Can the US be sure it has triumphed over terrorism?

The Times Editorial: As the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is celebrated in the US and elsewhere, fears of reprisals are mounting. For, in death, Bin Laden has been elevated into a martyr for a religious cause, one who must be avenged and imitated.

Already, British embassies around the world has been put on high alert in fear of revenge attacks. This must be a concern that occupies the minds of other Western leaders too.

In the meantime, news of Bin Laden's death has been met with spontaneous celebrations.

After US President Barack Obama announced the death, overjoyed Americans gathered outside the White House and on New York's Times Square. For them, the image of Bin Laden is irrevocably linked to one of the most bitter moments for the US, the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. In those moments of grief and devastation, US citizens were united in their contempt for Bin Laden. And now he is gone.

For the US, it will be a time of realignment. Obama will have to decide whether to finally heed the call by his own citizens to withdraw his soldiers from Afghanistan. The US will also have to decide the nature of its relationship with former key ally Pakistan after Bin Laden was found living in that country.

Yet, the timing of Bin Laden's death could not have been more opportune for Obama.

Fresh from announcing his desire to seek a second term in office and having weathered renewed questions about his citizenship, Obama will forever be remembered as the president who hunted down Bin Laden and brought justice for all those Americans who died in the terror attacks.

In the end, the "infidels" have slain the "terrorist". But, more importantly, can they be sure that in killing Bin Laden, that they have finally triumphed over the war on terror?

In all likelihood, that war is far from over. New martyrs have already started preparing their futures.