating both the capability and the will to do it.