For U.S. military, 'the job is not done'

Mark DeLuzio feels his two sons played a part in the death of Osama bin Laden.

Steven and Scott DeLuzio, both sergeants in the National Guard, served in Afghanistan with units that helped push the al-Qaida leader into Pakistan, where he was killed Sunday, DeLuzio said. Scott returned home safely from Afghanistan. Steven did not.

DeLuzio said that when he heard bin Laden had been killed he was proud since the entire military contributed, but "we obviously don't need a watershed event like this to remind us of the sacrifices that people have made."

Steven J. DeLuzio, 25, was killed last Aug. 22 in Paktika, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his Vermont National Guard unit. His father said Monday that bin Laden's death comforts him - "to a degree."

"From a personal perspective, no, it wasn't worth it," said DeLuzio, who lives in South Glastonbury. "From a patriotic perspective, it's something we're very proud of."

Of the Connecticut National Guard's 5,000 airmen and soldiers, close to half have been sent to Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, with some serving there two or three times. About 100 are currently in Afghanistan.

"Their efforts have pretty much paid off as a result of what has happened," said Col. John Whitford, spokesman for the Connecticut National Guard. There is concern for the Guardsmen in Afghanistan, given the potential for retaliatory strikes against the military because of bin Laden's death, Whitford said, but these soldiers have been briefed and will continue to receive updates as the situation develops.

"The job is not done," Whitford said Monday. "It's still not over."

An elite team of Navy SEALs was tapped to get bin Laden, but the Defense Department would not say whether any were based in Groton or if any of the training or planning was done locally. Lt. Col. Elizabeth Robbins, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said "we are not releasing this level of detail at this time."

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan called the successful mission a "defining moment" in the war on terrorism, which could demonstrate that "al-Qaida is something in the past."

"And we're hoping to bury the rest of al-Qaida along with bin Laden," he said, according to a transcript of a Monday press briefing.

Stephen Flynn, a national security expert from Old Lyme, hailed the successful operation as a "real victory" since bin Laden was "once the effective manager of the war against the U.S. and then became at least the symbolic head."

"Terrorism always relies on a compelling narrative to keep it going," Flynn said. "Osama bin Laden's capacity to seemingly avoid capture by the most powerful country in the world helped provide fuel for those in the fight who wanted to stay in the fight."

While his death is a major blow to al-Qaida, Flynn said the terrorist network was already in decline since many of its senior leaders had been captured, killed or forced into hiding, undermining their ability to plot sophisticated, large-scale attacks. Terrorists who act alone or with a few accomplices will likely mastermind future smaller attacks rather than catastrophic ones, said Flynn, president of the Center for National Policy.

Flynn wants to bring attention to the changing nature of terrorism in the hopes that the public will be more resilient in the future and the government will do a better job of informing and involving civilians in the country's defense. Terrorists count on Americans overreacting to terrorism and embracing draconian measures damaging to the economy, in effect making similar attacks a more attractive option, he added.

"We need to move away from the inflated public expectation that the federal government has the capacity to essentially always be successful in protecting and intercepting terrorists to one that's more realistic," Flynn said. "The threat will materialize from time to time, even on U.S. soil, and it's going to tragically lead to the destruction of property and the loss of life. It's important that we as a society not overreact."

In remarks late Sunday night, President Barack Obama said there is "no doubt that al-Qaida will continue to pursue attacks against us" and bin Laden's death "does not mark the end of our effort."

j.mcdermott@theday.com