bye, bye Osama

Yes, it's probably for the best that he's dead, but before we congratulate ourselves for living in a country where incredibly brilliant, subtle detective work finally revealed his whereabouts to patient, determined covert operatives, keep in mind that...

He was ensconced in a luxury compound near the following:

* Islamabad
* an airport where visitors to the compound frequently came and went amid great security
* Pakistan's "West Point" facility
* a hospital, where he could get his frequent dialysis treatments.

Remember the ending of 'Lawrence of Arabia', with Faisal and Allenby negotiating the politics of the situation, while Lawrence (to Anthony Quayle's horror) was dismissed as no longer politically valuable to either of them.

My guess is that folks in the Pakistan hierarchy simply concluded that Bin Laden had become more of a nuisance than an asset, and that it was finally time to make 'the call'.

Mission Accomplished.