This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Wednesday, May 4th, 2011. I'm Caleb Brown.

Many Americans feel like the United States is safer because of the death of Osama bin Laden and

that the blood and treasure spent in Afghanistan has suddenly become more worthwhile.

But the big lesson to be learned says Cato Institute Research Fellow Ben

Friedman is how little has changed since

the death of an Al Qaeda leader.

After Obama announced that bin Laden had been killed we saw the spontaneous celebration in front of the White House. We saw people at a Phillies

game, Phillies Mets game, Channing, USA. And all that stuff is great and it's very natural

that Americans would be joyful and

feel a sense of justice that this guy who was a mass murder of people, many cases that Americans

knew or were related to had been killed.

So I wouldn't begrudge people their celebration.

At the same time I don't think it's the case that we ought to act like we just got Hitler, which is precisely

what Rudy Giuliani said yesterday.

And I don't think that we should say this is like V-Day or victory in one of the World Wars, which was a victory against

the organized established army in a powerful state.

It's sort of bin Laden's fantasy that he would be treated that way in death.

He's a guy who tried to bluff his way to being a great international figure and at some ways succeeded.

A guy who had a totally nonsensical idea that he could restore the Caliphate.

A guy whose most effective means of terrorism was to frighten people and sort of

cause us to think that him and his organization were 10 feet tall, but the truth was he wasn't 10 feet

tall he was an inspirational leader for a relatively small group of violent and

...