President Barack Obama isn't alone in saying that while Osama Bin Laden is dead, Al-Queda is not.
Yet the death of Bin Laden is a huge blow against the terror organization, because the battle against isn't won or lost on the battlefield. It's about public perceptions and attitudes.
The real war is for hearts and minds. It is, honestly, a public relations battle.
As long as the world thought that Osama Bin Laden was a ghost that you could never find or kill, he and his group held outsized, asymmetrical power compared to their actual numbers and capabilities. How else could a tiny rag-tag group compete with the most powerful military in history?
Bin Laden and his group were quite aware of how they needed press. Without it, they couldn't recruit new members around the world or be perceived as powerful. They would fade away.
So it's not a surprise that Bin Laden courted coverage with exclusive audio clips, videos and interviews. Al-Queda posted on websites and the group started an English language site.
Obama and the United States set out not only to kill Bin Laden, to cut the head off the snake, but to destroy the myth and legends surrounding the man and powering his terror movement.
Al-Queda was the creation of Bin Laden; he was its driving force and inspiration. Members pledged loyalty directly to him. When you said, "Al-Queda," you didn't think of anyone but Bin Laden.
A large blow had already been struck against Al-Queda's public appeal with the pro-democracy Arab Spring, putting lie to Bin Laden's idea that his group, and an Islamic caliphate, were the only real alternative to pro-Western dictatorships.
So how Bin Laden died is important to the destruction of his personal appeal.
The myth was that the terror leader lived a simply life in caves along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The truth was he lived in a fortress-like mansion in a nice neighborhood in the middle of Pakistan.
The myth was that Bin Laden constantly moved, climbing mountains or riding on horseback to reach different mountainous hideouts. The truth was he'd stayed in his compound for up to six years.
The myth was that Bin Laden was a fearsome fighter who'd personally killed a Russian soldier and taken his AK-47. The truth was Bin Laden may have never fought in combat, and that he hid in his bedroom instead of fighting SEAL Team Six.
Puncturing the myths and exposing the truth about Bin Laden is important for the U.S. to destroy the appeal of Bin Laden to disaffected people around the world.
And now that the Arab Spring is underway, a new generation of young people is choosing a different way to bring about change.
When historians look back of 9/11 and Bin Laden, I think they won't pinpoint May 1, 2011 as a military turning point. Military leaders can be replaced.
The spring of 2011 is more important as a change in attitudes, opinions and perceptions. People were longer being persuaded that Bin Laden's path of terror was the road to freedom. And now, with the man dead and his myth shattered, it will be even more difficult to get possible recruits the swallow Al-Queda's propaganda.