Symbolism matters, and the symbolism of Osama bin Laden’s death was not what his followers might have expected of him. His was not a glorious death.
It was not for lack of trying that bin Laden was not killed or captured much sooner. But, in one sense, it is good that he lived so long—long enough to see the defeat of so many of his satanic dreams. Most of all, there is profound justice in the fact that he had a chance before he died to witness the overthrow of so many Arab dictators, overthrown not by his followers but by men and women who were lovers of freedom (and of Facebook).
