One year after Bin Laden’s death, Schiff warns of ‘formidable challenge’

On the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) took note of the “grim satisfaction that justice was meted out to the worst mass murderer in American history.”

The congressman released the statement on the same day that President Obama walked a fine political line between commemorating his successful decision a year ago to send a Navy SEAL team into Pakistan under the cover of night to kill the terrorist leader.

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, accused the Obama administration of politicizing the anniversary. The president’s campaign suggested in ads that his challenger may not have had the gall to make the same decision.

Also on Tuesday, officials announced plans to release a trove of classified documents on Bin Laden that reportedly reveals his unhappiness with the next crop of Al Qaeda leaders, among other insights.

In his statement, Schiff — a senior member of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee — warned that despite the successful campaign to bring down Bin Laden, the nation still faced a “formidable challenge” from Al Qaeda and its affiliates in Pakistan, the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, al Shabab in Somalia and other regions.

“And a year after the death of Bin Laden, we remember the sacrifice of those who have lost their lives to terrorism and those who fight every day against it, and in its shadow,” Schiff said.

-- Jason Wells, Times Community News

Twitter: @JasonBretWells