Mission Accomplished!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Today, I am proud of President George W. Bush.
Today, I am proud of President Obama.
Today, I am proud of our amazing men and women of the armed forces!
Today, I am so proud to be an American!

On September 11, 2001, four U.S. planes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. The attack killed nearly 3,000 brave men, women, and children in a matter of hours. Soon after, President Bush launched a full scale war against Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. Although we have had many successes, the war in Afghanistan has cost us an additional 2,000 of our bravest service men and women.

By the leadership of President Bush; the perseverance of President Obama; and the incredible work of our military forces, we can now declare that Osama bin Laden is dead!

Although Al-Qaeda is still at large and will stop at nothing to deteriorate the foundations of democracy and the values we hold so dearly, it is a great victory and re-assures our military, our citizens, and the world that we can and will prevail.

Tonight should not be a night of partisan politics. It should be a night of celebration, relief, and reflection. With more than 5,000 American lives lost as a direct result of the devastating attacks on 9/11, justice has been served!

As President Obama said in his speech tonight:

“Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are.

And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror--Justice has been done.”