Game Changer: What the Osama Mission Means for al-Qaida and US Strategies

Instead of a full-on military offensive in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was taken out by an elite troop of Navy SEALs in a covert operation. It comes as little surprise that the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities approved $10.5 billion for Special Operations Command and the Navy SEALs in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. This is about a 7 percent increase over this year. At the same time, the death of Osama bin Laden, who was the driving force behind al-Qaida’s large scale attacks, could force the terrorist group to change strategy as well. Former Senator Bob Graham, who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee for a decade before retiring in January 2005 weighs in on what U.S. military strategy might look like now that the terrorist leader is dead.