…in regard to the closure of the file on the late and unlamented OBL…

Ronald Reagan warned bad guys that they could “…run but not hide…” and George W. Bush undertook that the perpetrators of 911 and those who supported them would be hunted down…no matter where they go or how long it takes…good on Uncle Sam for being true to his word…

I’m more concerned with the issues surrounding disposal of the body…without some irrefutable proof of death the legend of OBL will live on…how long will it be before the first reports of OBL and Elvis bare-backing riding the Loch Ness Monster…? But, either way, a clear message, a reminder, has been sent out, serving notice that bad guys are not untouchable and certainly not safe in their refuges…just the intel haul just from seized computer hardware will have hard drives spinning at Langley and Fort Meade for months…and what terrorists will not have an enhanced pucker factor (EPF) when helicopters fly overhead for the next few weeks..?

I was driving through the Volcanic Plateau when Radio Live stopped for the live feed of the President’s address. I was a bit miffed that I hadn’t any advance notice of the announcement as it was leaked on the net just as I left home – this detracted from the full effect of the news…reception was broken through Erua and I was reminded of, many years ago, being in the jungle trying to tune into BBC News on a little handheld transistor.

I had to pull off the road when I found a clear reception window to listen to the announcement…as the story unfolded, I had two mental images: one of the sirens on the destroyers as they steamed untouched through the Navarone Channel; and the other of the slow drum roll at the end of The Sands of Iwo Jima before the gentle strains of The Marine Hymn…sounds of quiet triumph, a job well done…

And, I have to say, I was happy that this chapter in the war was done the old-fashioned way, boots on the ground, and not with an anonymous JDAM through the bedroom window.

You can run but you can not hide…

Bad guys, take note…