Even in Success, Why Biden’s Victory Lap Will be Short

When the word began to spread on the first day in May 11 years ago, you could almost sense a collective catching of breath. Was it true that the most hated man in America, the man who had sent jet airplanes crashing into public buildings killing thousands, the man who had successfully launched the first attack on the American mainland since the War of 1812, had in fact been brought to justice?

When President Barack Obama came before the cameras to confirm the stories — that Osama bin Laden had been killed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan — it was a dominant story, with a long “second act.” Apart from the books and movies, it was a central point in then-Vice President Joe Biden’s reelection message a year later: “General Motors is alive, and Osama bin Laden is dead.”

Tonight, the killing of Ayman al-Zawahri — bin Laden’s successor and the co-architect of the horrific 9/11 attacks — will be just one of many stories on the news, along with the Kentucky floods, the monkeypox virus, the coming slate of primaries. This is in part a measure of success: Contrary to many expectations after Sept. 11, 2001, there has been no significant terror attack on American soil; there have been no videotapes of an al Qaeda leader featured on American television. The progeny of Sept. 11 — the massive national security state, the lines at airport scanners, a $52 billion Department of Homeland Security, a massive intelligence apparatus largely shielded from public view, a disastrous war in Iraq and a disastrous defeat in Afghanistan — has put al Qaeda largely in the rearview mirror.