Obama's bin Laden risk paid off

President Barack Obama's daring decision to greenlight the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound also delivered a moment beyond partisanship to savor.

Success is always popular. But it was far from certain when Obama made the call to drop commandos into a fortified mansion in an affluent suburb in Pakistan in a high-risk bid to take bin Laden, get proof of his identity and limit collateral damage.

So much could have gone wrong. Bin Laden might not have been there at all. He could have escaped during the firefight. U.S. commandos could have found themselves in a battle with the Pakistani military. They could have been killed. With the stakes so high, Obama could have opted to bomb the compound from afar. But that would have put more civilians at risk. And we wouldn't be as certain as we are today that bin Laden is dead.

Obama did what he promised in a 2008 presidential campaign debate. "If the United States has al-Qaida, bin Laden, top level lieutenants in our sights and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out," he said then. Sunday he ordered it done.

Deserved plaudits for his leadership have come from all quarters. Former Republican President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney -- who are due credit for setting the nation on course to get bin Laden -- offered praise for what Bush called a "momentous achievement."

It was. hN