Osama bin Laden dead

Common Sense notes with great relief and no little satisfaction that Osama bin Laden is dead.  Make no mistake about it, that's good news and the world is definitely a better place without him.  But Common Sense thinks that while the news is good, it's not as simple as many think.

First, Common Sense notes that while killing a man is easy enough, killing an idea is extremely difficult.  Think not?  Consider the radical Jew Jesus of Nazareth that was killed a few thousand years ago.  His ideas lived on.  While Osama bin Laden is dead, the threats posed by radical violent Islam remain.  The ignorance, poverty, and hatred that fuel it remain.  Until these are changed the radical violent Islam will remain a threat.  That's just common sense.

Second Common Sense is concerned by the cheering crowds of young people chanting USA while holding up a finger to signal that "we're number one."  Don't misunderstand, bin Laden needed to be found and captured or killed.  But the threat posed by radical violent Islam isn't a game.  The US didn't just score a game winning touchdown.  While the accomplishments of finding and killing bin Laden is laudable all the US has done, in a fundamental way, is to find and kill a sick old man who is a symbolic leader and murderous international criminal.  Sadly, we are not much safer today than we were yesterday.  That too is just common sense.

While we're in the neighborhood, Common Sense notes that the greatness of a country is not defined by its ability to find and kill terrorist but rather by its ability to create a just and equitable civil society.