By Leah Frost / Staff Writer

threat contained (whitehouse.gov)

By Leah Frost / Staff Writer

A breath of relief soared across the United States as President Obama addressed the American people On May 1, with the words that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.

Celebrations from coast to coast broke out immediately from Ground Zero to the gates of the White House as the news dominated every news network and spread like wildfire through newspapers via social networks within minutes of the announcement.

 The news nearly 10 years in the making, the death of Public Enemy No. 1 and leader of the CIA terrorist list instilled unity in the American people.

The crowds of people spent the late hours of the night coming together to cheer in recognition of the victims of 9/11.

The masses of Americans outside the White House gates celebrated the send off of the life of Bin Laden singing “Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey-ey, Goodbye.”

The details of the raid that took place by Navy SEALs and CIA agents on a compound in Pakistan was carefully planned and executed. The orders were to bring out Bin Laden dead or alive.

For nearly 10 years Bin Laden evaded capture with assumptions of his whereabouts unclear as to if he was in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

When the news that the al-Qaeda leader was basically hiding in plain sight in a large compound built near the Pakistani capital the wheels of security began to spin into action.

Along with President Obama, the CIA, National Security and cooperation with the Pakistani government, the raid was a work in progress that took nearly a week to execute in order to avoid tipping off  Bin Laden and to make sure the general public was safe from any force taken during the raid.

Successfully the Navy SEAL team and CIA agents involved in the raid followed orders and brought about the demise of the leader that has reined terror in the United States.

Once Bin Laden’s body had been identified, no country wanted the final resting place of the mad man lying in their soil.

 The man, who has been compared to Hitler due to his mass murdering mayhem, was of the Muslim faith, therefore the Obama Administration ordered a burial at sea within the 24 hour time frame required by Muslim law.

After the initial celebration of the death of a man who caused so much grief and fear within the American people, questions on the validity of celebrating a man’s death began to rise.

Is it right for the American people to celebrate the death of Bin Laden just as Bin Laden celebrated his actions on 9/11? Eye for an eye is a motto that most Americans can use to justify the celebratory moments following the announcement of the infamous demise.

In the end, though, the celebrating has turned from focus on the death of the man into media frenzy about his life and the people who surrounded him. His infamy is stronger now with the public scrutiny into the facts of his life and death leaving the man who is feared almost appearing as a celebrity.

Instead of enhancing the memory of a man who deserves little thought, the focus should be shifted to what the death of Bin Laden means to the United States and the security of those who live here.

Whether or not the people in this country realize it, everyone was affected by the destructions caused on 9/11. Friends and family of the victims know first hand the devastation caused by the actions of al-Qaeda.

Those who have loved ones who have sacrificed themselves in the name of fighting terrorism by joining the armed forces are living daily with the effects of 9/11.

Even those who merely are scared to get on an airplane or have irate reactions to beefed up TSA guidelines are living through the repercussions of 9/11.

Although the leader of  the established terrorist unit al-Qaeda has passed it does not mean that the threat does not exist for future encounters with the followers that had ten plus years to learn and train under their leader Bin Laden.

It was a great day that will go down in history as the day the man who represented mass death and destruction met his fate at the hands of the United States government, but it is time to move past the man who caused so much agony and leave his story to be told in the history books.

It is time to move forward and conquer the remaining threat of al-Qaeda and to come together as a country to support the troops and government officials who have given up a great deal of their own lives to make sure our country is a safer place.