Shout it from the rooftops, echo it through the hills: Osama bin Laden is dead. To all of you proud and mighty shadow warriors, whoever you are and wherever you are, I lift a grateful glass. Thank you for all you have sacrificed to be who you are.

But now what, for the security of our nation? Sadly, these next several months may turn out to be very deadly. There will be attempted retaliations, assuredly. And we will deal with them, assuredly. We have good intelligence and good intelligence professionals. Now what, from a policy standpoint?

America needs to bring its sons and daughters home, from both Iraq and Afghanistan. Our being there is only postponing the inevitable. Nothing that we can do will change their destiny. All the while, our nation’s most precious treasure, the blood of our children, is spilling daily. For what? Our sons and daughters are dying for a dream that the majority of the Afghan and Iraqi people do not want. When we do leave, these countries will revert to the rule of radical Islamists in short order. Iraq will have a civil war, Sunni versus Shia versus Kurd. Once we leave Afghanistan, the Taliban will again take charge, again keeping little girls from attending schools. Our men and women cannot change a way of life that has been prevalent for millennia.

So we celebrate the death of a man who is better dead. And we should. But amid our celebration, we need to do a little bit of sober reflection. If we are going to keep our word to the mothers and fathers of America and bring our sons and daughters home, then let it be now. Otherwise, we are merely propping up a sagging tent — at a terrible cost.

Pamela Furr

Southern Pines