bin Laden is dead.

Defeating a terrorist organization is not like defeating a traditional enemy in wartime. A traditional enemy has a face. He is tangible. You can shoot him and see him bleed. You can watch him fall before your eyes. You know that when you have battered him enough, he will eventually surrender out of regard for his own life.

A terrorist organization is an ideology. You cannot touch it, though sometimes it may seem palpable as the air thickens. You cannot shoot it and expect it to die. You cannot know when it will surrender. It may have so many limbs that when one is cut off, the others continue to live on unhindered. It is not afraid of death because it knows it will live far beyond the moment. Or perhaps it does not fear death. Either way, it is very difficult to kill.

The death of Osama bin Laden has tremendous symbolic importance for American morale and domestic policy. It provides a rallying point for a country largely divided in its foreign policy. It allows for the feelings of patriotism that exploded after 9/11 to surface again. It certainly looks good for President Obama, though the amount of direct influence he had is minuscule.

But the death of a figurehead does not signal the death of an idea. Thousands will continue to follow his lead. We have killed Osama bin Laden, but we have not killed what he has created, and we have not changed that the idea continues to ring true for many around the world.

The War on Terror is far from over, if it can ever end (which I believe it can't).

Nothing has changed.