Bin Laden finally dead, now what?

It's ridiculous that it took this long, but it's done. With $50M on his head this shows how motivated his compatriots are that it took nearly 10 years of constant search by the US to take him out.

As for his body being "handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition", I would have fed it to pigs, then cremated the pigs and scattered THAT at sea. The people he had killed in pursuit of his jihad were not accorded any sort of respect, therefore OBL was not entitled to it either. It would also send a message, besides the "we'll get you no matter how long it takes" one that this raid sent. The burial at sea is reputedly due to no countries being willing to take it; that may be true, but even if it isn't the last thing you want is a shrine. Hitler's remain were apparently dumped in a sewer, and body count aside I don't see where a terrorist rates better treatment.

I mentioned the price on his head. How much has it cost since 1998 to kill this guy? Cruise missile strikes under Clinton, invasions of Afghanistan and the fiasco in Iraq, operations in Pakistan, it adds up to hundreds of billions of dollars. It was all a sledgehammer to kill a fly.

9/11 was Al Queda's hail-Mary play and they were never likely to match it, let alone surpass it. The actual threat called for world-wide CT action, economic warfare and a lot of patience. Nighttime Special Forces raids, tracking money around the world, smart bombs on compounds, Hellfire strikes on vehicles, that's what's been getting the job done. This is work for section, platoon and maybe company size units with a lot of air support, not Striker Brigades and armoured divisions.

I addressed OBL's "Bleed to Bankruptcy" plan some time ago, but I think it worked pretty well for him. The US is tottering economically partly due to all of these military expenses, but they would have been manageable were it not for the globalization shit-kicking that American manufacturing has taken.

Whither now, GWOT? Although I've described all the physical means to combat these buggers, the boots and drones are no good without intel. A good way to get the intel is to have it come to you. Rewards are brilliant, as they cost nothing unless you get what you're looking for. I would turn in any bad guy for say $10M and passports to a decent country in any name me and my family wanted, and I'm sure I'm not alone. More of that must be an important front in the War on Whatever-it-is-We're-Calling-it-These-Days.