It is more than Osama

On this anniversary of the bloody 9/11 attacks, the threat of terrorism is among the main concerns of Americans, in great part because of the economic crisis and the policy implemented by the White House in this respect.

The killing of the mastermind of the attack that left more than 3,000 dead, Osama bin Laden, is without a doubt the most spectacular accomplishment in fighting terrorism for President Barack Obama’s administration. However, this is just one part of an aggressive U.S. policy the administration has maintained for four years.

Obama, to the disappointment of some of his supporters, continued and intensified the path started during the George W. Bush administration. The president left behind the broad concept of his predecessor’s “war on terrorism,” represented by the war in Afghanistan, to focus on the search for terrorist leaders by combining military, intelligence, diplomatic and financial resources at his disposal.

In particular, the use of drones to implement this strategy allowed the dismantling of terrorist networks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

As far as this, we are concerned that the president himself is the one who decides the target and timing of the mortal attacks-a power over life and death that should not fall on just one person. We are also concerned about the repeated use of radio controlled airplanes, since it has opened a Pandora’s Box about what a sterile war might mean when the attacker risks nothing by striking via remote control.

Nevertheless, Obama’s policy has inoculated the Democrats against the usual GOP criticism of being weak on defense. The fact that the issue of security and the Afghanistan war were not mentioned in the speech of presidential candidate Mitt Romney during the Republican National Convention is a sign that security has become a strong point of this administration.

If the question is: Are we safer than four years ago?, the answer is yes when it comes to terrorism-although the threat remains of Iran developing a nuclear weapon and its support for extremist groups.

To summarize, this does not mean that there are no terrorists with dreams of attacking American targets. They will always exist, but at least they can no longer easily count on networks that help them fulfill their intentions. And that is a huge step forward.

The White House’s successes against terrorism go beyond bin Laden’s death