President Obama announced that in an operation involving U.S. Navy SEALs, Osama bin Laden has been killed and his body recovered by U.S. forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The President’s remarks can be read here. For continuing updates on the U.S. operation and its consequences for the battle against Al Qaeda, follow the Lawfare blog.
Three NSJ Advisory Board members address the legal and strategic implications of Bin Laden’s death. John B. Bellinger provides a legal justification for the U.S. special forces operation that led to the killing. Juan Zarate weighs in on the strategic implications of the killing for the war on terror and responds to questions about the post-Bin Laden terrorist threat, here and here. Jack Goldsmith suggests that the counter-terrorism policies of the Obama administration that led to Bin Laden are not significantly different from those that were in place at the end of the George W. Bush administration.