With Bin Laden Dead, Growing Calls for Afghanistan Pullout

NATO Chief: Bin Laden's Death 'Should Not Affect' Afghan War

The Sunday death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was a “decisive victory,” according to officials. This has led to inevitable questions of whether the war in Afghanistan, nominally started to capture bin Laden, should end now.

“It is our hope that you can similarly unify the nation by bringing our troops home and ending America’s longest war in history,” urged a letter signed by a number of Democrat Congressmen.

The administration has already ruled out ending the wars, and appears to be positioning the death as vindication for a policy of open-ended war. With polls showing a number of Americans less dissatisfied with the war than usual, it seems they may get away with it in the near term.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has likewise said the war will continue, saying he does not believe bin Laden’s killing should have any affect on the war. He cheered the attack as “justified” but said it would never change the alliance’s policy.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.