Barack Obama on Osama Bin Laden

Barack Obama, as Commander-in-Chief, made the killing or capture of Osama bin Laden the top priority of the U.S. war against al-Qaida shortly after taking office in 2009. This stance was a culmination of nearly a decade-long manhunt that began after the September 11, 2001, attacks, which bin Laden masterminded. The core evidence of his position is the final execution of a targeted military operation against a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 1, 2011, which resulted in bin Laden’s death and affirmed the administration's resolve to bring the terrorist to justice.

As a presidential candidate in 2007, the former Senator had already pledged to make hunting bin Laden a priority, promising to act if intelligence placed him in Pakistan, a position that set him apart from some in the Washington establishment. Following the successful raid, the president declared that "Justice has been done," while also emphasizing that the war was not against Islam, as bin Laden was a mass murderer of Muslims. The successful operation, authorized after months of deliberation based on a key intelligence lead from the previous year, marked a significant achievement in counterterrorism efforts while also signaling the need for continued vigilance against the network he led.